Comments on: Greening the Fashion Industry http://blog.vertbrands.com/?p=11 Just another WordPress weblog Wed, 02 Sep 2009 00:11:35 -0700 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: lisa http://blog.vertbrands.com/?p=11&cpage=1#comment-3 lisa Sat, 24 May 2008 06:03:55 +0000 http://blog.vertbrands.com/?p=11#comment-3 Mario, I think you hit on a good point. Fashion has to be be fashionable at the end of the day. We keep hearing more and more reports about the gap between what consumers report as being important to them (the environment, social responsibility, etc.) and where they actually put their money. Many consumers are not ready to make huge sacrifices, particularly when it comes to fashion. A "green" dress is not as obvious as a Prius or a canvas shopping bag so it can't sell just on green merit alone. Mario, I think you hit on a good point. Fashion has to be be fashionable at the end of the day. We keep hearing more and more reports about the gap between what consumers report as being important to them (the environment, social responsibility, etc.) and where they actually put their money. Many consumers are not ready to make huge sacrifices, particularly when it comes to fashion. A “green” dress is not as obvious as a Prius or a canvas shopping bag so it can’t sell just on green merit alone.

]]> By: Mario Vellandi http://blog.vertbrands.com/?p=11&cpage=1#comment-2 Mario Vellandi Fri, 23 May 2008 05:57:51 +0000 http://blog.vertbrands.com/?p=11#comment-2 Great topic! Fashion is such a unique industry with usually high price points, great margins, but relatively much lower sales volume in comparison to mass merchandisers. Nau was a company that decided that controlling their distribution as a means to get closer to customers and increase margins, was an excellent strategy to grow and be profitable, while sticking to their ethics. With high price points, simply using sustainable materials and having a great company culture is not enough. The merchandise (as a cumulative whole) has to be fashionable and competitive in terms of COGS (cost of goods sold), and end-user price. If this is true, and there is sufficient shopper demand, sustainable and 'green' clothing has a chance. Great topic! Fashion is such a unique industry with usually high price points, great margins, but relatively much lower sales volume in comparison to mass merchandisers.

Nau was a company that decided that controlling their distribution as a means to get closer to customers and increase margins, was an excellent strategy to grow and be profitable, while sticking to their ethics.

With high price points, simply using sustainable materials and having a great company culture is not enough. The merchandise (as a cumulative whole) has to be fashionable and competitive in terms of COGS (cost of goods sold), and end-user price. If this is true, and there is sufficient shopper demand, sustainable and ‘green’ clothing has a chance.

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