BioFach 2012: Green fashion still on the up

The Textil-Area at BioFach in February 2011 delighted visitors with 44 green labels from nine countries and promises to be another real magnet for visitors from 15–18 February 2012, when the international organic sector gathers again at its world-leading exhibition in Nürnberg. This event is once again expected to attract a total of around 2,500 exhibitors and 44,000 trade visitors to the exhibition site. Green is in fashion – if not as a colour, then at least as a quality term for textiles manufactured using environment-friendly and ethically correct production processes. Germany now has over 100 fashion labels dedicated entirely to the green philosophy. The pioneers in the sector paved the way. The newcomer labels can take the credit for freeing green fashion from its muesli image and have attractively designed clothes for a broad-based and young clientele (Picture: pickapooh at Biofach 2011). Products from the fashionable segment are sold in just under 40 specialist concept stores – twice as many as in 2010. It can be seenthat more new shops are opening in the city centres and their sales areas are growing. Retailers are confident that their model goods have also come to stay in the main shopping streets. Experts are currently discussing how far the fashion aspect of ecologically produced textiles should be increased and trends taken up. “Critical customers want modern design on the one hand, but on the other do not want to chase after every short-lived trend, which leads to excessively way-out clothing that is no longer worn next season,” explains eco-fashion expert Dr. Kirsten Brodde. This is certainly a difficult balancing act.

In order to make young designers aware of this subject too, more and more fashion schools are including ecology and ethics in their syllabuses or even devoting separate courses of study to green fashion. But what distinguishes ecologically and ethically correct fashion from merely “greenwashed” clothing? Is an organically grown raw material sufficient? Or should dyeing and printing also be correct? What about fair pay for the hard-working seamstresses at the end of the production chain?Retailers and above all consumers must possess a great deal of expertise to distinguish between all these aspects when buying. How many hazardous substances are still used in textile manufacture in the production countries of Asia was also shown recently in the Greenpeace Report entitled “Dirty Washing”. This also included some textile companies that according to their own conception already use environment-friendly processes.

The Trend Study 2011 shows that today’s consumers are concerned about more than just organic. Clothing should preferably not only be environment-friendly, but also manufactured under socially compatible conditions. Organic plus fairness – but this is not automatically the case at present. Sales of textiles of fair trade cotton grew by an encouraging 29 % in 2010. Altogether 2.6 million of these clothing items were sold in this period – until now 15 % of them also of organic cotton. Insiders are agreed: The future belongs to clothing that is kind to both the environment and people, and labels with high standards in both respects. Like the Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS), for example. Almost 3,000 companies have already been certified to this label in the meantime. Many companies also strive for IVN Best certification, the top standard of the Internationaler Verband der Naturtextilwirtschaft e. V. (IVN – International Association of the Natural Textile Industry). This association has also developed a very stringent standard for leather, which the first companies will meet in 2012. Leather is ecologically problematic for various reasons, but particularly due to the use of the heavy metal chromium for tanning.

Which fibres will be the future hits in the eco-textile market has already been discussed at BioFach’s Textile Forum at the beginning of 2011. Although organic cotton is very successful, the explosive growth of the initial period is history. 210,000 tons of the non-toxic plants were harvested in 2010/2011 – this corresponds to one per cent of the total cotton market. The bulk of the world’s organic cotton comes from India, the Country of the Year at BioFach 2012. But other natural fibres can also be proud of their good life cycle assessment. Designers and material manufacturers are constantly searching for innovative alternatives. These include vegetable fibres like hemp, linen and untreated cotton, but also animal fibres like virgin wool, silk and fine quality hair, which is also available in organic quality. According to experts, however, the traditional knowledge of how to process these fibres has been partly lost, and there are problems with the certification of small farms and wild animals. Nevertheless, many natural textile manufacturers prefer these fibres to viscose materials (semi-synthetics) like Tencel or recycled polyester fibres, which mainly attract the big brand manufacturers, who produce sports or outdoor clothing. “In principle, tomorrow’s wardrobe will certainly include a whole range of fibres. Intensive efforts are also being made to find more ecological washes for jeans or more environment-friendly dyes and printing,” says Dr. Kirsten Brodde. So the situation remains interesting.

Another indication of the growing market is certainly unusual: environmental protection organizations, consumer centres and product testers are checking more frequently to see whether eco-fashion lives up to its promise. Brodde: “Transparency is top priority, keeping quiet in the showroom is out. The eco-fashion sector is well equipped in this respect, however, as it has always been part of its self-image to provide information on how and where the products are produced.”

Tip: www.oneco.biofach.de, www.biofach.de,  www.vivaness.de