With organic food already mainstream and organic beauty products gaining serious traction, organic clothing is the next frontier.
Given that fashion is an environmental disaster, with its highly toxic dyes and the massive problems with genetically-modified cotton, particularly in India, we desperately need organic clothing to take hold. According to the USDA, over 38 million pounds of pesticides were used on conventional cotton in 2014 in the U.S., which makes cotton third, in terms of pesticide use, after corn and soybeans.
Yet, up until this point, two primary things have held it back – style and price. People are reticent to sacrifice style and be forced to wear clothes that do not look good on them. Additionally, high prices keep consumers away.
As each day passes, however, both of these roadblocks are slowly becoming less of an issue. More and more companies are emerging, and selection is improving. Along with that, one could expect that as organic cotton supply continues to increase over the long-term, prices should come down.
What may be a third issue with organic clothing is awareness. Awareness of the importance of organic clothing — for the environment, farm workers and our personal health. After all, skin is our largest organ and who wants to have chemically-sprayed fibers touching our bodies all day?
That is why the Organic Trade Association and its Organic Fiber Council’s Live ORGANIC: From Farm to Home pop-up event in NYC was so important.
While organic clothing companies have been at Expo West for many years, a dedicated organic clothing and textiles show for consumers is essential. People need to be educated about the importance of organic clothing and textiles, and they also need exposure to the many brands doing such great work.
At last week’s pop-up, there was a media event on Thursday, and it was open to the general public on Friday and Saturday. A few dozen brands, including Coyuchi, Rambler’s Way, Grund, Dhana, Timberland and Naturepedic, as well as organic cotton farmers from the Texas Organic Cotton Marketing Cooperative flew into NYC to present their products.
When I step back and look at this pop-up, I see a parallel to Indie Beauty Expo. Started three years ago, Indie Beauty Expo showcases independent, natural and organic beauty brands and has dedicated days for both the trade/press and consumers. With the organic beauty industry exploding, Indie Beauty Expo has been a massive success and now holds yearly events in New York City, Los Angeles and Dallas.
There is absolutely no reason that pop-ups such as this one couldn’t be turned into more formal shows, similar to Indie Beauty Expo. These shows need to have a consumer focus, particularly since it will get a great deal of attention on social media, and they need to be separate from an Expo West or Expo East, which is for the trade.
Currently, the OTA and its Organic Fiber Council are in discussions about where it goes from here, but I am quite confident that something will happen.
The pop-up was a fantastic few days, and huge kudos go out to the OTA and its Organic Fiber Council for the immense amount of work in putting on this event. And, yes, plenty of delicious organic food was served.
To see footage from the pop-up, here is the event’s official video and here is my Facebook Live with Marci Zaroff, founder of MetaWear and organic clothing/textile pioneer.
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Have a great day! 
Max Goldberg, Founder |
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