Eco friendly denim from around the world. THINK GREEN

[thelion1856]

some eco friendly jeans found on the kitmeout blog....

SUGAR CANE

Organic cotton used to create so called organic jeans is all the rage at the moment. According to Sugar Cane’s UK brand director, Paul Morarji, though, bar all the hype, it’s actually nothing new. “We have always offered an organic denim, ever since we started producing jeans in 1975,†he says. “The cotton and the sugarcane we produce are not treated with any chenicals and are 100 per cent organically grown in Japan and Hawaii. The indigo we use is 100 per cent pure indigo, which we have developed to dye our denim using traditional Japanese dyeing techniques, by hand. Our textile experts were the first in the world to produce a selvage denim fabric made from woevn cotton yarns and sugarcane fibres way back in the mid-’70s.

“Also, sugarcane fibres contain essential amino acid enzymes necessary to fuel and rejuvenate other bodies. Likewise, by-products from sugarcane are used to fuel cars in Brazil in order to have a less harmful impact on the environment, as opposed to burned fuesl of a purely fossil origin.†To all those brands only just getting on the eco-issue, put that in your pipe and smoke it!

NUDIE

Nudie Jeans made with organic cotton — the reasons why:

“Denim is made of cotton, which causes great damage to our environment both in terms of water consumption (7000 to 29.000 litres of water for each kilogram of ready garment) and in terms of poisonous substances and insecticides. Cotton fields stand for 25% of all insecticides worldwide! Air, water and other natural resources are critical to any kind of future, and therefore essential to the future of business. In denim production we see a lot of potential to make a difference for the environment.

Nudie denim producers are ahead on developing organic denim, both out of 100% organic cotton and as blended yarn, where they blend in organic cotton into the normal production. Every step of the production follows detailed and accurate rules that makes it organic denim. The cotton comes from organic production, and the spinning, dyeing and finishing of the yarn is also carried out according to ecological procedures. Making use of ecological stuff, like potato starch and pre-reduced indigo, any kind of chemical stuff is excluded from the schedule of operation, in order to respect these principles to 100%.â€

SLING & STONES

Sling & Stones jeans for the socially responsible follower of fashion. Sling & Stones is a collective of dreamers turned doers. Began in 2005 with nary a fashion designer on staff, Sling & Stones represents a reckless pursuit of revolution. From mathematicians to fine artists, each of them has sacrificed the security of paychecks and pensions to pursue the passions of their hearts. Together they burn for social change and fashion has become their vehicle. Sling & Stones offers a socially conscious, environmentally responsible denim collection which exemplifies excellence in the everyday - - hand constructed pieces featuring progressive fits, world class materials, and everyday versatility.

http://www.kitmeout.com/blog/

[plongin]

props for the info...

but apart from sugar cane, my take on newer brands using organic cotton is that it is their way of corporate social responsibility, which in a way, is just used to safeguard their ass in the scenario where denim = environmental danger.

[stadsvandringar]

Good topic. It's probably been answered elsewhere, but just out of curiosity, anyone know if 45 rpm jeans are organic?

Ozone rocks makes some good organic stuff, as does hysteric glamour (all their stuff is organic, as far as I know). There's also Loomstate of course, and American Apparel has an organic line.

Like most things organic, I think the quality of organic cotton tends to be a lot better than the regular stuff. It seems softer and more comfortable, generally worth the extra price.

[nettiemoore]

cool article.

nice to see the 40400s in that photo, i think they are a great pair of jeans.

[tweeds]

Like most things organic, I think the quality of organic cotton tends to be a lot better than the regular stuff. It seems softer and more comfortable, generally worth the extra price.

are you sure? might that be because most organic cotton jeans also utilise 'luxury' ELS cottons, in line with their "high end" cachet, and in order to further justify the cost?

[deadpan]

You have to respect that sugarcane statement. Would be interesting to hear what other Japanese denim brands have to say on the issue...

[kiya]

Here's a post i did in a thread a couple of weeks ago that didn't get much attention:

S4, a New York based magazine about sustainability in fashion, releases their Spring Issue today which they've dedicated to Denim.

It's a great read if you're interested in the denim industry and what's going on with some of the new companies and their strategies. I had never heard of S4 until i was contacted by them a couple of months ago, they wanted to do a little interview. Upon reading more about S4 it turns out, even though they're fairly new, they're read by quite a few "higher-ups" in large fashion companies and it's a well respected publication already.

Definitely check it out if you're interested in eco-friendly denim and/or the denim industry in general. There's even talk of Sugarcane and Sling & Stones in there..

It's a downloadable PDF, just click on the cover on the right, fill out the short registration form and it'll take you to the download page:

http://www.summerrayneoakes.com/S4Welcome.htm

[gimmegimme]

I wonder why Sugar Cane doesn't reinforce their use of organic materials more. I don't think I've seen it mentioned before on any retail website. Its a definite plus for most that they use natural indigo, but I would think it would be a selling feature if they also mentioned their use of organic denim fibres.

[lilodxd]

what is that pair of sugarcanes in the top right corner?

[kiya]

what is that pair of sugarcanes in the top right corner?

Hawaii Hardwash

[amlai]

Good topic. It's probably been answered elsewhere, but just out of curiosity, anyone know if 45 rpm jeans are organic?

Not sure if the cotton used in all of 45rpm jeans is organic, but many of them use 100% organic hand picked Zimbabwean cotton.

[stadsvandringar]

Oh yeah, Katharine Hamnett has launched a big organic cotton push with her new line. Her stuff is pretty much impossible to find stateside. Anyone seen it? Any good?

[cmykhustla]

It may be that the cotton used by Sugar Cane is not CERTIFIED organic. Crops can be grown organically without being certified as such. For example, almost all of Starbucks coffee is technically grown organically, but not certfied, so they can not legally call it "organic".

[tkarwin]

I think all of this environmentally conscious stuff is great, but some of it is a little hypocritical. Most fashion purchases aren't purchases of needs. Did I really need those jeans? Oh, they were all natural, so it's ok...

But people do have to buy clothing, so an organic option is great. For me personally I am just trying to reduce my impact by not being such a consumer whore. When I do make purchases, I try to buy from companies that have green practices.

In the end, more props to the green denim movement.

[deadpan]

I think all of this environmentally conscious stuff is great, but some of it is a little hypocritical. Most fashion purchases aren't purchases of needs. Did I really need those jeans? Oh, they were all natural, so it's ok...

But people do have to buy clothing, so an organic option is great. For me personally I am just trying to reduce my impact by not being such a consumer whore. When I do make purchases, I try to buy from companies that have green practices.

In the end, more props to the green denim movement.

Good point, and don't forget that a big part of having a sustainable lifestyle is buying things that a) you really like. and are really strong/ well made. The energy consumed at the point of production is a big part of the impact, but if clothes in general were made to a more classic style and stronger, hopefully we would all keep them alot longer, therefore impacting less on the environment.

[Double D]

Asides from the fact that organic jeans still use an immense amount of energy to produce just one pair, the ethicism of buying a pair of jeans from another country is completely nonexistent thanks to the sheer amount of airmiles involved.

Take, for example a pair of Iron Hearts, woven from Zimbabwe cotton, assembled in Japan, distributed from San Francisco to whoever orders it. That's a pretty serious footprint left.

[deadpan]

Yeah DD we're both pretty screwed from an environmental standpoint here in the UK...unless we start wearing organic locally produced landmines that is.

[stadsvandringar]

That's true, but you ultimately can't escape the global aspect of most clothing shopping. The vast majority of clothes that most people buy were not made in their home country, and involve at least a little bit of international shipping. At least buying organic it makes somewhat of a difference.

More important than the enviornmental concerns for me, though, is the quality of the product. Sad but true. I'm not going to buy a pair of shitty, poorly fitting jeans just because they were ethically made. I want a good quality product first, and if it's organic it's a bonus.

If you're that concerned about ethical production, I agree with one of the previous posts on here: buy less. The consumer culture is much more to blame for pollution and environmental degradation than pretty much everything else.

[deadpan]

More important than the enviornmental concerns for me, though, is the quality of the product. Sad but true. I'm not going to buy a pair of shitty, poorly fitting jeans just because they were ethically made. I want a good quality product first, and if it's organic it's a bonus.

That was kinda my point...if you buy a pair of jeans that you don't like or are poorly made, they're not gonna last long either in your wardrobe or on your body. Ethical, organic don't mean shit if they're just gonna fall apart, forcing you to buy another/different pair. If they're not made well they can't be Environmentally friendly anyhow.

As far as companies go i've always kinda respected Howies...but they just don't make anything i'd wear...yet.

http://www.howies.co.uk/content.php?xId=18&xPg=1

[ilovespaz]

when starting my brand, i thought of the same things, but recently i tallied up the totals of how much crap that goes into the earth by making and selling organic jeans - - even though the carbon foot print from shipping my denim back and fourth from vendor to vendor to get an actual jean produced is the same as a non organic jean, i think making 2000 pairs of organic jeans, which equates to roughly 2 tons worth of pesticides and synthetic fertilizers from being sprayed in the air and seeping through top soil is still an important thing to do...

[jake snake]

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[tkarwin]

They're jeans. Who cares? All this trendy green bullshit has absolutely no measurable effect on the environment. It's just a way for rich kids to feel good about themselves.

ignorant asshole.

[hazy]

Does anyone know where I can get Sling & Stones denim online? They look great and unfortunately Nudie isn't making Slim Jim's in organic denim yet.

[ilovespaz]

denimbaronline.com for sling and stones

[ilovespaz]

and selfedge.com for sling and stones women's selvage and dry collections -

[kiya]

We'll be releasing the entire Sling & Stones Women's Spring line on our online store starting May 10.

They've stepped it up in terms of cut and quality, expect the best from their new line, it looks seriously amazing.

[chad]

I was just talking about this today. I was checking out some Nudie's on the weekend and I noticed that they use organic cotton and are obviously trying to do something for the environment. This was a bit weird because the jeans were washed, and probably used so much water and had other industrial contaminants present that totally offset the good the organic cotton was doing. Washing jeans can be an environmental disaster.

Everyone is doing organic now and it feels like a bit of a con. Sure it is great, but if the cotton is from newly cleared forest and it has extensive laundering then it is all for marketing and not for the environment as the benefits of using organic cotton are offset by other factors.

All the denim nerds here are actually doing the best thing for the environment - not washing jeans! The best thing to do is buy raw denim and not wash it. Who guessed that everyone on here is an eco-warrior!

Jake Snake: There have been numerous studies into the eco impact and you could be well served by looking into a few. Frances environmental agency recently reported on the ecological impact of jeans and concluded that machine washing, tumble drying, and ironing caused 47% of the eco damage using 240kWh of energy a year, equal to using 4000 lightbulbs for an hour. http://www.guardian.co.uk/france/story/0,,1795544,00.html

I don't mean to be down on organic jeans, but you have to look at the bigger picture and see other parts of the chain. At least eco awareness is increasingly becoming an important issue and is in the minds of consumers, and at least this is another reason to buy raw denim!

P.S Replay jeans is having their organic denim launch party on Greene/Prince this Wednesday in New York. I'll probably pop down if any other supertalkers want to say hi.

[jake snake]

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[tweeds]

I was just talking about this today. I was checking out some Nudie's on the weekend and I noticed that they use organic cotton and are obviously trying to do something for the environment. This was a bit weird because the jeans were washed, and probably used so much water and had other industrial contaminants present that totally offset the good the organic cotton was doing. Washing jeans can be an environmental disaster.

Everyone is doing organic now and it feels like a bit of a con. Sure it is great, but if the cotton is from newly cleared forest and it has extensive laundering then it is all for marketing and not for the environment as the benefits of using organic cotton are offset by other factors.

All the denim nerds here are actually doing the best thing for the environment - not washing jeans! The best thing to do is buy raw denim and not wash it. Who guessed that everyone on here is an eco-warrior!

Jake Snake: There have been numerous studies into the eco impact and you could be well served by looking into a few. Frances environmental agency recently reported on the ecological impact of jeans and concluded that machine washing, tumble drying, and ironing caused 47% of the eco damage using 240kWh of energy a year, equal to using 4000 lightbulbs for an hour. http://www.guardian.co.uk/france/story/0,,1795544,00.html

I don't mean to be down on organic jeans, but you have to look at the bigger picture and see other parts of the chain. At least eco awareness is increasingly becoming an important issue and is in the minds of consumers, and at least this is another reason to buy raw denim!

P.S Replay jeans is having their organic denim launch party on Greene/Prince this Wednesday in New York. I'll probably pop down if any other supertalkers want to say hi.

great points, chad--is organic like the new selvedge? :confused:

[tkarwin]

lol sorry I'm ignorant about the effect that 10,000 pairs of fancy jeans has on the environment.

Coal plants spew out millions of tons of smog a year. Maybe we should worry about that first. If you really want to help the environment you should buy $20 jeans and donate the other $280 towards a nuclear power advocacy group. That way we can have less harmful radiation around us.

Yes mining is the worst thing ever. However, people aren't going to stop buying clothing, so how about trying to lessen the impact.