July 18, 2007

Indigenous Designs Downplays Sustainability To Sell Retailers

Bookmark and Share Email this story Print this post Add your comments

Indigenous Designs’ clothing is made from all-natural, sustainable materials. It adheres to strict fair-trade manufacturing practices overseas, runs its U.S. corporate office on solar power and encourages employees to bike to work. But the apparel maker talks up fashion, design, and price – mentioning the organic and fair-trade points only as an extra bonus – when pitching retailers, The Wall Street Journal reports.

This marketing strategy has helped the company survive and move into mainstream retail, while many of its green peers have languished in ecofriendly niches or gone out of business altogether.

To promote its own green stripes enough to stand out without abandoning it’s product-first marketing strategy, Indigenous Designs is crafting new clothing hang tags that will quantify exactly what percentage of the price a consumer is paying goes to the artisan in Peru, how much goes to certifying cotton is organic, etc. It’s also creating ecoshop clothing displays for certain stores where “green” consumers are most likely to shop, like Whole Foods, while putting less obvious signage in more mainstream stores like Dillard’s.

Bookmark and Share Email this story Print this post Add your comments

Advertisers

Join the Discussion

Get EL Daily in your inbox, subscribe to free newsletter

Recent Daily News [ see all ]

  • 11/06/2009
  • 11/05/2009
  • 11/04/2009

Industry Voices [ see all ]

Greening the Automotive Supply Chain

Greening the Automotive Supply Chain

A Roadmap for a Renewable Energy Partnership

A Roadmap for a Renewable Energy Partnership

Forest Carbon Core to Climate Change Deal

Forest Carbon Core to Climate Change Deal

ARPA-E Deserves Support

ARPA-E Deserves Support

VCS and CarbonFix Tops in Review of Forestry Carbon Standards

VCS and CarbonFix Tops in Review of Forestry Carbon Standards