As per usual, I didn’t make it through the New York Times Sunday Styles section until yesterday evening but I was pleased to see two PDX shout-outs in a section on—surprise—buying green. One was for the Portland-based online hub for environmentally minded shipping, Greenloop, and the other for Anna Cohen. Sneak a peek at the copy if you’re near a newsstand… so, how’s everyone doing on the green tip? Seems what little fashion press Portland fashion gets outside the region is all about how “green” and “sustainable” we are, and lord knows it’s nice to get some favorable attention in what used to be considered something of an armpit of the fashion world. But I’m curious how many of you really care whether your shirt or pants are made of bamboo or organic cotton. Sustainability remains in the backdrop for many of Portland’s designers still, and I’m wondering how many of its consumers prioritize the environmental impact of the materials used in their clothing. Do you really care? How much of it is lip service? Personally I think buying organic and buying local are on the same trajectory as the shopping habits people have come to develop towards food, by which I mean it will become more common and a higher priority. But at the same time I wonder if it’s just another trend, wont as fashion is to run back into the arms of excess and rareity at a whim. What do you think—is sustainable design the permanent wave of fashion’s future, an industry that is so marked by impermanence?

(Incidentally, the bikini on the right here is the Anna Cohen design featured in the NYT.)