Friday, November 27, 2009

Gettin' While You're Givin'... 'Green Friday' Weekend is Here!



We think supporting independent fashion labels, eco-conscious companies, and small businesses is awesome in itself. But add on a (huge) 35% discount off of your entire order (including sale items, mind you), and top it with a 10% donation for every dollar you spend to Growing Home, and, well, that's just downright amazing. We're just sayin'. It's kind of like instant good karma - you're giving to those in need, and getting some major cash back, instantly. Black Friday and Cyber Monday are so last year. This year, it's all about the Green. So head on over to Mountains of the Moon and get while you give. Hurry though... This once-a-year event goes through Monday, 11/30 only.

P.S. We have holiday gifts for everyone on your list, from chic sustainable fashion to hip organic t-shirts to cute little eco-friendly totes to adorable green kids clothes to gorgeous statement necklaces made from reclaimed vintage materials. Gift certificates too. Who needs those scary strip mall stores anyway?! We're right here, and we love you.

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Chicago Fashion Week: Behind the Scenes!

Ever wonder what goes on backstage at a fashion week runway show? Last month, Mountains of the Moon showed our spring 2010 collection at both Portland and Chicago Fashion Weeks. The Chicago show, Vert Couture, was the finale event of the week and showcased all sustainable designers. Take a behind the scenes stroll with me through pre-show preps and the show itself as told through photographs! (This story was originally posted by our friends at Ecouterre).



Photo by Chad Smith.


Presenting my Spring 2010 collection at Vert Couture, Chicago Fashion Focus’s first-ever, all-sustainable runway show, on Sunday was an amazing experience—and a hectic one. Many people from Chicago’s fashion and green scenes came together to produce the show, and the backstage buzzed with excitement, chaos, and anticipation as the designers, producers, models, makeup artists, and crew prepared for the event. I took the opportunity in between last-minute fittings, run-throughs, and the show itself to capture some behind-the-scenes moments at this groundbreaking inaugural event.



The official Vert Couture sign, printed with and on eco-friendly materials, was set up in the lobby to greet guests. Dubbed “An Evening of Chicago Spring Fashion and Environmental Responsibility,” the show featured local eco-designers.



Aveda and Sugar & Spice provided hair and makeup for our beautiful Ford Models pre-show.



That afternoon, a final run-through to nail down timing before the big event.



The volunteer dressers arrive and I take a few moments to go through each of my looks with them.



Models from Ford prepared to dress for the show’s first looks.


Press/media set up to cover the show.


Guests fill the seats prior to the show, which was sold out (including standing room only!)


The DJ begins to spin tunes for the crowd in advance of the opening looks.



Looks from our Spring collection hang awaiting their runway debut.



Annie Novotny of Frei Designs and I wait in anticipation to show our collections.


After a quick change-over into my looks, my models wait to walk.


I quickly make some finishing touches on each model before she hits the stage.


The Spring 2010 collection from Mountains of the Moon makes its entrance.


After my collection shows, it's time for all of the designers and models to take a final group walk. And with that, a successful, sustainable show comes to a close!

Many thanks to my amazing assistant Mary Welch Fox (a New York Fashion Week dresser alum), who took a break from Mountains of the Moon to work non-stop for two weeks to help Vert Couture founders Bianca and Michael Alexander create an incredible show.

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

City Girl in the Wilderness


The day I graduated from college, I was finally able to give in to the wanderlust that had been brewing inside me since my relatively travel-less days growing up in Chicago. I did so by packing up my Ford Escort and trekking solo from Madison, WI to the tiny mountain town of Leadville, CO, where I spent a few weeks here and there in between incessant road trips throughout the most remote areas of the country. To pay for my travels, I stitched up one-of-a-kind dresses and bags on a hand-me-down sewing machine propped up on a cardboard box. It was, of course, the beginning of Mountains of the Moon, and the beginning of my fascination with combining the themes of nature and city in my designs.

These days, my wanderlust more satisfied than in my early years as a designer, most of my travels consist of trips to more urban locales. My boyfriend is the Stage Manager for a band, so my non-business related trips tend to revolve around whatever cool locations end up on their schedule, usually to bigger cities.

Last week, however, my fabulous assistant Mary Welch Fox and I decided to hop a plane and meet the boys in LA, and ride the tour bus up to a remote part of Yosemite where they were playing a festival for Halloween. It had been a long time since I'd explored nature (at least outside of the forest preserves that dot the Chicago 'burbs), and my Chicago-fashion-week-weary bones were ready. I might add that there was no cell reception, so I was forced to put down my electronic leash (CrackBerry) and truly relax (a concept with which I am, admittedly, no longer familiar).

The lack of sirens and late night drunk ramblings outside my window was inspiring in itself, but the gorgeous, towering sequoias and glacier-carved granite mountains reminded me why I got into eco-fashion in the first place. Today it's almost cliche to say it, but how can we ignore the truly breath-taking beauty of this planet and allow money, greed and ignorance to all but destroy it? Okay, so I hiked Yosemite in slouchy cuffed boots and leggings, but somehow, I was able to let go of a mind consumed by stress and unleash the free spirit with which I so easily lose touch living in the city. Every new turn down each path on our hikes brought new sights and smells so incredible that I left feeling renewed and inspired, again, recalling the reason for which I do what I do.

As I mentioned above, the foundation of my label is the union of nature with city, and I especially channeled this into the Spring 2010 collection, titled "Etendue Sauvage Dans La Grande Ville" (Wilderness in the City). Floral printed fabrics, ruffles and draping were included to represent nature (flowers, ocean waves, mountains), and I combined them with sharper lines (tiers and pleated detailing) to represent a metropolis (urban architecture and the overall grittiness of the city). In the bigger picture, this all goes back to the point that many of us in the eco-design world are trying to make: eco-fashion can be chic, stylish and modern, without sacrificing the earth or its inhabitants. It was almost ironic that it took a trip to the middle of nowhere to remind (or moreso, refresh) me how important this really is.

In the end, fellow city girls, I highly recommend a little get-away to the woods now and then. And nature girls, I think the same can be said for a trip to the big city. There is so much to explore on this earth, and that said, no reason why all of these amazing places can't find ways to coexist without causing harm. I left Yosemite with a new plan: leave the city and a take a trip, no matter how brief, to a remote place at least once a year. Oh yeah - and continue to work, even harder, to show the world through my art that the city's bright lights and skyscrapers can live in harmony with nature's starry skies and big, big trees.