by Kate McKee

Created on: December 05, 2009

Looking for a coat with a conscience? Vaute Couturemight be a good place to start. Describing itself as a 'tiny, renegade fashion house', this Chicago based company launched recently with an opening line for Fall/ Winter 2009. Vaute Couture uses 100% vegan materials to produce a range of coats that have been celebrated by animal rights campaigners and fashionistas alike as being stylish, chic, wearable, warm, and above all, eco- conscious.

Philosophy

Vegan is at the heart of the operations of Vaute Couture. But so is fashion: the name, 'haut couture' but with a 'V' for vegan, is apt. Vaute Couture is far removed from the hippie, alternative image of the animal rights campaigner. The company demonstrates that it is possible to combine high fashion with social conscience. The founder, Leanne Mai-ly Hilgart is not a stranger to the fashion world: she has a background in international modeling, but since childhood, she has also been an advocate for animal rights. So, when she was inspired by the freezing winters of her native Chicago to design a series of winter coats, it was inevitable that she would look to alternatives to animal derived materials.

As Vaute Couture's website points out, vegan materials make sense on many different levels. Obviously, using vegan fabrics is kinder to animals. But using materials derived from plants or synthetic sources is also more environmentally friendly, as the animal agriculture industry is a major contributor to greenhouse gases and global warming.

The social responsibility does not stop there for Vaute Couture. The coats are produced locally in Chicago, by factories that are regularly checked to ensure that they use safe business practices and pay a living wage to their employees. Philanthropy is also important to the company: Vaute Couture are donating the net profits of one of their first designs to Farm Sanctuary, an animal protection charity.

The Products

The Fall/ Winter collection for 2009consists of four designs: the El, the Pea, the Bomono and the Vaute. These are all limited edition: only about 25 of each design were produced. The designs were inspired by the work of emerging artists from around the world, who were invited to enter a competition to submit their suggestions for coat designs. Colors are muted: each style comes in ivory, recycled black, grey and blue, and the designs are very wearable. The Bomono is an over-sized bomber style, the Vaute is a dress coat with over-sized collar and puffed sleeves,

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