Loudermilk Men: Luxury After Hemp
A Wall Street deal maker wrapped in a hemp suit might sound like a fantasy, but for Los Angeles designer Linda Loudermilk, it is no dream. Instead it’s the next frontier in eco-fashion.
The self-styled luxury ecology designer recently debuted a 55- piece men’s collection at the Pooltradeshow in Las Vegas. The collection offers suits, tuxedo shirts, sweaters and premium denim constructed out of a variety of organic fabrics, including textiles using seaweed and wood pulp.
Giorgio Armani made a splash when he created a hemp suit for actor Woody Harrelson for the 1997 Academy Awards show. Armani still makes hemp-blend suits, yet few designers have followed Armani’s path into organic men’s suiting. Yet it may be wrong to say there was no designer interested in creating the all-natural suit, according to Matthew Mole, founder of the Vermont Organic Fiber Co., a wool mill based in Middlebury, Vt.
He contends that no mill has created organic wool or fabrics fine enough to use for suits.
“The driving market has been more on the outdoor- and casuallifestyle categories,” Mole said about ecologically minded fashions. “And [organic] materials are pretty limited. It makes it difficult from the get go.”
Loudermilk decided to make men’s suiting in 2002, when she debuted her self-named label eco-line of women’s clothing. She had to stop short when she realized that there were no materials that met her standards.
Since 2002, her company has focused on producing clothes for women, making use of materials such as hemp satin. For the men’s line, she developed higher-grade blends of organic fabrics, such as seaweed-based materials Seacell and Sasawashi. She said that attempting to create a new line from scratch felt like reinventing the wheel at times.
“It’s a gamble,” she said. “There were times where it felt like I was jumping off of a cliff and building wings on my way down.”
The process felt wild because it took time to develop the fabrics. It also took awhile to develop a unique look for the suit. Loudermilk and her head designer, Maria Intscher, aimed toward a silhouette that would combine classic looks with a physicality and playfulness that could reveal the person inside of the suit.
Her muse for the suits was actor Robert Downey Jr. Loudermilk said that she followed him to suit fittings for his films. She noticed that his typical style kept the grace of classic looks but was casual enough to offer ease of movement.
The silhouettes of Loudermilk’s suits can either be fitted or relaxed. Their colors range from a midnightblack suit to a two-tone blazer made out of organic-cotton denim. According to the designer, the line has been certified organic by the Oeko-Tex Standard. Wholesale price points range from $92 for a dress shirt to $1,198 for a trench coat.
Next in store
Loudermilk is building a big forum for all her products. By late November, she is scheduled to debut her 5,000-square-foot lifestyle store, Luxury Eco by Linda Loudermilk, in Los Angeles. It will be located at 8230 Melrose Ave., a few blocks from Fred Segal and across the street from the boutiques for Paul Smith and Marc Jacobs. Loudermilk’s store will offer fashions for men, women and children; homewares; and an eco-cafeacute;.
Loudermilk co-designed the store with architect Patrick Tighe. It will feature dramatic details such as a bridge spanning a pond placed in front of the emporium, podshaped dressing rooms and a roof garden.
Other eco-manufacturers said Loudermilk will help make luxury organic fashion into a serious category of clothing.
“Offering suits is something very different,” said Tariq Huq, president of recently debuted organic fashion label Natural 89, based in South Easton, Mass. “She is going to be competing in the higher end of organic with labels such as Loomstate. Few people have done suits, and it will differentiate her label.”
Retailers’ interest in organic fashion is blossoming, according to Barbara Kramer, co-owner of the Designers and Agents trade show. Her trade event went from offering a handful of organic labels in 2004 to more than 15 percent of her exhibitors offering organic fashion collections in 2007. However, labeling a fashion line as organic is not enough. She said that like any other fashion, an organic designer’s lasting success will depend on how the style of the clothes appeals to the consumer. “Design comes first,” Kramer said.
For more information on Linda Loudermilk, contact the Salt & Pepper Showroom at (213) 892- 0722. —Andrew Asch
