Vegan Fashion Grabbing Attention

Most likely due to Earth Day coming up, vegan fashion has been garnering attention from mainstream fashion media. The latest example? In an online exclusive, W Magazine posted their "best vegan-friendly accessories" , which included Vivienne Westwood's capsule collection for Melissa Plastic Dreams, my favorite olsenHaus, and local vegan brand MATT & NAT. The list even included vegan-friendly options from designer staples like Marc by Marc Jacobs and Stella McCartney--although, clearly not having done their research, they featured a cashmere tunic from the vegetarian designer. A gaffe that readers didn't let slip.

olsenHaus sandalMATT & NAT bag

Marc by Marc Jacobs sequined bag

With luxury magazines like W and Vogue taking notice of the merits of vegan brands, I can't help but wonder, is vegan the new luxury goldmine?

In other vegan-related fashion news, The Humane Society announced late last week that the Benetton Group is the latest brand to commit to a fur-free policy, joining Calvin Klein, overstock.com, BCBG, and others.

Visit the HSUS website to see a complete list of fur-free companies and take the fur-free pledge yourself.

Stella McCartney Fall Accessories

In February, vegetarian super-designer Stella McCartney presented Pre-Fall 09 at New York Fashion Week, and, this week, her Fall 09 RTW collection in Paris. With Pre-Fall, looks were the slouchy, downtown silhouette that Stella has become known for. With tons of leggings and jumpsuits, Pre-Fall had a sportswear feel. Accessories were dominated by oversized bags, the ever-pervasive ankle bootie that just won’t go away since its appearance in Fall 2007, pumps, and heavy hardware. Prints were found on everything from underpinnings, to booties, and bags.

Stella McCartney Pre-Fall 09, style.com

For Fall 09, the thigh-high boots that skimmed just past the knee in Pre-Fall have sprouted into full leggings. In latex materials, some with tattoo-like patterns, these boots-come-leggings were paired with everything from dresses to oversized men’s blazers. The cropped bootie still makes an appearance, but these too have grown in length reaching calf-height. All footwear, including the lady-like pumps, had extreme square toes in contrasting colors and materials. Colors were neutral, relying heavily on black with small doses of dove grey and a bright jade green. Bags were mainly oversized clutches, varying widely from recent collections past, with circular-quilting. Belts varied between the wide and the ultra-skinny, with no variance in between. The collection, overall, referenced 1980s Wall Street with exaggerated shoulders and masculine looks.

Stella McCartney Fall 09, style.com

But for a little taste of this season, here are three favorite looks from Spring, available online and in stores.

Stella McCartney Spring 09, styles range from $1295 to $395