Natural wear: Brand names and local boutiques are helping to protect the earth with eco-friendly clothing
Eco-fashion is no longer synonymous with Birkenstocks, burlap sacks and itchy cotton panties with saggy bottoms.
The choice to be conscientious about what you wear, from an environmental and health standpoint, has become a mainstream movement in the last couple of years.
Today, big brand names like Nike, Patagonia, IKEA, Wal-Mart, American Apparel, Timberland, Roots, Lululemon, Eileen Fisher and Linda Loudermilk have taken up the trend of protecting the Earth by manufacturing clothing using sustainable fabrics, such as organic cotton, bamboo, corn, soy and hemp.
Smaller outfits are also having big success marketing designer green fashions (as in eco-friendly, not the colour), like the Victoria, Manhattan-style boutique owned by Pam Skelton.
“Today’s socially aware designers make clothing that’s more palatable and fun. We’re moving away from the stereotype of natural clothing being uncomfortable, bland and itchy,” says Skelton, who opened Not Just Pretty Modern Organic Clothing in downtown Victoria three years ago (www.notjustpretty.com).
The store sells clothing by over 20 North American designers, including Thieves (Toronto), Twigg & Hottie (Vancouver), Myco Anna (Montreal) and Stewart Brown (California). Prices are comparable to regular designer fashions and business is booming.
Skelton has also just brought in the metro chic styles of Edun, the new clothing line by U2’s Bono and his wife, which they launched last month during New York Fashion Week.
Sustainable fabrics are those which do not use harmful pesticides and insecticides to grow and which support healthy and environmental farming practices.
LOCAL FOR LESS EMISSIONS
Conventionally grown cotton uses a quarter of the world’s insecticides each year, making it the single worst crop in chemically dependent agriculture, according to a study by the non-profit organization Organic Exchange.
“We’ve been buying it for years thinking it’s natural, but it’s anything but natural,” says Skelton, who will only stock products that are made of sustainable fabrics and are preferably local, so they don’t have to be transported long distances (reducing overall gas emissions into the environment).
But the clothing has to also meet her requirement of having a fashion-forward aesthetic.
Global retail sales of organic cotton products more than doubled between 2001 and 2005, from $245 million to $583 million. By next year, according to the Organic Exchange, it’s expected to grow to more than $2.6 billion.
SO, WHY NOW?
“More people want to find out where and how their clothes are made,” says Skelton. “The fact that we’re eco-friendly gives even more value to our clothes. It’s a bonus. But most people won’t compromise style.”
Popular lingerie outfit La Senza has recently launched its eco-friendly line of comfortable and sexy bras and panties, camisoles and capris, made of bamboo and organic cotton.
The collection’s doing so well it’s carrying forward into the fall.
“The demand is out there. It’s really starting to take off and become more mainstream now,” says Kathy Tsolakos, vice president of marketing for La Senza. “Everyone’s really embracing social and environmental causes and adapting their lifestyle to them, whether it’s fashion, food or your home.”
