Linda Loudermilk serves up luxury, eco-flavored

Bamboo is the new cotton, says couturier Linda Loudermilk in an interview with the L.A. Times -- but from the looks of her designs, she was aiming too low. In her hands, bamboo might well be the new silk.

Ms. Loudermilk uses exclusively exotic fibers like sasawashi, sea cell, and lenpur (a.k.a. wood pulp) as her canvas for creating beautiful clothes. But her work isn't about beauty first -- it's all about sustainability with a flair for the dramatic. That's why she's calling it "luxury eco" (that's a trademark, darlings). Straight from her web site, in as many words, her work screams: eco can be edgy. And on a Loudermilk runway (probably built of fast-growing supertropical bamboo, itself), there's little room for the serene hippie/Zen vibe many have come to associate with the organic movement. At least, We read from the aura of her web presence that she's rather more a proponent of the hollow-cheeked, long-necked, haughty model runway population. And in the organic world? That is edgy.

By the by, do read the aforementioned L.A. Times article. It contains a smileworthy parcel of information on the Amazingly Sustainable Wonder Fiber: Bamboo.