Will an Eco-Fashionista Win Project Runway Again?

The eighth season of Project Runway has just gotten underway. Making some waves this go around is Gretchen Jones, a green clothing designer from Portland, Oregon.

You may recall that back in season five, eco-fashionista Leanne Marshall was crowned queen of the catwalk. After the show, Leanne has continued to work as a eco-fashion designers. From what we could find, Leanne's making handmade dresses and selling them on Etsy, but her garments haven't exactly changed the fashion world.

This season, the new green diva is taking the show by storm (if you count winning the first two challenges as a storm).  The biggest coup was winning the second challenge that resulted in Grechen’s jumpsuit being featured on a larger-than-life Coco Rocha in a Marie Claire ad in Times Square.

Gretchen's goal is to create clothing that is "unique, but playful, friendly, and accessible…Hip to trend without playing on that." In the two designs we’ve seen so far, it’s easy to see that Grechen looks to 1970's bohemian lifestyle for her inspiration. We particularly loved it when she said during the show that she wants to create an "amazing brand that happens to be green."

Gretchen's been focused on eco-friendly fashion for some time. At her online store Mothlove.com, Gretchen explains that she "aims to create collections that beg to be worn and fallen in love with…" She also makes every effort to use local, sustainable fabrics such as organic cottons, silk, bamboo, along with using natural dye processes.

We're eager to see if she can bring any of her sustainable fashion sense into her designs for Project Runway. It would be nice to see them have an episode focused on eco-fashion that's a little more practical than the burlap sacks from season seven.

And just a thought, we've started working with Parsons The New School for Design for their senior project for this coming school year; perhaps when Project Runway gets to the episode where the designers create their own fabric designs, they'll come to AirDye to make their vision come alive with our eco-friendly technology?

photo credits: coco rocha and mylifetime.com