The wearer can feel both beautiful and proud. This is the modern luxury: ecoluxury

 

In January, a local magazine did a feature on the Swedish designer Camilla Norrback, the Queen of ecoluxury. I had never heard about her or her designs but the looks that were featured definitely got me hooked. Her philosophy is simple: the production of organic and recycled enviromentally friendly materials under proper working conditions resulting in sustainable and wearable (non-hippielike) clothes. The designs aren't earth-shattering on their own but the little details and the quality you get by buying one of them are. Her designs aren't one hundred percent ecofriendly but as she points out herself, it's still a learning process and she constantly trying to improve the production process even further.

By a stroke of luck, one of the stockists listed, Maaike Kleedt is only a two-minute walk from my house. One day in February I was riding my bike after school and passed Maaike. And damn, I must have almost caused a traffic collision when I saw Norrback's collection hanging in the window, I was so excited.  Initially I only got the blue striped dress (with the amazing detailing on the back, those buttons!) but I had to have those gorgeous wedges in the blue version. Maaike, the owner of the shop, is just about the nicest person ever in history (and that's a fact), for she ordered them especially for me.

Camilla Norrback is definitely way, and I mean way, over my budget but looking back, broke and on a shopping ban for the next couple of months, it was totally worth it. I now have two great pieces hanging (and standing) in my closet for many more years to come.

Picture credit: areyouswedish.com