According to WWD, Linda Loudermilk is launching a denim line with 26 pieces next spring. Linda’s been at the forefront of sustainable, ecologically sane apparel manufacturing since she started. Apparently, her denim line will follow suit. For those who don’t know, the biggest problem with premium denim lines are their ecological load in both fiber and processing. I think it would surprise people to know just how costly their clothing choices really are because denim processing is incredibly wasteful and ecologically injurious.
Loudermilk uses a corn-based fiber called Ingeo from Italy and sasawashi, a Japanese leaf that has antibacterial properties, in addition to bamboo and organic cotton blended with 1 percent spandex. Treatments, too, were developed to be environmentally sustainable. The washhouse recycles its water; sandblasting is done by hand, and washing machines use ozone to oxidize jeans for a sun-baked look.
Still, eco-fabrics aren’t quite where they need to be. Eric sent me an article a couple of weeks ago about how you couldn’t iron corn fabrics (Ingeo) because it melts (from the Wall Street Journal, sub req’d). If you’re interested in reading it, Jill has posted the article If Your Shirt Is Made Of Corn Fiber, Forget About Using an Iron on her site.
—————
Strictly in terms of customer satisfaction scores, these are the top ten online retailers (WWD, sub req’d):
Amazon.com
QVC.com
LLBean.com & OldNavy.com are tied
Chadwicks.com, HSN.com & Zappos.com are tied.
Nordstrom.com (in 8th place, they’re generating a billion in sales on site).
JCPenney.com/NiemanMarcus.com are tied.
I’ve heard a lot about Zappo’s site so I tried it out yesterday and was pleased (thus far) with the experience. In the interests of making your website a better experience for visitors, you may want to review this. You don’t even have to have a fancy site. You only need basic contact information to pop up in a search engine. Let people find you easily.
What timing! Just now, I posted on my blog about the man behind Clean Undies (organic cotton underwear), whom I had the privilege of meeting with, early this morning. The organic pima cotton they use for everything is from Texas and is the most beautiful golden colour and soooo soft. They do sensible designs that work with the shape of the body. It’s so great to see well-designed and well-made clothing made from a sustainable source.
Thanks for the post. I haven’t looked at my WWD emails in a couple of days, so missed this one. I currently like Del Forte denim. I cannot say much about their washes, but Tierra, the owner, is very forthcoming about her company. She uses organic cotton that is grown, woven and cut and sewn all here in the U.S. And I have to say, the fit is very good!!
http://delforte.com/
Zappos is awesome — they are the best retailer on the net.