Organic Apparel Trend Setters

My wife and I were sitting in the porch and discussing the definitions of a Fad vs Trend. I stated that while a fad is an infatuation that is relatively short lived, a trend is something that permeates the entire societies very foundation making its way into socia, economical institutions.

One example of a trend that I alluded to is the renewed interest and the growth of organic food, apparel, alternate fuels and natural health products. Although organic food and apparel have been in the market for decades, it has been only recently that there has been a much more renewed interest with almost all major retailers such as Wal-Mart, Home Depot etc., opening up retail spaces for organic food and/or apparel.

Consumer interest in organic goods of all kinds is booming. According to a survey of 67,000 people by the consumer research firm NPD Group, 18% of consumers reported an interest in organic fashion products in 2006, a jump from just 6% in 2004. in the United States alone, sales of organic cotton products increased 55% from 2001 to 2005, according to a report from nonprofit Organic Exchange. Apparel accounts for the largest proportion of merchandise given out in incentive programs every year — 55% of companies reported offering apparel in the most recent Incentive Merchandise Facts Report (April).

Although the mention of organic clothing instills a picture of drab colored boring tees and pants that only your grandparents would wear, that perception is changing with the rise of many designer labelled brands including some by Patagonia and Nike. Indeed, Paul Kiewet, Chairman of Irving, Texas based Promotional Products Association Internation (PPAI) coments: We’re moving away from the old hippie, new age imagery and finally waking up to the fact that we can’t keep damaging the environment.” Adoption of organic apparel and use of reneweable fabrics is on the rise.

One company that is benefitting from this is SOS ( Save our Soil), a texas based company that produces organic apparel. Comments founder Gary Oldman “In the early days, consumers weren’t too aware of what organic cotton was, and it was a real slow marketing process,” says Oldman. “In the past three years, we’ve seen a real increase in the promotional products industry. Maybe [the companies] aren’t even aware of organic cotton, but their customers are asking for it.”

Other companies use other type of renewable resources that are an alternative to organic cotton which is still fairly expensive in the market. Patagonia has successfully marketed fleeces with recycled PET from soda bottles. In addition, recently Patagoria has also announced the expansion of Common Threads Recycling Program, that asks customers to return worn out polar fleece garmets which the company then recycles to make new garments.

Gaiam, another organic trendsetter, is looking into using materials from soy and bamboo. Mill Direct Apparale a Minnesota based company is now distributing polo, long-sleeve and Tees made from Ingeo, a high-performance, reneweable, man-made material that is attracting the attention of many large retailers. Production of Ingeo requires 68 percent less energy than polyester and has the added bonus of being biodegradable.

Companies have been also targetting the baby apparel market. GDiapers is a new bio-degradable diaper that can be flushed down the toilet and is fully organic.

So with all the new interest in going green, is the adoption and growth of organic and renewable products a fad or a trend?

Chandu
Eyezotica.com