After green issues of Marie Claire, Vanity Fair and other fashion giants came out, it was only a matter of time before eco-friendly fashion got its own publication. Behold Boho, which launches nationwide August 12, and is the first green publication to be printed on entirely recycled paper, with natural soy ink and no glossy finish. The publication was founded by Gina La Morte, a celebrity stylist. You can look for it at your local Barnes & Noble or Borders.
As for the contents, paging through Boho feels like walking through an Anthropologie store or paging through a scrapbook. Almost every featured item shares the same vintage flower-child ingénue aesthetic, full of trees, butterflies, and the obligatory peace-sign regalia.
Sorry, Boho, but green fashion magazines will never get off the ground unless they start featuring clothing that isn't dirty-crunchy-hippie-granola-Olsen-twin-chic. If green fashion is ever to be a replacement for fast fashion, it needs to look a little less green. Long, flowy skirts, center-parted hair and jute bags will not fly in the workplace. Earth tones do not suit all skin colors. Though Boho's not exactly trying to be one-size-fits-all, it could certainly diversify the styles featured in the magazine.
That aside, there is plenty of good stuff in there, and much of it is affordable (aside from the $370 iWood Eco Designs sunglasses made of scrap wood from aircraft interiors, which I crave). Vegan shoes for $50, and feathered headbands for less than $15—try finding anything for those prices in any other mainstream fashion magazine, ever. Boho shows us that green fashion can be quite affordable and, if we're choosy, just as chic.
The magazine also rates companies on how green their products are, on a three-leaf scale. This can be helpful in avoiding greenwashing, but it's unclear what to think of products that are given no leaves. Should we not buy these? If so, why are they featured?
The magazine itself is a pretty page-turner, but there are few articles. Features in the 88-page first issue include an article about women who work in ocean conservation, a profile of Bravo's Make Me a Supermodel winner Holly Kiser, a look at Maybelline model Josie Maran's new makeup line, and a recipe from model-turned-baker Taylor Foster-Allen for organic pecan bars that I'll try sometime. Finally, there's a poem called "Boho Girl," which is a real eye-roller. It contains the line, "Her only fear is convention. Her only weakness, shoes."
Reader Comments Read all comments (11)
RemyC. of CT 2:24PM October 08, 2008
Theresa of CA 6:51PM October 01, 2008
Theresa of CA 6:45PM October 01, 2008