Wearin’ of the green is growing
What shall we wear today? Our seaweed T-shirt and bamboo jeans? Or our organic-cotton skirt, fair-trade silk blouse and sweater of merino wool from free-range sheep raised in the Southern Alps of New Zealand?
For eco-fashionistas, the green choices are becoming more numerous – and stylish – by the week.
“Green” fashion is more than a passing fad. It’s a lifestyle choice, says Cynthia Spencer, a trend-spotter from New York.
“Concerns about personal health and a healthy planet have prompted a green revolution. Fashion is a part of that,” she says.
Essentially, green clothing and accessories are made from organic raw materials produced without pesticides or from recycled materials, says Spencer. No harmful chemicals and bleaches are used to process or dye the goods. And laborers earn fair wages and enjoy healthy working conditions.
“Eco-fashion doesn’t mean a burlap sack anymore,” says Aimee Hitchner, co-owner of Ginger, a Winter Park, Fla., boutique that includes such eco-friendly labels as Loomstate Denim, Amy Tangerine and Linda Loudermilk, who has been dubbed the “queen of green.”
