2008 Woodie Awards
Rebagz joins the eco-craze
Environmentally friendly line of bags durable and affordable
Rebecca Babin, Collegian Correspondent
Issue date: 9/8/08 Section: Arts & Living
Eco-friendliness is America's new best friend. Whether eating organic food or driving a hybrid car, people are becoming more conscious of doing their part to be more eco-friendly; except when it comes to fashion.
No one is willing to sacrifice their style for the good of the environment because, until recently, eco-friendly fashion has been hemp potato sacks sewn into a cheap resemblance of a shirt. This has all changed as saving the environment has taken the main stage in pop culture. New designers have emerged, trade marking eco-friendly fashion as their niche. Sensing the popular trend, existing designers have begun to incorporate fair-trade and organic materials into their new lines.
Designer Marty Stevens-Heebner, founder of Half the Sky Designs, has taken it one step further by recycling materials otherwise headed for the trash into colorful and creative handbags. This new line, appropriately named Rebagz, uses recycled juice packs and nylon rice sacks to create everything from totes to diaper bags.
Heebner, a steadfast environmentalist and humanitarian, was inspired to create Rebagz during a recent trip to the Philippines. Colorful and versatile designs always being her trademark, she said she immediately realized how ideal these materials would be when she visited weavers cutting strips of juice packs and creatively weaving them into their own mosaics.
Her design aesthetic is bright and colorful, so when she was looking for recycled materials to use, she knew it could not be just anything. As soon as she saw what weaving these juice packs could produce, Heebner said she jumped at the chance to create something innovative with them.
"I look at these plastic juice packs and rice sacks as my fabrics," she said. "I approach it from the standpoint of a designer."
She sets out to design handbags that are not only eco-friendly, but fashion-forward, which is where her catch phrase "eco-fashion forward" was derived.
The bags catch on because they are stylish, which will allow this trend to last. "I'm definitely selfish. I design for me. When I am designing a bag, I think, 'What would I like?'" Heebener admits.
No one is willing to sacrifice their style for the good of the environment because, until recently, eco-friendly fashion has been hemp potato sacks sewn into a cheap resemblance of a shirt. This has all changed as saving the environment has taken the main stage in pop culture. New designers have emerged, trade marking eco-friendly fashion as their niche. Sensing the popular trend, existing designers have begun to incorporate fair-trade and organic materials into their new lines.
Designer Marty Stevens-Heebner, founder of Half the Sky Designs, has taken it one step further by recycling materials otherwise headed for the trash into colorful and creative handbags. This new line, appropriately named Rebagz, uses recycled juice packs and nylon rice sacks to create everything from totes to diaper bags.
Heebner, a steadfast environmentalist and humanitarian, was inspired to create Rebagz during a recent trip to the Philippines. Colorful and versatile designs always being her trademark, she said she immediately realized how ideal these materials would be when she visited weavers cutting strips of juice packs and creatively weaving them into their own mosaics.
Her design aesthetic is bright and colorful, so when she was looking for recycled materials to use, she knew it could not be just anything. As soon as she saw what weaving these juice packs could produce, Heebner said she jumped at the chance to create something innovative with them.
"I look at these plastic juice packs and rice sacks as my fabrics," she said. "I approach it from the standpoint of a designer."
She sets out to design handbags that are not only eco-friendly, but fashion-forward, which is where her catch phrase "eco-fashion forward" was derived.
The bags catch on because they are stylish, which will allow this trend to last. "I'm definitely selfish. I design for me. When I am designing a bag, I think, 'What would I like?'" Heebener admits.
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