ABSTRACT
Is green the new black? Some evidence suggests so. The fashion industry today has become increasingly concerned with ecological and social problems in the textile chain. For example, many global fashion companies and manufacturers/retailers of popular labels, such as C&A, H&M and Zara, include some ecological clothing in their clothing lines. According to the Textile Exchange 2010 Global Market Report on Sustainable Textiles, the retailers named above were even among the top ten using organic cotton (Textile Exchange 2010b). Furthermore, an increasing number of fashion designers and manufacturers of new labels are paying attention to trends in eco-fashion. This is further suggested by an increase in the number of suppliers entering the market in recent years with explicitly social-ecological profiles (Brodde 2009; Kloos 2009). Another indicator is the recent yearly market growth rate for organic cotton: 20% between 2008 and 2009, and 15% between 2009 and 2010 (Textile Exchange 2010a). In the media, debates about eco-fashion have also clearly become more prominent.
