In eco-friendly fashion, green is the new black

NATIONWIDE RT REPORT—The presence of organic apparel continues to grow in importance for retailers and manufacturers, and its trendiness has become much more mainstream. Swedish fast-fashion retailer H&M rolled out a high-fashion women’s organic cotton line in 20 of its top U.S. stores on March 22, and at the end of April, it rolled out a teen line, featuring jeans, sweatshirts and tanks.

“We as a company promote the use of organic cotton, and we recognize that people are looking for environmentally friendly products that are also fashion-forward,” said Lisa Sandberg, a spokeswoman for H&M “But this is not just a trend, it’s a company commitment.”

Sandberg noted that H&M is doubling the amount of organic cotton it ordered this year to 60 tons, from 30 tons in 2007.

Nordstrom said that it uses some percentage of organic cotton in at least 5% of all Nordstrom private label products.

“We have achieved that goal and are now setting new goals to increase our use of organic cotton in our products,” said Nichole Shell, a spokesperson for Nordstrom. This summer, the company plans to offer organic cotton and bamboo items in women’s activewear and a line of juniors’ underwear with some organic cotton.

Vendors like Levi Strauss launched a line of organic jeans originally in its high-end Capital E line, and will test a men’s and boys’ organic cotton denim Signature line at 100 Target doors in August. In addition to the use of organic cotton, the jeans, which retail for $34.95, use recycled buttons and minimal hardware, according to Signature spokesperson Shari Hatch.

According to the latest data from the Organic Exchange, global organic cotton product sales increased an estimated 35% annually, from $245 million in 2001 to $583 million in 2005. They are projected to skyrocket to $2.6 billion by the end of 2008.