They said/We said: Eco-fashion reaches the red carpet with Chanel, Gucci, Tom Ford, and others creating pieces for the Golden Globes

Photography by Dave M. Benett/Getty Images
Photography by Dave M. Benett/Getty Images

Green is the new black. At least according to Chanel, Gucci, and the nine other stellar brands that have all pledged to create eco-friendly designs for this season’s red carpets.

It’s all part of Livia Firth’s (otherwise known as Colin Firth’s wife and the luckiest woman in the world) Green Carpet Challenge (GCC), an initiative she started with journalist Lucy Siegle two years ago. Since then, the movement has garnered some serious support from fashion heavyweights like Frida Giannini, Franca Sozzani, and Tom Ford.

Starting with the Golden Globes this Sunday, the designers will create gowns, accessories, and suits conforming to the GCC’s design principles. As to who will wear what, everything is very hush-hush. Firth, however, has announced that she will be wearing a Giorgio Armani creation made entirely from eco-friendly fabrics.

During the past two award seasons, Firth has only worn environmentally friendly gowns on the red carpet—including a repurposed wedding gown and a cocktail dress made from scrap fabric. Perhaps the most famous of them all was a gown made from her husband’s old Tom Ford suits. Yes. Please.

Pictures of Firth’s dresses along with the other eco-friendly creations will be available on vogue.com starting January 15.

THEY SAID:

Refinery 29: This Sunday, Golden Globes red carpet walkers will be taking on a challenge other than 1) not tripping and 2) upstaging the Downton Abbey cast: wearing dresses and designs made using green processes. [Refinery 29]

Vogue Italia: There’s something new for 2012. The red carpet will turn into a green carpet. The colour of the runway will remain the same, of course, but the clothes will have to submit to new standards: eco-friendliness, sustainability and fair trade. [Vogue Italia]

WE SAID:

Jordan Porter, fashion market editor: The days of granola green fashion are officially gone, and with iconic fashion names like Armani, Chanel, and Yves Saint Laurent showing awareness and support for the cause, I do believe that eco-chic has finally arrived.

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