Presenting the inaugural Modern Hippie of the Month:  Alasandra Russo of Vivi, a green-minded clothing store for children.

When did you start “thinking green,” and what inspired you to do so?

It’s hard for me to pinpoint a specific time in my life when I started thinking green. I’ve been a nature lover since I was little, always playing outside and counting down the days to summer when I could be outside all day. Being born and raised in New Jersey, the juxtaposition of nature and industry is just about as severe as it gets. I grew up in the northern suburbs 20 minutes from New York City surrounded by farms. My family and I spent most of our weekends at my uncle’s farm about an hour west of where we live. Drive just 20 minutes south, and you’ll find a very high concentration of factories, oil refineries and gigantic malls. Driving down the turnpike with my family when I was young, it was impossible to ignore. The massiveness of the problem always made me feel small and powerless against the whole thing that was literally steam rolling its way closer and closer to my hometown. When the farms around my house were ultimately bulldozed to make way for housing developments and a strip mall named after the old farm, it was a major turning point for me.

I think what’s so great about today is that there is such awareness about living green. It’s become more main stream, and I think children today don’t feel powerless like I did. That to me is a huge step in the right direction – not only awareness of the problem, but awareness of the steps we can all take to help make it better.

 

How does being a “modern hippie” speak to you personally? 

To me it’s all about balance and innovation… and about being an educated consumer and taking small steps. The second we try to take on the entire problem, that’s the end of it. You can’t be overwhelmed by it, or you’re just committing yourself to failure right then and there. When it comes down to basic everyday choices mall versus local shops, grocery store or farmers market, recycling bin or trash can, it’s pretty simple. Where it starts to get more complicated is in areas like fashion, where the products simply aren’t readily available to the average person. That’s ultimately how I came to start my own business. 

What is the concept behind Vivi?

I came up with the concept for the store after the birth of my niece Genevieve, a.k.a. “Vivi.” She was a preemie, and I found it practically impossible to find clothing for her that met my standards, natural or organic fiber and socially responsible. Just finding natural-fiber clothing was tough, so you can imagine that organic was pretty much out of the question.

The “Vivi Store,” as my niece calls it, is a small clothing shop for babies and children, designed around the concept of living green, reducing waste and supporting socially responsible companies. Everything at Vivi is made with natural fibers. We have a mix of lines that are either organic, handmade or made with recycled fabric. And most of our designers are doing something to give back to the global community. Whether it’s in the structure of their company and how it’s run, in their philosophy of giving back or in their efforts to reduce their carbon footprint, they are all producing fantastic products that are healthy for the planet and for the children who wear them. As consumers, we really do have the power to change the world for the better just by choosing to support the companies that are working to do just that.

How does Vivi itself (not just the products you sell) embody eco-friendliness?

In designing the layout and displays for the store, I tried to be as innovative as possible so that I could stay within my startup budget but still make it eco-friendly. I “commissioned” my fiancé to design and build the furniture. The tables and shelving were made with bamboo plywood, and the clothing racks are just simple bamboo poles tied with hemp rope. It’s very minimalistic, but it gets the job done while still looking really beautiful. Our cash counter is an antique that I refinished myself and spruced up with a green and white tile countertop. Our wrapping and packaging materials are all made with post-consumer recycled paper. We reuse or recycle all the packaging that our inventory is sent to us in. And that’s all not including the most important part… the products we sell!

What other modern hippies inspire you?

Kyle Smitley of Barley & Birch (read more in a future Modern Hippie story) is absolutely one of my favorite modern hippies. I have a great deal of respect for her ideals, mission and of course her business. She’s setting the bar extremely high when it comes to organic children’s fashion, and she’s doing it right. Not only that, but her philanthropy is helping a lot of people in the process. If everyone ran their business the way she does the world would be a much better place.

Vivi Bambini, (www.vivibambini.com),  11 Sheridan Avenue, Ho-ho-kus NJ 07458, (201) 857-2173.

Genevieve is wearing a dress from the Tea Collection at the store’s Grand Opening.

The Little Citizens of the World onesies, part of the Tea Collection.  Tea donates 50% of the proceeds from those products to the Global Fund for Children.

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