Kudos and heads up to fashion designer, Masako Oka. Oka has been designed eco-friendly clothes for more than a decade. An interest in nature and earth friendly and reusable fabrics, spurred her to create her first sustainable fashion in 1994. Shortly after 1994, I purchased my first “pleather” coat and another made from recycled garbage bags. Yes, garbage bags: I still have it! If any of you can remember that era, it was truly difficult finding vegetarian and/or sustainable clothes. Fortunately for me, I lived in the “eco-positive” Bay Area. You’ve heard this all before, right? So, back to Masako Oka, a pioneer in ecological fashion, the true heroine here.

Materials used include soybeans, Japanese paper, bamboo and a new threadlike material developed from cornstarch. Here is a video from a fairly recent show in Mexico for the Spring/Summer 2009 season.