Amy Schimel

Before setting out on your own as a designer, you did internships with Marc Jacobs, Anna Sui and Nicole Miller. When did you decide to go green?

It was a gradual evolution. I started by being sweatshop-free manufacturing only in New York. Another influence came about when my husband and I enrolled our daughter at the Rudolph Steiner School in New York. Everything in that school is organic—all the play toys are either wood or made out of natural fibers like wool, and the food is organic. They are very socially conscious, they care about the community and serving others, and their example inspired me to take a stronger stance on being eco. I thought: If my daughter is going to be in this kind of environment at school, I should try and make her home ecologically and socially conscious too.

How green are you now?

When I first started out seven years ago, the biggest challenge was finding organic fabrics in small enough lots. Now I'm trying to figure out how I can work in bamboo. I don't use a new box every time we ship out, I try to stick with natural fibers. One store that we sell to—Beklina, a green boutique— recently started cutting down on their packaging so they requested no hangers and no polybags. It all helps. I don't think I'll ever be 100% green, but being 'as green as possible' is a good thing.

What are your inspirations?

The 80s informed my sensibilities from beginning to end—there was graffiti, street art, the roots of rap and electronica. And I love to travel, especially to the Caribbean, with its primal natural beauty. When I design a new dress, I often ask myself: Could I go on vacation in this? I often picture myself standing in the middle of a field—it’s my test.

Why the name Myth and Ritual?

I called my company Myth and Ritual because we're constantly recycling and reinventing old myths. Wearing a Grecian tunic today, you're not only referencing Greece, but also the '60s. The Ritual part of the name refers to how we all have our rituals of getting ready in the morning, or getting ready for a party; it's self-expression. A lot of people want to wear my clothes in a straightforward way, but it's fun to see people wearing the frill dress with bedhead hair, smeared makeup and Gothic jewelry.

How do you shop when buying green clothing for yourself?

My first priority is always: Do I like it? Does it fit into my style? It has to be cool, but not necessarily 100% green. I wear my own line all the time, as well as Mociun, for her cool and unique prints and Loomstate for its easy wearability. Any label that seems small and independent is something that I'm attracted to. I look for the quirky, the unusual, and for brands made in the US because I know they're sweatshop-free. I kind of bristle when I see something that's made in China. I love it when a company is creative about being organic—when they'll put, say, organic cotton pockets on pants. That tells me that they haven't found the right cotton yet for the rest of the design. They don't want to sacrifice fit, but they do want to do something organic. Every bit counts.

Have you and your husband ever had an eco fight?

He's vegetarian, and eco-minded in general. But every once in a while, he has to do his non-eco thing—like putting milk cartons in the recycling bin. I hate having to go through the recycling bins and redo them. But you have to, because you get worried that once you put it out on the sidewalk, they'll reject this whole bag of recycling because there's one milk carton in it that was supposed to go in the other recycling bag.

Are there three green products you could recommend?

I like all Seventh Generation products, Burt's Bees products for my daughter, and Dr. Bronner's soap because it's been around for so long, has multiple uses, and the label is always a good read in the bathtub.