It’s the time of the month again – welcome back to Tanja’s Eco Chic! Our eco fashionista Tanja is always on the look for the latest eco fashion trends and shares her best finds with you here on UrbanMeisters.
For this month’s feature, we had the tremendous pleasure of meeting Paola Fleming – THE Greenie to know in Paris.
 

ECO CHIC AT LA MANUFACTURE ONIRIQUE

Passionate, enthusiastic and truly engaged in the eco community, Paola told us all about her green projects in her artistic atelier-boutique tucked away in one of Montmartre’s beautiful cobblestone streets. Paola’s La Manufacture Onirique is an all-in-one shop: a boutique, an art gallery, a community for greenies to come together as well as an atelier! La Manufacture Onirique literally means ‘the dream production’ and we couldn’t agree with the name more- that’s how lovely the place is!
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As Paola is a true believer in building a green community, she truly followed her dreams in creating this environmentally conscious space. With La Manufacture Onirique, Paola managed to set up a hub where like-minded individuals get together, talk about their green ideas and take part in fun projects. These range from DIY workshops on dying your own clothes, creating home made natural cosmetics to developing photos with Paola’s special coffee technique in the atelier’s very own dark room. Find more about upcoming events and workshops here.
 

Sencha & Bourbon

Turmeric, coffee, tea, hibiscus flowers or roucou from Guadeloupe – these are all exotic ingredients you would normally find in your kitchen drawer. But here’s the good news: Paola found a great way to use these ingredients to spice up your wardrobe in an all-natural way! It all started in San Francisco, when Paola wanted to create a unique gift for a close friend. With a growing number of friends asking her for their very own individualised tinted clothing items, Sencha & Bourbon was born in the year of 2012!
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The most iconic pieces of Sencha & Bourbon are the fantastic high-quality organic scarves that come in different pastel shades. Made out of organic French cotton and Portuguese cashmere, Paola dyes the scarves in a 100% natural way. In fact, she even told us that she doesn’t wear gloves when she works her magic at La Manufacture Onirique.
And look, who it is – UrbanMeister’s conscious guest writer Leotie Lovely wrapped in a Sencha & Bourbon scarf!
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Sencha & Bourbon also offers recycled leather bags made out of latex, natural oils and leather waste. The process of producing these leather items allows Paola to save 50% water in comparison to the usual amount. In addition, the bag handles are made out of organic cotton and flax yarn. These are of course also – yes, you guessed correctly – dyed all au naturel!
Even the packaging that the Sencha & Bourbon items come in are very environmentally friendly. The paper utilized for the packaging and etiquettes are not only recycled, but also sown with seeds by Growingpaper.
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In other words, you don’t just walk away with a chic Sencha & Bourbon item, but also with flower seeds that you can plant in a pot for your very own green home décor. Isn’t that fantastic? On a side note, do read our special indoor plant guide to help you augment the air quality, have a look here.
 

ECO CHIC ADVICE ON DYING COTHES YOURSELF

Naturally, Paola’s suggestion on being more ecologically conscious is to dye your favourite worn-out clothes before thinking about buying more. All you need to do is to take a closer look in the kitchen! Mix up your favourite ingredients with a little bit of creativity and there you go! Your special individualised and recycled new clothing item that is quite literally according to your taste ;-). And a special tip: Textile dying also allows you to overshadow stains that won’t get out of your clothes.
 

PAOLA’S UPCOMING ECO CHIC PROJECTS

Since Paola strongly aspires to create an environmentally conscious community, her future projects are all about collaborations with other green artists. During the Fashion Revolution Week in April 2016, Paola co-created unique fashion items with the sustainable brand WYLDE at The Green Shop.
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Paola with WYLDE creator Clarissa Acario
 
But this was only the start. Watch out for more upcoming WYLDE x Sencha & Bourbon pieces. In case you’ve missed it, find out more about the upcycled vintage brand WYLDE in the previous edition of Tanja’s Eco Chic series.
Paola’s latest big project is to kick-start an NGO that will help new and upcoming eco artists to make it in the world of fashion. The idea is to help these young entrepreneurs with fabrics, information and suggestions on the industry and possible funding. The main goal behind this project is to support creative ideas with an ethical agenda and to encourage artists in the process of bringing another eco chic brand to life.
As you can see, Paola is a true pioneer at green living. Whenever you have the opportunity to be in Paris, do swing by eco chic centre La Manufacture Onirique.
That’s it for now my dear UrbanMeisters! Till we meet again, keep it eco chic!
 
(Thank you Paola R. Fleming for the images)
 

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