Forma Living

1. Peacock - Balanced Design  2. Elime Home Mimosa Collection - Fabricadabra  3. Aspire - Mod Green Pod  4. Cheeky Lime Ikat - Fabricadabra  5. Splendor - Carnegie Fabrics  6. Anemone - Oliveira Textiles  7. Cintra, Multi Rose Turqouise - Alan Campbell  8. East Village - Ruby Green

Fabrics... bright, bold, colorful, patterned, soft, textured, subtle... I love them.  What designer doesn't?  So here is the dilemma - most are really bad in terms of their environmental impact.  The other day I was at the Kravet showroom and was shown to their small selection of sustainable offerings.  While I was fawning over their other fabric lines, (especially  the Echodesign line, note: Echo, not Eco, there is nothing sustainable about the line)... the fabrics I was shown made from recycled plastic were sorely lacking in terms of their "wow factor".  That experience inspired this list of the best fabrics in the industry, best in terms of their sustainability (meaning leaving the least impact throughout their lifespan from creation, through their long life, to their usable life's end) and best in terms of  "love it".

Carnegie Fabrics - a leader in the development of sustainable fabrics.  Carnegie has many fabrics that meet the highest sustainable certifications, including many that are Silver Cradle to Cradle certified.  While some of their sustainable fabrics are still missing the "wow factor", we found many great options.  Must be purchased through a design professional.

Balanced Design - fabrics are linen, hemp, and organic cotton.  The products are manufactured in a US textile mill and the designs are hand printed using water-based inks.

Fabricadabra - organic cotton and vintage fabrics, some in great brightly colored ikat patterns.  In addition to the ikats, the Elime Home line debuts November 2010 and has very hip bold patterns in two color collections.  It is 100% certified organic cotton low impact fiber reactive dyes with no chemical after treatments.

Quadrille - if you can't find a pattern you like in an organic fabric or a synthetic made from recycled content, linen is your next best option.  Made from the flax plant, it requires less pesticides than cotton.  Quadrille, along with the other lines they represent, Alan Campbell, China Seas, and Home Couture, have tons of "love it" fabrics in 100% linen.

Ruby Green - classic designs using only 100% organic cotton .  The designer of this  fabric line is Michelle Adams formerly of Domino Magazine and currently working for their new online magazine Lonny.  She researched every part of the textile manufacturing business to come up with an extremely sustainable selection of 100% certified cotton fabrics that are whitened with peroxide not bleach and are printed with water based inks.

Oliveira - this company was begun by two sisters, Dawn Oliveira and Deborah Olson, who came together to push the textile industry forward in sustainability.  Their collection is inspired by the sea with a three different motifs ranging from delicate renderings of shells to bold wave patterns, all printed on hemp and organic cotton.  Their fabrics adhere to the highest environmental standards and are third party certified.  The collection is hand silk screened by artisans in New England with waterbased, pigment dyes that are free of heavy metals.

Mod Green Pod - the creators of fabrics and wallpapers with brilliant colors and creative "love it" modern designs.  Their fabrics are printed on 100% certified organic cotton cloth upholstery that is grown, woven, and printed in the United States.  The rich saturated colors are achieved using non-toxic, low-impact printing pigments and dyes.