Green Options

Indigenous Designs is a fabulous fair-trade, organic clothing company based in Northern California.  Since 1994, the founders have been working directly with international artisans in India, Guatemala, Ecuador, and Peru to bring you uniquely sustainable fashion wear. Committed to delivering fair wages, Indigenous Designs works with non-governmental organizations around the world to ensure that the men and women who craft these beautiful garments are set on the path to self-sustainability.

“With Indigenous Designs, we haven’t created just a charity situation,” says co-founder Matt Reynolds.  “It’s about taking responsibility to better our communities.”

This Fourth of July, Indigenous Designs and Feelgood Style are giving you the opportunity to win a gorgeous piece of clothing, constructed from all natural and organic fibers and eco-friendly dyes!

The list of new styles and materials in eco fashion continues to spread. Bodek & Rhodes has now introduced a sporty camp shirt made from Tencel.

If ecouture has its way, your home — and your closet — will soon be a lot greener. The San Francisco-based startup believes that consumers would buy far more eco-friendly clothing, gifts, baby products and décor if they could only find enough stylish and high-quality options.

Organically Grown not only describes this adorable baby apparel, but it also is the name of the company!  How they managed that in today’s growing green marketplace, I’ll never know, but the brand’s name speaks clearly to consumers.  Bob Stein, co-founder and CEO, explains:

We have the best brand name in the business…Organically Grown…it speaks for itself. It is instantly understood by the consumer as to who we are, what we stand for and what we are offering.

We are proud to deliver a high quality product at a value to the consumer made from 100% organic cotton.  There is a direct connection between what we wear and the effect it has on our planet.

Although this write is about men’s fashions, know that Armed Angels is a sustainable street brand for all adult genders. It’s just that in comparison to women’s apparel, it’s not very often one can rave about a men’s collection.

Another reason for recognition is because the Product Manager, Sanda Nevjestic, is third runner-up as the Best Eco-Creative Men’s Fashion Designer in a recent poll contest conducted by Chíc Eco. Sanda happens to be very modest about this because varied street designers are the actual inspirations for Germany’s Social Fashion Company GmbH.

This is a guest post by John Simonetta, owner of ProformaGreen, an eco-friendly promotional items consultancy. John’s blogs are designed to keep us up to date on the “greening” of his industry.

SanMar, one of the largest shirt manufacturers in the US, just got into the eco-friendly apparel game in a big way.

The SanMar green site at http://www.sanmar.com/Green.html boasts 27 items, many that are eco-friendly versions of their very popular Port Authority band.

Port Authority is normally ranked #1 or #2 in the promotional market industry for sales. It is the shirt most Proforma offices recommend to clients.

SanMar also is offering bamboo shirts but as yet does not seem to have a product to go up against the e.c.o. Fleece items from AshCity, however I suspect they will come out with something to compete in this area.

AshCity offers in-house embroidery services. SanMar does not (of course Proforma Green can embroider any item from any supplier).

What does all this mean for the Ecopreneurist?

Long hours, an increasingly saturated playing field: it’s not always a walk in the park for young, green entrepreneurs. But Jack Short and Daniel Lyons make it look easy.

The dynamic, 20-something Missouri businessmen run Factory Green, where they roll out sexy and carbon neutral apparel, accessories, and housewares to college students, a demographic that isn’t too hot on green poster products like low-consumption washing machines or hybrid cars.

Macy’s recent turn to the green side, highlights an underserved niche in the natural products arena – clothing.

Macy’s newest campaign called “Turn Over A New Leaf,” kicking off April 20 and running through April 27, is “designed to support, educate and inspire sustainability and eco-friendly practices in everyday life,” says the retailer.

This spells opportunity for eco-entrepreneurs. While organic food and natural cleaners have gained some mainstream appeal, as awareness of the benefits of natural living grows, consumers look to use organic and green products in all aspects of their life.

So where is the biggest opportunity? I see a couple of areas in which green entrepreneurs might focus.

Surf, sun, and fun - the most common things Long Beach, California is known for. Thanks to Wisdom Tees,
we can add another phrase to that list: sustainable style. Many of the
eco-clothing brands like to use shocking images on their apparel to try
and inspire others to act, but Wisdom is different. "We believe that
wearing our Wisdom tees with purely positive and inspiring
affirmations, one will have a clear impact on his or

[...]

Image courtesy of Little Green StarTeaching our kids the beauty of the natural world starts from day one, and we often use positive reinforcement and encouragement to help instill important values: "When you do well in school, you get a gold star. When you do well for the environment, you get a green one!" That's the founding principle behind San Francisco's Little Green Star line [...]

Like many indigenous peoples, the Sami of Scandinavia have a deeply rooted respect and connect to nature. Keeping a harmonic balance between humans, plants, and animals is the root of their culture, and has been so for thousands of years. From these values, BonnieSiefers established luxurious and affordable eco-clothing line Jonäno in 2005. In their native language, jonäno means "everybody healthy," symbolizing the company's dedication to sustainable fibers and fair trade practices.

Our

[...]