Eco-Friendly Fashion Design Competition Eschews Fur

How does an eco-conscious fashionista reconcile her love of clothes with her love for the planet? Is it reeeeally necessary to eschew conspicuous consumption and strip old tires for shoe leather, darn your old Carhatts with used dental floss? Summer Rayne Oakes, model, advocate for sustainability, and host of the Discovery Channel's Planet Green, doesn't think so. And look at her (see photo above). Don't try to tell us that being green and being great-looking can't be exactly the same thing.

Oakes, along with Gorgeously Green author Sophie Uliano and E magazine editor Brita Belli, will be judging fffashion, a fur-free design competition that is sponsored by E magazine and Born Free USA, an animal cruelty advocacy group (yes, they are advocating against animal cruelty, not for it). Independent designers and students are invited to submit their fur-free designs here, before the deadline on April 1. The competition is part of Born Free USA's Consumers for a Fur-Free Society, which has partnered with the likes of H&M and Topshop, among others.

The winner will receive $750 in cash, as well as the opportunity to have their design professionally modeled and photographed in E magazine and on the fffashion website. So hop to it—or, rather, get on the bandwagon and let the bunnies keep hopping. Wool is warmer, anyway.