What do bamboo, vegan fur and leather, and “peace” silk have to do with fashion? According to The Battalion’s Chrys and Linda Wong, everything.
The sister designers formed the California-based label with a view to becoming “the modern purveyor of green luxury.” And they’ve done so by sourcing sustainable, recycled, and environmentally responsible materials for designs that would still be slick, and runway-ready, even if they weren’t eco-conscious and comfortable.
With a collection that includes flowing tops and dresses, streamlined vests and voguish outerwear, the label uses organic and regenerated cotton, moso bamboo (the type Pandas don’t eat), and promodal fibers from 100 percent sustainable wood pulp. Their vegan fur and leather is made from synthetics and recycled plastics, and their silk is produced in a humane way that allows silk moths to live out a natural life cycle.
The result of these earth and animal friendly initiatives? An often bohemian and always guilt free chic that looks as good as it feels to wear.
Certainly, the Wongs design with a view to wearability, but not necessarily at the expense of style.
Chrys Wong says she creates for people who “are a little bit tired of the high-end T-shirt lines [of] the past decade, where everyone’s wearing their sweat-suits in restaurants.” And she describes The Battalion’s followers as “people who want to move on to something more sophisticated, more refined, but be able to be comfortable at the same time.”
We at The Volts have been particularly drawn to their romantic yet polished flying squirrel shirts, funky veggie fur coats, and sleek animal-free leather-style jackets and vests, all part and parcel of a label with collections as varied as the themes that inspired them.
In the short time since the Wongs founded The Battalion, its collections have been influenced by elements as disparate as the 1980s new wave and the historical sport of fencing, leaving us with just one remark: Touché.
With all its claims to high style, inventiveness, and wearability, The Battalion has been gaining attention among more than just the green movement, but is also rapidly rising through the ranks of the fashion world.
Most recently, the label was featured during this year’s Vancouver Eco-Fashion Week as well as L.A. Fashion Week, and we can only see even bigger things on The Battalion’s horizon.
