Green is the new black: Eco-fashion goes mainstream

A decade ago, environmentally friendly clothing brought to mind hemp smocks and Birkenstocks. But today, eco-fashion is shedding its hippie image. Think low-rise, boot-cut jeans; think little black dress; think Versace and Armani.

With the help of name-brand designers and pop culture celebrities, environmentally friendly fashions are getting noticed and are poised for mainstream acceptance. Companies like Nike, American Apparel and Eileen Fisher are offering eco-friendly items. Clothes made from organic cotton and wool, bamboo and even soybean and corn-based fibers are showing up on the catwalks and in stores across North America.

In November, Levi’s began selling 100 percent organic cotton jeans in its Red Tab and Capital E collections. Organic versions of Levi’s signature 501 jeans are dyed with natural indigo. The organic Capital E jeans, which retail for $245, have recycled buttons and rivets. Even the packaging is made from recycled materials and dyed with soy-based ink. Next year Levi’s plans to offer organic cotton jeans in more styles and collections.

“We’ve built them to be interesting and stylish,” said Amy Jasmer, a Levi’s spokeswoman. “They feel the same and look the same” as jeans made with conventionally grown cotton.

The use of organic cotton has increased as producers and consumers become more aware of the environmental costs of conventionally grown cotton. According to the Sustainable Cotton Project, a third of a pound of pesticides is used to produce the cotton for one T-shirt, and 25 percent of all pesticides used in U.S. agriculture are used on cotton. Those pesticides, the group asserts, pollute the soil, air and water, and harm wildlife and people. The Environmental Protection Agency classifies five of the top 10 pesticides used on cotton as possible or known cancer-causing chemicals.

The outdoor sportswear company Patagonia pioneered the move toward environmentally conscious clothing. In 1993, Patagonia became the first major manufacturer to produce fleece made from recycled plastic soda bottles.

The company commissioned a study on the environmental impact of its products and found that conventionally grown cotton posed the greatest environmental risks of all the materials it used. The company switched to organic cotton in 1996. Last year, Patagonia introduced a program to recycle old clothing; customers bring back their worn-out Capilene garments to be recycled into new polyester fabric.

Patagonia officials say the company struggled for the first few years after moving to organic cotton. The company had to lower its profit margin and decrease the number of products it offered to deal with the higher prices and scarcity of organic cotton, said Coley Glasgow, a spokeswoman for Patagonia. But she said the decision ultimately paid off.

“When we made the switch, we were counting on our customers to make the same choices we had made--to pay more for organics,” Glasgow said. “And they did.” Patagonia’s sales rose 20 percent over the last six years, topping $240 million in 2005.

Although organic cotton currently represents a small fraction of the cotton market (less than 1 percent), global sales of organic cotton products more than doubled to $583 million in 2005 from $245 million in 2001, according to a report by Organic Exchange, a nonprofit group that promotes organic agriculture. And sales are projected to reach $2.6 billion by 2008.

With the growing popularity of organic foods and polls showing that global warming is increasingly an issue of concern to consumers, the fashion industry started to target the growing number of environmentally conscious shoppers.

“Companies get into this because they can see a market in formation,” said Rebecca Calahan Klein, director of program development for Organic Exchange. “Consumers under 30 are extremely environmentally aware; they’re a generation that grew up with recycling. And they are coming into the market in a big way.”

Fashion innovation typically starts with high-end designers and retailers because they have the budgets and affluent customer base that allow them to take risks. At New York Fashion Week last year, upscale retailer Barney’s teamed up with the environmental organization Earth Pledge to present FutureFashion, a runway show that featured clothes with ecological benefits. Designers included Diane von Furstenberg and Oscar de la Renta.

For those with smaller closet budgets, some bargain retailers have started selling organic cotton active wear. Sam’s Club (a division of Wal-Mart Stores) offers organic jeans for $20 and T-shirts for $10. When the company first introduced organic cotton products in 2005, they sold out within 10 weeks. Sam’s Club is steadily increasing its stock of organic clothing and linens, and this year Wal-Mart became the world’s largest purchaser of organic cotton.

Other low and moderately priced retailers are following suit. According to the Organic Exchange report, the number of large companies with organic cotton products grew to more than 30 in 2005 from five in 2001. Mainstream chains like Target and Victoria's Secret are now developing organic cotton lines that are expected to hit the stores in the next two years.

Some environmentalists aren’t completely sold on the eco-fashion trend. “Green consumerism isn’t that different from regular consumerism,” said Lynda Grose, who helped design a line of organic cotton clothes for Esprit in the early 1990s. “Producing and selling more garments is part of the problem.”

Grose, who now teaches sustainable fashion design at the California College of the Arts in San Francisco, encourages her students to design clothing that lasts longer and breaks down more efficiently.

She adds that the eco-fashion trend will eventually wane, as trends always do. “And some brands will fall away,” Grose said. “But many more companies are committed for the long haul. The industry has gained strength and breadth.”

E-mail: mlh2114@columbia.edu