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Environmentally friendly clothing hasn’t always been considered incredibly stylish. But, all that is changing with designers like Elena Garcia who has taken her love of fashion and earth-friendly fabrics to create gorgeous lines that transforms eco-friendly to eco-chic.

Tell me a little bit about yourself…

This is my story, in brief: I am Spanish, from Seville, but grew up in a village in the mountains in Central Spain. When I was 17 I was offered a scholarship to study in the U.S. for a year, I became one of those exchange students you see in teenage movies, went to the senior prom and all that. When I got back to Spain I went to Seville University and studied languages and drama, I was also the lead singer in a band. At 19 I was offered a record deal but turned it down because I wanted to finish my university studies. I carried on with the band and graduated in English Literature. During my last year at college I met this English guy and we started going out. A few months later I was pregnant. We decided to keep the baby, move to London and give it a go as a couple. I finished my degree and went to the UK. Life in the UK was difficult at first, I spoke the language, but the culture was very different. My boyfriend’s family was very supportive, but we both felt isolated from everyone around us, we were the only ones having a baby so early. We finally got a break when I got a job to work on bilingual dictionaries for Oxford University Press, when I was 8 months pregnant. When they found out about my circumstances they offered me a job from home. So I became a lexicographer for the next 6 years and paid for Tim (boyfriend) to go back to college and study Law. We had a second baby and my work dried up just when Tim got his first job as an advocate. I kept working part time as a translator and interpreter. We then swapped roles and when our younger son started school I went back to college to study art and design. After introductory and access courses I ended up at the London College of Fashion, doing a degree in Surface Textiles for Fashion. I graduated exactly 2 years ago. I then started Fisher-Garcia with my friend Ilya Fisher and we produced the collection that you can currently see in the website. We decided to be an eco label because knowing what we all know about current climate; we didn’t want to have blood in our hands. Ilya and I recently split, amicably, and remain friends and textile collaborators, she is doing an interiors range while I have carried on with my fashion dream. I am now working on my Spring/Summer 09. I also run a recycled clothing label called Sew Last Season

What attracted you to designing?

I was always drawing dolls as a child, I also remember being about 2 years old and having names for all my dresses and, looking at the couture pages in Hola magazine before I could read. I love expressing ideas through fashion, I love drawing and playing with fabric around the body, it is an art form, if people can wear the constructions, it’s even better.

What was the first piece you created?

I made dolls dresses with my mum when I was very small. I was always interested in knitting, crochet, embroidery and constantly asked my mum to teach me. She thought I was hopeless, I was not very neat, but I persevered. I started properly making my own clothes at 14. I think I knitted a pair of mittens, they were my first piece. I also recycled a lot of my grandmother’s clothes; until I understood shapes I was mainly wearing customized second-hand clothes. I still do, I value old clothes more than new ones. I also remember making a black tie-dyed kaftan in muslin, using my brother’s diapers. My father was horrified when I wore it in public. He was the mayor and I was the talk of the town, for the wrong reasons…

Where do you get your inspiration from?

I get my inspiration from the world around me. I love history and costumes, so I am always looking at paintings and books to try and work out how things were made back then. I also like looking at different cultures and how they resolve the fastenings, the fabrics they use. Sometimes I look at buildings and try and apply construction techniques to my garments. Sometimes inspiration comes from a film, from nature, from the news.

Tell me about your ecoLuxury line, Elena Garcia. How did it come about?

The Autumn/Winter 08 is a derivation of my graduate collection at the London College of Fashion. Ilya and I decided that the easiest thing to do would be to continue from that collection and take the bits that we wanted and explore further. That collection was inspired by the Silk Route. We took out the cutwork and the felting from it and added Ilya’s dyeing techniques on silk and worked on the shapes.

How do you go about choosing fabrics? What makes them eco-friendly?

The fabrics I use are made without pesticides. The silk for example is produced without chemicals, the mulberry trees are not sprayed with pesticides and the production of the yarn is done according to old methods, using soap and ash to de-gum the fibers, it is a slower process. I have also used organic linen and in the next collection I am using organic bamboo, which is absolutely beautiful and grows quickly, it’s easy to harvest. I avoid the use of cotton, because most of it is produced using a huge amount of pesticides and requires a great deal of water, so it harms the soil and the environment. Organic and fair trade cotton is better, but it needs to be from a rain-fed region. I am trying to show that we can live without being so cotton dependent. We use metal free low impact dyes.

Working with those fabrics you do, does it inhibit your designs in any way?

The fabric doesn’t inhibit the design at all, but we need to make an effort with the design so the public can justify the prices. Organic fabrics are more expensive than non organic fabrics, but it’s difficult to tell, so the design needs to look exclusive and expensive. I also make a point of not using plastic or zips for the fastenings, so this does limit the designs. I just have to work a bit harder, be more imaginative.

Talk about your fall 2008 collection. What went into it, what can we expect to see?

The Fall 08 collection features 5 types of organic silks and 1 type of organic linen. In terms of textile techniques we have focused on three: satin cutwork, felting on silk, and tie-dye resist. The shapes are comfortable and elegant, we use silk ties and natural shell buttons for the fastenings and overall they have a very ethereal and romantic feel, they are sexy and feminine without showing too much.

There was a time when “green” fashion was considered unstylish…Eco- friendly lines have come a long way. How have you seen this change?

We still have a long way to go, but I believe we are moving in the right direction. I started knitting with hemp a few years ago, when it was still considered a “hippy trend”. The problem back then is that the people who began to produce eco-friendly clothes were entrepreneurs, not designers. If we want to loose the “new age” image, we need to get more designers involved. Then the high street will take notice, and then we can make a difference, because the mainstream chains can actually change the way fabrics and clothes are produced, they work big volumes and could make eco-fabrics cheaper and more accessible.

What are your thoughts on designers who aren’t really known for creating eco-friendly lines who have now made it a point to add that to their collections?

I think its great; there should be more of them. Eco should become the standard.

Do you have a favorite piece?

Yes, I have a felted jacket that I made using a recycled sari from a charity shop. I felted the whole thing with merino wool and turned it into a jacket. It’s a beautiful olive green with white wool patches and I made it during my first year at college. It combines my passion for recycling and textiles and it inspired all the felted pieces I am known for today.

What should we look for in purchasing eco-friendly lines, such as yours?

I tend to focus on the details. My clothes are handcrafted and well finished, made in small batches. The fabrics are amazing, they feel great against the skin. The felted pieces are all one-offs, you never know how the wool is going to shrink. The cutwork in each blouse takes hours. The level of craft is very high, so you are really investing on a piece of clothing that will be passed down for generations. Most eco-ranges like mine are made with great care. In my case, I also make sure I involve a local community or a marginalized group to create new skills and give people their dignity back. I try to help as much as I can.

What’s your favorite part about what you do?

I enjoy designing as much as running the business, which is rare, apparently. Most of the work involves promotion and business skills, rather than designing. The actual clothes take a very small part of my time, I spend most of my hours organizing and making sure things are done well and on schedule.

You can see Elena’s creations at elenagarciastudio.com. And, make sure to view her recycled clothing label, Sew Last Season at sewlastseson.com.