NATURAL COLLECTION

THANKS TO THE ECOUTURE MOVEMENT,THE HUMAN RACE MAY NOT GO
OUT OF FASHION

Esprit's Ecollection features buttons from Ecuador's tagua tree and recycled
glass from Ghana on natural cotton wares.

Sawdust, metal shavings, disposable diapers, coffee filters, foam
rubber-garbage? Nope, Put these common, everyday landfill items together and
you make the latest in environmentally correct apparel: hiking shoes.

"We're recycling things that won't biodegrade," says Scott Taylor, vice
president of Deja Inc., the Portland-based company responsible for the sporty
Deja shoe. "We take the trim waste from disposable diapers, reprocess it into a
new yarn, and weave it into shoe fabric." The company, whose footwear debuts
nationwide next year, joins a new breed of clothing manufacturers dedicated to
the eco-ethic that garments can both look good and protect the planet.

The trend-represented in everything from T-shirts and jeans to top designer
collections-couldn't come at a better time. As it turns out, even apparently
benign clothing isn't as environment-loving as it appears. Take a "100-percent"
natural cotton shirt. Most cotton threads begin as plants nursed with generous
doses of pesticides, herbicides, and defoliants. Off the farm, cotton's
offenses multiply: Threads are typically washed, softened, straightened,
bleached, and dyed-processes that pollute.

Organically grown cotton duds present one new planet-protecting option. And
some companies are skipping as many traditional manufacturing steps as possible
to save water and energy and eliminate chemical waste. The mail-order green
giant, Seventh Generation, for example, touts shirts, sweaters, and sweats
fashioned from unbleached, undyed, and organic cotton.

For earth-friendly color, some eco-clothiers are turning to synthetic
"bi-functional" dyes. Higgins Naturals, for example, uses the dyes to colorize
polo shirts, turtlenecks, sweaters, and sweats in 20 hues, from moss green to
burgundy. The dyes are slightly more expensive than the industry standard (and
predictably unpopular), but the dying technique reduces the amount of water,
energy, and dye waste by fixating the color more completely to fabric.

Mother Nature has also come up with her own color solution: cotton that grows in
shades of brown and green. Developed by Sally Fox, who dubs her wares FoxFibre,
the cotton is now woven into unisex striped T-shirts made by Esprit and in
traditionally styled jeans and jackets by Levi Strauss & Co., called Naturals.
The caramel-colored fabric feels like suede and doesn't fade over time like most
jeans.

As green fashion sensibilities catch on with consumers, fashion experts predict
American style itself may change. Bright white summer wardrobe staples could be
the first casualties-most have not only been bleached, but also dyed white.
"White stuff looks peculiar to me now," says Katherine Tiddens, owner of Terra
Verde Trading Co., an ecological department store.

Even Georgio Armani now designs pants in unbleached, undyed linen. "It's the
beginning of a groundswell," confirms John Karl, chairman of the menswear
department at New York's Fashion Institute of Technology. "There's going to be
a retooling of the industry-more vegetable hues, fabric with nubs, and softer
lines."

But eco-style also applies to fashion details. Next season's clothing lines
will sport earth-friendly zippers, buttons, and even elastic. Lynda Grose, the
developer of Ecollection, Esprit's new environmental line, discovered most
suppliers sell belt buckles, zippers, rivets, and buttons made from rust-prone
metals. To prevent oxidation, they require electroplating, another polluting
process. Esprit's solution: rust-proof copper alloys.

Clothing companies are also finding fashion solutions in the jungle. The tagua
tree from the rain forests of Ecuador produces an alternative to plastic
buttons. Demand for the tree's ivory-like nuts, carved and sewn on shirt fronts
by manufacturers such as Esprit, Smith & Hawken, and Patagonia, has created a
sustainable income for locals.

Eco-fashion details are also found here at home. Recycled inner tubes are now
turning up on canvas accessories. As Cameron Trotter of Used Rubber U.S.A.
suggests, "Tread marks can be beautiful."