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Going Green: Clothes Made from Organic Fabrics Are Catching On

From: Miami Herald

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/living/13809931.htm

Posted on Wed, Feb. 08, 2006
Going Green: Clothes made from organic fabrics are catching on.
BY SAMANTHA THOMPSON SMITH
Raleigh News & Observer

If you want to know one of this year's hottest fashion trends, don't look to pink. Or black. Or anything metallic. This year, fashion is going green.
Green as in T-shirts and jeans made of organic cottons that haven't been doused with harmful chemicals. Green as in dresses that weren't made by Third World garment sewers in sweat-shop conditions. Green as in fabrics that were made by villagers in India, Africa and South America who are being paid fairly for their artisan work.

Mainstream America, more than ever, is looking at the uglier side of fashion and opting to buy popular fashion from retailers and designers as concerned
about fair trade and organic farming as they are about style.

''The natural fibers market is following in the footsteps of organic groceries,'' said Shari Keller, a clothing designer in Asheville, N.C., who
uses natural cotton fabrics made in India in her collection of clothes sold at her store, Mehera Shaw, Carrboro, N.C. ``It's really coming into the
mainstream. People who are fashionably dressed are now more willing to walk the extra mile for these products.''

It's still just a fraction of the $173 billion U.S. apparel industry. But it is growing, especially where products are more widely available, such as
California and the Northeast. Sales of organic fiber products in 2004 hit $85 million, up 23 percent from 2003, according to the Organic Trade Association.

Ronnie Cummins, national director of the Organic Consumers Association, said the key to building the business has been educating consumers on the
conditions most clothes sold in America are made under.

Leading the charge is an unlikely designer -- U2 frontman Bono. He and his wife, Ali Hewson, teamed up with designer Rogan Gregory to create a brand called Edun (nude spelled backward) that pledges higher standards for labor practices by hiring family-run businesses in Africa and South America to sew garments. Their Edun brand jeans, just one part of the collection, are sold at most Saks Fifth Avenue stores.

But long before Bono got involved, people were embracing socially and environmentally conscious clothing. They were mostly those considered
hippies and tree huggers, who, while being pioneers, also helped create a stereotype about organic and natural fiber clothes as frumpy and unstylish- an image that today's designers are desperately trying to shed.

''If you can make those choices appealing to people and still make it with the environment in mind, then I think more people who have been wanting to make those choices will drive to buy those products,'' Keller said.
Her line must be organic fabrics, made of natural cotton, are handmade and hand stamped, and then sewn by foot-cranked sewing machines in India by villagers who are paid fairly and are treated humanely, she said.

One of the leading designers in the industry is Stewart+Brown, which sells its organic cotton fashion to high-end boutiques around the country. Sales have doubled every year since launching the company in 2002 in Ventura, Calif., said one of the founders, Howard Brown. He expects business to grow even more now that Bono is involved.

H&M stores are testing the market by ordering 5 percent organic cotton T-shirts from Turkey and is looking to expand to India with T-shirts made from organic and conventional cottons.

Nordstrom's Product Group is working toward making 5 percent of its cotton products out of organic cotton by the end of 2007. Stores also
carry some organic cotton products, including T-shirts and tank tops by Eileen Fisher.

Other designers are making hip-hugging jeans out of organic cottons. They're using vegetable dyes to color T-shirt designs. And they're using hemp to
make fitted jackets -- with bones for buttons.

Another stereotype designers are battling is cost. Most people assume because something is organic, it's more expensive. But designers argue that
organic cotton farmers don't have to spend money on pesticides to care for their crops and can sell their cotton at lower prices. And since most
designers have small, growing companies, there aren't the typical expenses that most design houses have, including big salaries to pay executives.
If the social and environmental issues don't sway customers, designers hope the fabrics themselves will. Organic and natural cottons typically feel
softer than conventional cottons. And most are easier to clean and care for. ''It just washes beautifully,'' said Margaret Hartley, a frequent Mehera Shaw customer.

She said she's drawn to the clothes not so much because of the social and environmental care that Keller has put into the business. She just loves the
clothes. ''The colors are fantastic,'' she said. ``What I love is that the clothes have sophistication.''

Keller hopes to pull even more customers in once she starts using organic cottons. ''From everything I've read and everything I've heard and my personal experience, it's softer and it feels nicer,'' Keller said. ``I want to make them into styles that are really appealing. Appealing to taste is the bottomline.''