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"  Anndra Neen  Sisters Phoebe and Annette Stephens grew up in a family of artists; their grandmother Annette Nancarrow\u2014a painter, sculptor, and jewelry designer in 1930s Mexico\u2014worked alongside artists such as Diego Rivera and Jos\u00E9 Clemente Orozco, and her pieces were worn by Frida Kahlo, Peggy Guggenheim, and Helena Rubinstein. With this impossibly elegant history in mind, the Stephenses launch Anndra Neen, shell and stone amulets hung from hammered nickel breastplates and tarnished, forearm-spanning spiked cuffs, fit for a Mayan princess or medieval warrior. All are handmade at the Stephenses&amp;#039; traditional, low-impact workshop in Mexico City, where they were born. The pair spend half of their time south of the border and the rest in Manhattan. &amp;quot;I wore one of our first pieces to a party, and a male friend of ours asked to borrow it because he thought it would give him warrior powers with women,&amp;quot; Annette says. &amp;quot;Next thing we knew, he was talking to the hottest girl at the party.&amp;quot;  Next: Agua Cota   Agua Cota  Manhattan-based, Mexican-born designer Christian Cota has been a fixture on the NYC benefit circuit\u2014and has dressed his fellow philanthropist beauties\u2014since he started with a small line of delicate evening gowns and separates in 2008. Now he has set his sights on one cause in particular: Wine to Water (winetowater.org), a charity that helps provide clean drinking water to impoverished communities around the world. The 29-year-old launches Agua Cota, a capsule collection of bamboo silk jersey and linen sundresses, with 25 percent of the proceeds going directly to the foundation. Cota also recently produced locally sourced, eco-friendly raffia bracelets for the Paradisus Resort in the Dominican Republic, where he traveled to creatively recharge for his fall 2010 collection. We can&amp;#039;t wait for his next move.  Next: Costello Tagliapietra   Costello Tagliapietra  Between 17 and 20 percent of all industrial pollution comes from the treatment of fabric, which makes the textile industry the third biggest consumer and contaminator of water on the planet, according to the World Bank. Beloved Brooklyn designers Robert Tagliapietra and Jeffrey Costello are doing their part to change that. For spring and continuing into fall, their exquisitely draped gowns are now printed and colored using AirDye, a revolutionary process that requires no water and produces no toxic waste. This nifty technique saves up to 25 gallons of H2O per garment. The added bonus? All AirDye fabric is naturally reversable, giving you twice the dress for your buck. Next: Lauren Pierce   Lauren Pierce  Famous for her burlap for-charity Feed bags, Lauren Bush tries bespoke clothing with Lauren Pierce Atelier, a new line of batik dresses hand-dyed by craftswomen in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Sold exclusively at Barneys New York, the collection offers five styles along with a limited made-to-order option, which will arrive six weeks later with your name and the signature of the D.R.C. artisan who made it. With the purchase directly boosting the income of these budding designers, Bush&amp;#039;s fair-trade shifts are likely to change lives. How often can you say that about a dress? Next: Frieda and Nellie   Frieda and Nellie  Remember knotting friendship bracelets into your hair, or stacking them by the dozens on your wrists? Friends Stacy Herzog, 24, and Sarah Reid, 29, do, and they&amp;#039;re bringing them back with Frieda and Nellie, a new line of hand-stitched bracelets and necklaces named after their grandmothers. Inspired by camp-style arts and crafts, the NYC-based pair attach cotton bracelets\u2014stored in a Caboodle kit, no less\u2014to hand-me-down costume jewels from their nanas. &amp;quot;These pieces aren&amp;#039;t meant to just be a trend from the past,&amp;quot; Reid says. &amp;quot;They&amp;#039;re our memories.&amp;quot; Next: Metalskin   Metalskin  Alicia Halegua, the brains behind Metalskin, a line of chic wraparound leather bracelets, is going green for spring with a selection of vegan cuffs in honor of the designer&amp;#039;s vegetarian sister. Made from animal-free materials, including vegetable-dyed linen and vinyl-treated cloth, the bands come in a dreamy grass green faux ostrich (below) and plain flaxseed and almond hues. Almost good enough to eat. Next: Leaf   Leaf  Known for their fashion-forward basics\u2014sultan pants in organic fair-trade cotton\u2014Marie-H\u00E9l\u00E8ne Gautier and Debra Kellner are now adding sustainable cashmere from Tibet and Mongolia to their three-year-old line, Leaf. Each piece\u2014including incredibly soft scarves in mellow mushrooms, cool tie-dyes, tasseled ginghams, and a striped tunic dress\u2014is spun, woven, dyed, and knitted in fair-trade conditions in the Kathmandu Valley and Mongolia. Barneys New York has bought the collection for fall, and its website will run a two-minute video on the brand&amp;#039;s green, people-friendly practices. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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