Orange Is The New Black's Alysia Reiner Debuts Eco-Chic Fashion Line LIVARI At NYFW

By Alexa Tucker September 13, 2017

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New York Fashion Week is one of the biggest events of the year for the industry, and of all of the mega-famous models, street style snaps, and glamorous parties to ogle at, the biggest part of the spectacle remains the collections themselves. The clothes that make their way down the runway are often creative, artistic, and trend-setting — but they’re also not typically very eco-friendly. One runway show from the week stands out as a championing moment for environmental fashion, though: Orange Is The New Black actress Alysia Reiner’s eco-friendly line, LIVARI.

Reiner co-founded the luxury label alongside celebrity stylist Claudine DeSola and Women’s March organizer Tabitha St. Bernard-Jacobs, with the goal of creating sustainable fashion that’s beautiful, too. “The thing I’m most excited about with LIVARI is using fashion and art as a way to make environmental change… Instead of fabrics going into landfills, how can I give them a new life? How can I create beautiful classic pieces with a story to tell?,” Reiner tells Bustle.

Because discarded fabric scraps that end up in landfills are one of the biggest hurdles in sustainable fashion practices, one of LIVARI’s major values is getting as close to zero waste as possible. They partnered with different companies to recycle their remnant fabrics in an effort to minimize waste, including Preview Textiles, Rainbow Leather, Lanificio Subalpino SRL, and Two Sisters EcoTextiles. Plus, Weaving Hand wove LIVARI’s remaining scraps together as well to create a repurposed fabric as well.

Here’s Reiner walking in the show in one of their sustainable designs.

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The line also uses fish leather from Nova Kaeru, which is more ethical than traditional leather, and they worked with Oregon-based artist Rio Wrenn to use rust to due silk and sueded cotton.

Their sustainable efforts go beyond their materials, though. LIVARI is also working with the nonprofit Cool Effect, a carbon reduction organization, to reduce their emissions.

In addition to their eco-friendly efforts, LIVARI is a line created for women and by women, so it’s designed to empower women. In keeping with her connection to Orange Is The New Black, “Our dream is employing women coming out of prison, like our partner ROAD 22, who is making our T-shirts for the first collection,” Reiner says. “So we’re not only zero waste and trying to minimize our carbon footprint thanks to our partner Cool Effect, but hopefully we will actually help make real change in the industry in many different ways.”

While the whole line isn’t available to purchase on their website quite yet, their inaugural Backbone T-Shirt, designed by artist Hodaya Louis, is available for preorder now.

Backbone T-Shirt

Backbone T-Shirt, $55, LIVARI

The best part? $10.98 of your purchase of this tee goes to the Cool Effect’s carbon reduction project called The Productive Poo Project, which will “retire one ton of carbon pollution on your behalf,” according to the website.

Most of the line isn’t tee shirts, though — the runway show gave everyone a glimpse at what’s to come. (Hint: Sustainable fashion doesn’t mean burlap everything.)

“Not only is each of our pieces beautiful, but each comes with its own unique story, its own DNA, and one you can feel so good about supporting,” Reiner tells Bustle.

Here are a few standout looks from the show.

This ensemble is an upgraded take on minimalism, both edgy and simple.

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Consider this your chic new weekend wardrobe inspiration for that mild limbo season in between summer and fall.

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This dress is just begging you to take it out on the town, while the structural bag is the ultimate power-woman accessory for the office.

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Not included: A wind machine.

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