A few years back, there was a ripple of interest in eco-friendly clothing.
The idea was to dress responsibly without scalping the planet. But after a flood of scratchy clothes with a homemade look, the buzz died, and the fashion world cantered off in hot pursuit of The Next Big Thing.
Although it has had some notable flops, the eco-fashion movement isn't dead. Instead, it's heading for mainstream acceptance in several categories--jeanswear, sportswear, sweaters, shirts, lounge wear, outerwear and children's clothing.
Los Angeles-based O Wear, dubbed "America's first 100% certified organic cotton clothing company," was founded in 1989 by fashion industry veteran George Akers. Organic cotton was scarce, but he encouraged area farmers to grow more for his company, which projects sales of more than $20 million by decade's end.
Blue Fish, of Frenchtown, N.J., is a designer, manufacturer, wholesaler and retailer of New Age clothing made of organic or recycled materials finished with hand-blocked linoleum prints created by local artisans. Although its public relations director, Ta Kimble, is the company's "spirit keeper," Blue Fish is not a hippie pipe dream. It has sales in the millions, and its stock is publicly traded.
But Aveda, well-known for its extensive collection of ecologically correct cosmetics, hair products and fragrances, failed in a bid to add socially responsible fashion to its line. Nicole Ricklebacher of Minneapolis, daughter of Aveda's founder, started Anatomy "to show other designers it can be done." Alas, it didn't fly.
Other failures include Wrangler's Earth Wash jeans, stone-washed in a way that reduced waste, and Code Bleu's much ballyhooed Soda Pop denim jeans, made from a blend of recycled soda bottles and cotton.
"There was no demand or interest from the consumer and very little support from retailers," says Code Bleu's Lainey Goldberg, executive vice president of sales.
One area where it did have success, Goldberg says, was in the children's market. "Schools are doing a good job teaching ecology, and kids are much more committed to taking care of the environment."
Yet Columbia Sportswear Co. in Portland, Ore., successfully produces BioWashed jeans, a biodegradable alternative to chemically stone-washed denims.
And there's Trio Eco-Blend Denim, "a high-tech blend with an ecological conscience." Trio, a jeanswear fabric, is made of Tencel (a rayon-like fiber without rayon's eco-messy production process), EcoSpun fiber and cotton.
