Organic fabrics continue to increase in popularity for bedrooms and runways alike. While organic cotton bedding and organic bamboo sheets keep the bedroom chemical-free yet still very luxurious and sleep-inducing, fashion designers worldwide continue to pursue organic fabrics to offer the same benefits on the runway.
In India Bollywood star Priyanka Chopra is the muse for a line of organic clothing by designer Rahul Mishra that debuted recently at Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week. Chopra served as his inspiration because of her eco-friendly charity work.
Says Mishra: “I appreciate how Priyanka has been working to save the environment by being associated with the Greenathon Initiative [a charity that encourages eco-friendly living and examines the use/lack of electricity in rural areas].”
Mishra’s line transformed organic fabrics such as Kerela handloom and organic khaki, a textile used for centuries in India, into modern graphic designs with naturally dyed indigo, blue, black and corals.
On another continent in a world still concerned with green fashion, Anthony Cruz Legarda presented “fusion eco-artwear” at the “Pina Couture New York” event held on the ever-stylish Fifth Avenue. The collection is a combination of hand-woven and dyed fabrics that according to the Filipino Reporter “combines exquisite indigenous Filipino fabrics with modern western sensibility.”
Legarda’s green cred comes from his use of indigenous materials and his experience as a textile technologist working closely with the Philippine Textile Research Institute that strives to support local textile in a competitive global market.
Explains Legarda: “Our primary goal is to create a branding for the Philippine Piña to be a world-renowned fabric like the Thai Silk, Indian Cotton, and the Irish Linen, as we produce the finest natural and organic fabrics made by master artisans of the Philippines and tailor them into museum and heirloom quality clothing.”
And across the country fashion columnist Bryan Vo declares organic fibers the new black in fashion. Quoting the Organic Trade Association, Vo points out that “since most wardrobes are made up mostly of cotton, insecticide use could be reduced by 25 percent if cotton was produced organically.”
Thankfully with growing awareness comes growing options for organic clothing whether it is organic cotton or organic bamboo clothing for the wardrobe!
