Saks’ New Catalog Needs More Sustainable Fabrics

Eileen Fisher Cardigan from Saks Fifth Avenue

The Saks Fifth Avenue March Fashion 2010 catalog arrived today. It’s tagline?  “Think about . . . newsworthy nature.” A promising invitation to behold innovations in sustainable fashion, or so I thought. The reality was that there were many beautiful and clearly artisan-made pieces, yet there was a dearth of products sustainable in other ways. The one exception was this simple, elegant cardigan made of hemp and spun silk by Eileen Fisher. The material is sustainable because hemp is made from a fast growing and naturally insect repelling plant (which is illegal to grow in the U.S.), while spun silk is renewable, biodegradable, and leaves the moth unharmed.