Three Bay Area brands provide sustainable fashion from head to toe
By: Kristen Philipkoski
Three sustainable Bay Area brands came together for our latest editorial, creating some beautifully foggy, very San Francisco photos at the city’s Ocean Beach.
The result is head-to-toe (literally) sustainable fashion with models wearing beautiful jewelry pieces from Esqueleto, Blue and Yellow clothing, and Indosole shoes.
Besides being based in the Bay Area, the brands are united by personal journeys that have made sustainability their passion and mission.
Blue and Yellow Make Green
For Chris Silverman, founder of Blue and Yellow (make green, get it?), the brand came together out of personal need and a long career spent at clothing brands including stints at XLarge (which he co-owned), Levis, Gap, Chrome Industries and more.
“My uniform is so simple, but it's so hard to find good quality stuff that I like that’s not stupid expensive,” Silverman said. “Add sustainability to that and it's nearly impossible.”
So he came up with a curated collection of stylish basics for both men and women that meets his style and sustainability requirements. The pieces include t-shirts, sweatshirts, socks, jackets, sweatpants and jumpsuits, all made with respun or recycled fabric. The garments are almost 100% made in North America, including packaging, and are made without dyes.
“Consumers want fast fashion because on social media they don't want to be seen wearing the same t-shirt or dress two times in a row,” Silverman said.
But he points out that while a traditional t-shirt may cost just $15, it uses hundreds of gallons of water to make—and it’s likely to end up in the trash after a few months of wear.
“I'm not exaggerating, I’ve worn the Blue & Yellow t-shirts hundreds if not thousands of times already. So if you do a cost per wear breakdown—yes, it's $48 but if you’re wearing it 1,000 times like it's pennies.”
Plus, Blue & Yellow uses 90% less water and energy than traditional brands to make their garments.
Rubber Wranglers
Indosole was also created out of necessity when founder Kyle Parsons was traveling in Bali and one of his sandals broke. He found a local vendor selling rubber sandals and asked where she got the rubber to make them. She pointed out the window at the many motorbikes driving by.
Those particular sandals were extremely uncomfortable, resulting in blisters and foot pain. But he couldn’t stop thinking about the rubber.
“I really liked the concept of it,” Parsons said. “So when I got back to California, I started doing research on tire pollution. I found that it’s actually a really big problem—one of the top environmental issues and it didn't really get much attention, like plastics. Each year, billions of tires end up in landfills and clog streams and rivers.”
As he began to develop the idea for his own shoe brand—which initially seemed off the wall—he realized that the concept actually drew on some formative life experiences.
“I worked at a dump at a recycling plant in college,” Parsons said. “And then I worked at a surf shop, the following summer, and I was in charge of the sandal section. And then I moved to Lake Tahoe to try to become a snowboarder and I wound up in retail sales.”
Ten years later, Indosole has 15 employees and has developed a manufacturing process that’s both efficient—they can make 10,000 sandals per day—and kind to the earth and the people who make the shoes.
The brand’s latest technology takes the millions of defective rubber soles discarded by major footwear brands and recycles them to make Indosole’s first sneakers. The sneaker production also incorporates a natural-dye powder that can match any Pantone color.
Benevolent Baubles
Lauren Wolf opened the first Esqueleto shop in Oakland’s Temescal Alley in 2011. It served as her personal studio, with a small retail space for her own jewelry plus some pieces and artwork created by close friends. Since then she has opened two shops in Los Angeles, one in New York City and despite the pandemic, she opened her newest location in San Diego in 2021.
Esqueleto means skeleton in Spanish, and is a reflection of Wolf’s interest in casting bones, teeth and shells in her early designs. She quickly noticed a strong demand for ethically-sourced jewelry, and now that’s all she carries, whether pieces are made by herself or other artists including Adeline, Communion by Joy, Amali and so many more. The brand has also built a robust home offering.
“We try to offer something for everyone, in a wide range of price points, whether they are shopping for a gift, a personal treasure, or marking a significant milestone or commitment,” said Alexis Adams, Esqueleto’s brand director. “One thing that definitely unites our customers (is) an appreciation for unique design and ethical, handmade, small-batch production by independent artists.”
That’s also a theme that connects not only these three brands, but their customers.
“Everything we do,” Silverman said, “from the bed we sleep on, to the food we eat in the morning, the clothes we put on, the car we drive or the bike we ride—whatever it is, it’s all connected.”
