Feel Good Fashion

The latest bona fide fashion trend doesn’t feature cashmere or black nylon, but the environment.
What started as a trickle only a few years ago has turned into a groundswell, as more of fashion’s biggest names begin to spin socially conscious clothes, which increasingly use organic fiber when available and bring sustainable manufacturing to Third World countries. Guess Inc. will jump on the green bandwagon with the upcoming launch of eco-friendly denim and tops.

All items will be made with organic cotton, according to Women’s Wear Daily, with 10 percent of the proceeds going to the Environmental Media Association, a Los Angeles-based non profit organization.

Guess is only the latest to join the green scene.

The outdoor apparel chain REI, for example, has been selling organic and hemp shirts for months. Target, too, sells organic cotton dresses and blue jeans. And as Earth Day nears, Cotton Incorporated has renewed its commitment to minimizing harm on the environment. In addition to recently participating in the Go Green Expo in New York City, which featured the latest eco-friendly products and services, Cotton Incorporated wants to make it easier to identify 100 cotton products. The company is developing a new “Natural” trademark as the latest extension of its Seal of Cotton trademark, which reminds consumers that cotton is a natural fiber, according to PR Newswire.

Cotton Incorporated and others are only the latest to join the increasing line of socially conscious fashion companies, like Edun, for example, which was launched in 2005 by Ali Hewson and her husband, Bono. Edun’s recent Nature at Night collection, like its previous lines, uses organic fabric when possible and provides Third World countries with family-run sustainable manufacturing. “At the moment, many people in these countries can’t get regular jobs, so that is our starting point,” Hewson told England’s Sunday Mirror. “People won’t be paid below the minimum wage, and we will be committed to helping local communities.”