The new Gant flagship store that recently opened on Fifth Avenue is truly a beautiful space. The central staircase is reminiscent of the Guggenheim Museum and, in fact, there is a gallery of sorts on one landing showing various apparel "artifacts" from Gant's long history. It's thoughtfully merchandised, and, of course, packed full of all-American merch. My favorite? Just about anything from the downstairs Rugger section. (Word of advice? Don't toddle down those steps after a drink or two--those three dimensional graphics on the walls can be really distracting!)

The very smart Gant people (Smart enough, for instance, to run into me on the subway on the way home one day recently and remind me that I haven't blogged in weeks.) not only did the typical store opening on press day, they also backed it up with a series of events designed to highlight the company's ecological, sustainable approach to design.

One of these events invited a member of the United States' own "royal family", Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., to speak about Waterkeeper Alliance, the organization he chairs. Now, from a marketing standpoint, to feature a scion of the family which is the template for modern, preppy style at an event celebrating the opening of a store whose roots lie within that same paradigm, is smart. But to invite this Kennedy is genius.

Kennedy's speech described the original impetus behind Waterkeeper Alliance and their war against GE and getting them to clean up the Hudson River of the PCBs they'd dumped into it for years. He then moved on to a place that felt about as close to church as I've ever felt in a retail store (well, there was that time during the midnight sale at Charivari in the '80s...). Kennedy went off on a tangent about how farming has become an industry, how we have lost touch with the seasons, the landscapes and, ultimately, our connection to God. Regardless of our religion or creed, the environment is where mankind has always connected to the Almighty: Noah, Jesus, Mohammed, Buddha all had their epiphanies in the wilderness. Kennedy believes that there are illuminating messages that are written into creation that reveal the wisdom of God.

At this point I was nearly in tears, and it was taking all of my "I'm too cool to break down and cry in front of a room full of fashionistas, no matter how well-intentioned" control to maintain my composure.

The point was driven home. As consumers, we may all be ultimately driven by designer labels, utility or price before we make decisions about the health of our planet...yet as an industry, as manufacturers and marketers, it is our responsibility to eliminate waste and value efficiency by caring for the environment from which we all benefit.