| NEWS FEATURE / ADWEEK |
An Organic Expansion
Is Organic Cotton finally going mainstream. Is it moving out of the fringes of nice things to do and taking centre-stage as the way of fashion? A key to such mass shifts in consumer fashion behaviour is seen only when new trends extend beyond the clothes horses and move on to a more 'universal' set of textiles and apparels, linen and upholstery. And that's what seems to be happening for organic cotton.
An Adweek feature on Greensource, the eighth largest maker of organic clothing on the planet, with revenues in excess of $50 million, chronicles the story that began six years ago with a shipment of yoga tops to to Sam's Club, Walmart's warehouse club unit.
David Basson, the CEO of Seattle-based Greensource Organic Clothing Company, makes the point that with huge retailers finally catching on, it's only a matter of time before organic clothing goes mainstream. "Consumers understand the issues," he says. "They want to take care of the planet. Once people get into it, they're not going to go back."
Adweek points out that the numbers are out there to support Basson's prophesy:
Not long ago, the mere mention of organic apparel conjured images of Woodstock-era hippies clad in hemp belts and Birkenstocks, mashing up a fresh batch of granola. But such clichés -- if they were ever accurate -- are far from the reality now.
Between 2008 and last year, while recessionary cutbacks in household spending saw overall sales of apparel and domestic textiles drop by 7 percent, sales of organic cotton grew by double digits -- 35 percent to be exact -- according to the trade group Organic Exchange. In fact, organic cotton's annual growth rate has grown steadily for a decade now: 40 percent on average each year since 2001. Organic apparel is currently a business worth $4.3 billion; by next year, it's expected to hit $6 billion.
Read "Moral Fabric: Clothiers Go Organic" in the Adweek
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