in vogue

Vogue Goes Green in Its Own Vogue-y Way

After Chanel’s barnyard spring 2010 extravaganza, it’s only natural for Vogue to hit the farm for November’s environment issue. In addition to stories like Hamish Bowles’s first-person account of his wildlife survival mission, the magazine dabbles in the world of sustainable food. Model Karlie Kloss poses in a farm-glorifying spread in California (among relatively measly crops, if we may). She also sprouts like a Chanel-clad stalk from robust (possibly mutant, if we may) rows of Swiss chard and kale on Greenpoint’s own Rooftop Farms. In the accompanying article — don’t forget, things to read are in there — Vogue darling Sally Singer decides to reduce her environmental impact — kind of like when Kimora Lee Simmons did it for her reality show Life in the Fab Lane. But Singer actually knows a thing or two about being green going into it. She has already incorporated local food into her diet, bikes occasionally, and champions sustainable fashion. But she still feels guilty.

Since this is Vogue, she can pretty easily be like one of those people! So she commissions New York company Deep Green Living to help her reduce her environmental impact (Kimora hired one of these companies, too — maybe the same one, who knows). She goes greener by installing low-flow showerheads; her husband whines, “You’ve just taken away my one pleasure in life.” She goes greener by purchasing Brooklyn-made soaps wrapped in vintage magazines (oh, the joys of recyclables!). And she goes even greener by waking up at 5 a.m. to cook overflowing deliveries of local produce.

In the end, the only thing she can really commit to is cycling (unless she kept that low-flow showerhead after turning in her story). She gets the Vogue-iest bike she can get — a Simple City by Gary Fisher — and enjoys nods to her chicness as she cruises around town. She even rides while traveling thanks to communal bicycle programs in Europe (but did she bike to the shows at Paris Fashion Week? Hmmm?). It’s not only green, it’s a great way to burn calories! And to Singer’s credit, nowhere in the piece does she point this out.

Vogue Goes Green in Its Own Vogue-y Way