GREEN APPAREL USED to be something on the fringes of the industry, a quirky and cumbersome product too expensive and not customizable enough to be broadly salable. In the years since it’s been introduced however, manufacturing costs have dropped, more stylish and versatile production techniques have become available, and most importantly, market demand has increased significantly. If you haven’t given green apparel a shot, it might be a good time to start. Read on to get a head start on what you need to know about environmentally-friendly apparel and how it’s improved over the years.
STYLE
“When the green market started, most of the styles were limited to casual and relaxed looks with earth tone colors,” said Jennifer Chiu, product manager for Ash City USA, Lenexa, Kan. She explained that now, however, manufacturing and finishing techniques have advanced so much that a vastly larger range of products and styles are available. “Even high-end retail brands have ‘green’ ski jackets,” she said.
Mark Boisvert, partner at Aurum Organic Klothing, Burlington, Vt., said more advanced fabrication techniques have expanded the style applications of green apparel. Improvements in texture specifically have made eco-friendly fleeces and fashion items more popular. “Many organic products are created with much nicer and finer yarn that would compete in the fashion apparel category,” he said.
Beyond new product categories, another style consideration worth noting with green apparel is the importance of getting the eco-friendly message across. “People want to know somehow that they are doing something for the environment,” said Mark Trotzuk, president of Boardroom ECO Apparel, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. He mentioned one way to do this was to incorporate the message into the embellishment on the apparel, noting, “It should be subtle, but the message should be there that, ‘Oh okay, you’re doing something for the environment.'”
COLOR
In the beginnings of the eco-friendly apparel industry, coloration was limited due to the unavailability of ecologically safe dyes. Though green dyeing processes have advanced, the harshness of the coloration process is still a big issue for eco-apparel. “There is no Earth-friendly clothing, there is no Earth-friendly dye,” said Trotzuk. “It’s all harmful. It’s just about how much can you mitigate the impact, how toxic or less toxic are the chemicals. … It’s about the degree of impact that you’re having on the environment by using all these things.”
So how do you mitigate your impact? Make sure your supplier has some kind of third-party certification process for its coloration work (if not its whole manufacturing process), and be sure to follow up on that certification and make sure the monitoring company is legit. “You want to make sure when you’re dying textiles that there is a system in place to recapture those dyes and reuse them,” said Trotzuk. He stressed as well that if the dyes are going to escape into the environment, then it’s important that they be nontoxic and be processed through some kind of wastewater treatment plants to ensure they aren’t dumped directly into local water sources.
MARKETS
With the reduction of costs of producing green apparel down, and options for apparel being more diverse, who exactly is buying the product? “Bigger companies—Pepsi, IBM, Proctor and Gamble—they’re all looking to do the right the thing,” said Trotzuk. “The bigger companies have a vested interest in doing so because they are the ones who really have to step up to the plate and show everybody else that they are doing the right thing.” He noted that this was largely due to the awareness bigger companies have now for protecting their brand. You don’t have to look far to find examples of companies that have associated themselves with a dangerous or poorly sourced product and done severe damage to their brand. “The bigger companies have more to lose, which is why they’re less shy to take the step, but they’re also more inclined to do their due diligence before they purchase stuff,” he said.
