Brands

Alternative Apparel
We chose to use Alternative Apparel for many reasons. Although much of their line is not manufactured in the United States, much of it is. Most companies in our industry manufacture less than 10% of their goods in the USA; Alternative builds over 20% of their products in this country. We have known and worked with Alternative for many years (in our printing division). They have proven themselves to be an honorable company, using up-to-date manufacturing facilities, transparent business practices and very strict policies when it comes to the treatment of their laborers and employees (not only of their own company, but each one of their vendors).

As you will see when you inspect their offering in our WebStore, Alternative Apparel is a leader in fashion. We wish everything they made was sustainable so we could put their whole collection on our site: they are currently the hottest brand in America. Please be aware though, Alternative fit is slim (fashion cut); so it's a good idea to size up a little. Check their site out and click onto the following link to see what and who they are for yourself. http://www.alternativeapparel.com/about-alternative/Social-Consciousness.aspx

American Apparel
We chose to use American Apparel in our WebStore because they have become the most stable and staple Apparel brand in the United States. Although their reputation for showing "soft porn" in their catalogs, websites and advertisements make them look sketchy, they're not. The press and their competitors have given American Apparel such a bad rap and it's (in our opinion) for mainly one reason: they're jealous. Here is a company who has re-invented the T-shirt business. If it were not for American Apparel, women might still be wearing men's T-shirts. At a time when nearly every T-shirt manufacturer moved their factories to China or, at least, out of the USA and Americas, American Apparel set up their business in downtown L A!

We wish there company would take a bigger stand on sustainable apparel, but what they have is absolutely great and, in our opinion, their Sustainable Edition T-shirts are the best in the industry. The fit, the make and the fabric is all top drawer goods. We have had extensive discussions with their executives regarding sustainability in agriculture and apparel and they believe in it and know what they're talking about. Check their site out here: http://www.americanapparelorganics.com/reasons.html

Anvil Knitwear
Every company in our WebStore has invested in and believes in sustainability: some more than others. Anvil Knitwear not only talks the talk AND walks the walk, they have gone giant steps beyond the industry, innovating and creating new and better ways to produce a sustainable society within our market. Anvil is one of the main reasons we started to look at alternatives to an all USA garment. They have partnered up with our neighbors south of the border in new ways. First, they adhere to strict human resource and working environment rules. The factories they're manufacturing out of are new and totally state-of-the-art: they made our factories here look old and worn-out (which sadly, they are).

Anvil has also put there money into the pockets of American farmers. There is a new way to help farmers who want to raise their cotton using sustainable and organic practices, but can't really afford the fees and the wait before their fields become "Certified". This cotton is now called "Transitional" and is raised in complete compliance with organic farming and will soon become Certified Organic Cotton. Anvil has put up their money and pledges to buy cotton from these farmers (mostly in Texas), have the bales of their cotton spun into yarn (www.parkdalemills.com) and sent down south to Nicaragua and Honduras to be built into a fine product. That's called putting your money where your mouth is. Good business practices? Absolutely. Now, here's another innovative move. If you're like us, there's always a little skepticism when something looks so good, it makes us wonder if it really is. Anvil has created a great new website where you can see everything from seeds to garment. There will be a number in most of Anvil's sustainable apparel; you will go to this website (www.trackmyt.com) and enter your number. Here you will see the carbon footprint of the garment you just purchased from us, from Anvil! Click here to see how it works: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSgnj8aVESM Now this is what we call moving toward the future at warp speed. We hope (and strongly urge) our other vendors to follow this model. Anvil is a good and solid mid-range vendor and we're proud to have them in our WebStore. Check them out at www.anvilknitwear.com

PLAYBACK
PlayBack has created a line of clothing born out of pure creative genius and, like most brilliant ideas: simple. Without going through all the details, Playback went to many mills and other manufacturers and contracted to take away all their lint; that's right, LINT! You see, all manufacturers, knitters and yarn spinners produce, as a natural by-product of make apparel, thousands of pounds of lint. Typically they throw it away or discard it in some manner. PlayBack picks up their lint, packs it in bales and sends it to their spinners to make yarn out of it, then to their knitters to knit piece goods out it, then cut and sew it into incredibly tasteful and (yes) very sustainable apparel.

This process they are using is so innovative and so environmentally useful; you just can't imagine. First of all, being part of an environmental responsible dyeing operation ourselves, here at Organic Apparel's factory, the water usage is really enormous: PlayBack uses NO WATER. Their lint-goods are already a color so there's no dyeing to be done. Talk about recycling! They also use the waste from scraps, recycled water bottles, used polyester (all of these would normally go into a landfill somewhere) to sort out, break down and create the line you see in our site. We're not saying their goods are cheap; they're not. But they are so worth it and so cool; you'll love owning and wearing PlayBack Apparel. Check them out at http://www.playbackclothing.com

Bella / Alo / Canvas
At first glance, Bella doesn't appear to be much of a "green" line, or company: they don't have that many organic items and they seem to be mostly about great styles and colors; much like a lot of other contemporary lines. But there's a saying, "you can't judge a book by looking at its cover". We were both surprised and thrilled when Bella offered to make us organic cotton shirts in their men's division (Canvas) as well as their women's division, out of USA cotton and expressly in their USA manufacturing plant! They manufacture most of their goods outside of the USA, but have a small facility here and offered to make our line in this factory. We thought it was worth a closer look.

The first thing we saw when we took this close look at their company was how they operated their own company. Their every day business practices make most companies look like horrible polluters; ours included! We learned a lot from their model: no one in the entire corporation (and it's a sizable one) has a waste basket, only a recycling container. If someone wants to trow away something in the "waste basket", they have to walk it down the hall of their floor to the "only" waste basket (it's called "the walk of shame"). They recycle and save several tons of "stuff" that would have normally gone into a landfill somewhere. From their company cars, to the products they use, the solar panels on their build: this company lives it and breathes it and can teach us all a lesson or two. We want them in our WebStore and love supporting their efforts. Check out their site at http://www.bella.com Upon a deeper look we found they manufacture a sports line called Alo and were further impressed by the sustainability of the Bella company and especially this line. Not all of us can wear this collection but it is HOT and starting to show up in major stores and boutiques around the USA, Canada and abroad. Here is where sustainability comes out in apparel for this company and we look for great items and innovations in things to come. Check them out at http://www.alosport.com

Econcious
Econscious is a company with a deep history of environmental commitment and a company filled with personnel from some of the finest environmentally responsible companies in North America. Although their products come from all over the world and not just the Americas, their mission is sustainability and building some of the finest garments of the highest quality we have seen. When you purchase their products offered on this site, you can be sure you will own them for years. This is a collection that does not involve the trendy look, but offers a sensible, conservative style that is produced with durability and strength in mind. Their fashion will speak for itself and you will be proud to own their apparel and their bags are fantastic! Also, for some of you who might have a bigger project in mind, they are a company that will build a custom product for you. Check them out and see who and what they are: http://www.econscious.net

Rabbit Skins
The youth and toddler market will be a very important market for us and we plan to continually add to our WebStore. We chose the Rabbit Skins line because we have worked with it for years and know it and, most importantly, we trust it. This line is built by L.A.T. and has been around since 1982 and is out of Georgia. They don't have an extensive line in sustainable apparel but they have the basics covered.