Organic clothes get hot

+ Putting Green In Vogue: Organic Clothes Get Hot.

Fiber sales are the third-fastest-growing category of all non-food organic products, reports the Organic Trade Association, based in Greenfield, Mass. with sales of $160 million in 2005--up from $85 million in 2003.

"Consumers have the belief that organic is better, and they're looking for all kinds of ways to reduce the impact they have on the environment," says Matt Mole, president and founder of Vermont Organic Fiber Co., an organic wool wholesaler based in Middlebury, Vt. "They want to do that with the light bulbs they use, the cars they drive and the clothes they wear."

Still, those fibers represent only the tiniest percentages of the apparel world. About 1% of the world's cotton is organic, as is about 0.1% of the wool. Traditionally, green fabrics have been more expensive and less practical. And from a fashion perspective? Let's just say organic clothes have been better suited to sincere grad students than to someone like Anna Wintour.