Spring 2007
Green: the new black?

Eco-friendly Fashions

The fashion world is a fickle one. Popular styles and colors change like the wind. However, there’s an emerging trend that doesn’t appear to be going out of style anytime soon. Retailers are selling newly styled, environmentally friendly apparel and accessories—ranging from hip and funky to stylish and classic—and consumers are scooping it up.

Shoppers are surprised to learn that today’s eco-friendly fashions are very different from the dated, au naturel, frumpy beige T-shirts, cotton pants and shorts that were as stylish as potato sacks and as comfortable as burlap. Designers of clothes have modified and developed their processes and fiber blends to develop comfortable, luxurious fabrics that offer versatility in design, style and fit. Natural dyes have also helped turn drab into fab. Likewise, eco-friendly accessories have greatly expanded beyond hippie-style hemp necklaces and rope bracelets into products that are functional, stylish and often as beautiful as works of art.

“In the past, the focus was on the product being organic, rather than a stylish product that happens to be organic,” says Marci Zaroff, founder and president of Under The Canopy, in Boca Raton, FL, which makes fashion-forward organic apparel.

At one time, if people wanted to buy natural apparel, they had to sacrifice comfort and style. Fortunately, that’s no longer the case. Today’s apparel makers understand that people aren’t just going to buy their merchandise because it’s good for the environment. “Our mission is to give consumers products that are stylish, modern, high-quality, affordable, nice-fitting, and socially and environmentally responsible at the same time,” Zaroff says. In other words, today’s organic apparel is enviro-chic.

Doing the numbers

The estimated global retail sales of organic cotton products increased from $245 million in 2001 to $583 million in 2005, an average annual growth rate of 35 percent, according to Organic Exchange’s 2006 Global Organic Cotton Market Report. By 2008, the market is expected to grow to more than $2.6 billion—a tenfold increase in just seven years.

The growth in eco-friendly products is being fueled in large part by the popularity of organic foods, says Rebecca Calahan Klein, president of the Organic Exchange, a nonprofit trade association in Oakland, CA, that promotes the use of organically grown cotton. Organic food has helped educate consumers about the availability and value of organic products, Klein says. Because of this increased awareness, people now look for and appreciate environmentally friendly products that they can use in other areas of life.

Ooh baby, that’s cute

Women’s clothing is the fastest-growing segment of organic apparel, according to the Organic Trade Association. Apparel marketers concluded that if women shoppers want environmentally friendly fashions for themselves, they would probably want the same things for their children. They were right. Organic clothing for infants, children and teenagers are becoming increasing popular, according to the trade association. Infants’ and children’s merchandise are big sellers for Emily Proctor, owner of Wildflower Boutique in Sacramento, CA. Some people may not practice eco-friendly lifestyles; nonetheless, they like to buy these items because they are conscious of the products they purchase for their children, Proctor says. It doesn’t hurt that the products are adorable and make nice gifts, she adds.

One of the brands that her customers love is San Francisco-based Speesees. The line includes T-shirts, kimonos, bibs, caps and bodysuits with little images of frogs, giraffes and monkeys in colors like redwood, pear and pumpkin.

Don’t forget to accessorize

Retailers looking for unique accessories haven’t been overlooked. Creative designers are using every recyclable product imaginable to develop interesting and eye-catching products. Many have low minimum order requirements, which means that gift shops can test eco-chic product offerings with little financial risk. Bazura Bags, for example, is proving that one person’s trash is another’s treasure. The Toronto-based company has a line of eco-chic merchandise handcrafted from colorful discarded juice containers that also impart a hint of fresh-fruit scent. The labels are eye-catching and fun, says Larry Duprey, founder of Bazura (the Filipino word for garbage). The most popular designs are coin purses, messenger bags, lunch bags and purses.

Since 2001, Heather English, owner of English Retreads, based in Boulder, CO, has turned recycling into a bold fashion statement. She rescues discarded truck and tractor tubes rescued from landfills to make durable black handbags, book bags, totes, backpacks and belts. The original tubes probably have more than 60,000 miles on them before English gives them a whole new life.

Littlearth collects bottle caps from bars all over the Pittsburgh area, where the company is based, and uses them to make belts. The company also creates handbags and key chains with recycled license plates and embellishes them with hundreds of sparkling Swarovski crystals. “The people who purchase the products don’t mind calling attention to themselves,” says Dave Horn, marketing director. “The unexpected use of materials makes them real conversation pieces.”

DadGear of Denver, CO is another company that is making use of unexpected materials in new ways. The company’s Billboard series of diaper bags made using discarded billboards is so popular that president Scott Shoemaker is considering expanding the concept to other kinds of bags as well. “Having the green concept in there gives that added breadth to our line of products,” he says.

Vinyl billboards are also the media of choice for Nicola Freegard and Robin Janson, award-winning designers who created Tucson, AZ-based Vy & Elle (a play on the word “vinyl”). They use discarded vinyl billboards that are stretched and restyled into functional, abstract art in the forms of iPod, laptop and CD cases, wallets and even coolers.

Speaking of unusual materials, Ecoist crafts accessories using recycled candy wrappers, food packages, billboards and other materials that would otherwise end up in landfills. When using candy wrappers, artists in Mexico cut the papers, fold them into strips and tightly weave them into coin purses, handbags, placemats and bracelets. “We believe that style comes first,” says Ecoist founder Jonathan Maroschamer. “No consumer will purchase our products because we are nice, eco-friendly tree-huggers. Consumers will buy what looks good on them, and what’s in style. However, through fashion and awareness, we hope to enhance the planet, elevate consumer consciousness and transmit our values, not just our sense of style.”

The thought of being able to give a beautiful gift that is also environmentally friendly adds value and makes an item a little more special, Klein of the Organic Exchange says. “People not only enjoy such products, they feel good about supporting environmental and social causes.”

Shoemaker of DadGear agrees. “It really is a win-win,” he says. “You are recycling and you get this product with urban chic—hardly anything could be better.”





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