As the weather cools off, it's time again for New York Fashion Week… for the Spring collections. As green fashion continues to grow in popularity and influence, we are happy to report that sustainability will get another turn on this year's much ballyhooed runways.The Mercedes-Benz-sponsored Fashion Week will mark the global launch of the Be EcoChic Campaign, brought by the Sierra Club and a number of fashion luminaries and companies. A special group fashion show will take place on Thursday, September 4th at the Milstein Hall of Ocean Life at the American Museum of Natural History, with the stated goal of "helping to redefine the runway in a universe that is going green." Participants are to include Carmen Marc Valvo, Chado Ralph Rucci, Christian Cota, Del Forte, Donna Karan (DKNY), FORM, Red Carter, Vena Cava and many more, and all designs will feature eco-friendly fabrics, from sustainable to recycled. Celebrity makeup artist Matin will be complementing the clothes with eco-themed looks (learn more about the campaign to green up the pro makeup industry).The show's organizers hope to prove that green fashion is not merely a passing trend, but rather a permanent fixture on the runway circuit, and one that trickles down to positively influnence the industry and consumer choices for years to come. Models slated to walk the talk on the 4th include former Miss USA and model-actress Susie Castillo, environmentalist Jayni Chase, Animal Planet's Jeff Corwin, performer Coltrane Curtis, Gossip Girl's Tamara Feldman, supermodel Patti Hansen, actress Lauren Hutton, Ugly Betty's Mark Indelicato, environmentalist Mary Richardson Kennedy, author Tom Kostigen, Desperate Housewives' Joy Lauren, LipStick Jungle's James Lesure, Red Hot & Green's Carter Oosterhouse, This Might Hurt's Alex Menenses, models (and daughters of Keith Richards) Alexandra and Theodora Richards, High School Musical's Olesya Rulin, environmentalist Laura Turner Seydel, actress Dominique Swain, Law & Order: SVU's Tamara Tunie, supermodel Alek Wek and many others. The star-studded event is to be mc'd by gorgeous green star, supermodel and mom Angela Lindvall, who co-stars with Adrian Grenier on "AlterEco" for Discovery's Planet Green.In true form, the Be EcoChic campaign will be carbon neutral due to donations to CarbonFund.org. The program is sponsored by Aveeno, Continental, the LYCRA fiber brand, Mercedes-Benz USA and Neutrogena. Written by Brian Clark Howard
