Business

Whoa, baby, organic clothes in China!

(Image via BlogGreen)

Chinese products have been called “toxic” and created mass consumer unease recently, so China is not the obvious place to start looking for organic baby clothes. Still, with the population’s buying power and manufacturing capacity, baby clothes could be one of the most important markets for China’s economy. Sherry Poon, founder and owner of wobabybasics, a company that makes and sells organic clothes in Shanghai, is aiming to prove that “Made in China” can be organic, and she aims to spread a little style and love in the process. (The company was recently featured at the recent EcoFair in Shanghai.)

Organic cotton means that its seeds haven’t been genetically modified or treated with pesticides and that it is grown without the use of chemical toxins, which can be harmful, especially to kids. Finding cotton made without all the mainstream chemicals and pesticides is a difficult task in China. When Poon started her company, she looked for factories and suppliers around Shanghai to “lower the embodied energy of the product” (or use less energy trucking the stuff around). But in manufacturing, sometimes you have to go a little farther than home to find the right raw material.

All the companies would tell me that their cotton fabrics were all organic…it would seem obvious that cotton fabric was all natural. However, cotton farming and textile production is riddled with toxic chemicals, rendering their seemingly inert fiber to be highly toxic and potentially harmful for users. Some companies were able to produce certificates for their organic fabrics. When two of the certificates were absolutely identical and did not check out with the certification board, my optimism dimmed a little.

wobabybasics ended up as a Canadian-owned company contracting with a Danish clothing factory, selling to mostly Western consumers. Poon wanted to work with Chinese suppliers but found they were “still struggling to find their place in the market and are concerned about making profits.” Well, aren’t all businesses? China is as good a place as any–in fact, maybe better–to turn the manufacturing of a niche product into a profitable mainstream business. Poon says recently there has been an increase in suppliers carrying “certified organic and eco fabrics.” Chinese producers are understandably responding to the market as it stands now, and we haven’t given them the noise they need to go totally organic yet.

China is not the only one slow to take up more environmentally conscious products. Like most people selling green concepts, Poon says customers will base their purchasing decisions on performance and design before environmental factors:

…clients are more inclined to purchase clothes they find attractive rather than because it is organic. The fact that the products are organic and ethically made are just a bonus.

Learn more about that type of “bonus” by checking out these other cool businesses in China: Shokay (a luxury fabric line) and Mei Xiang Cheese Factory (an artisan cheese social enterprise). Both unique initiatives, supported by Ventures in Development, aim to capitalize on China’s abundant yak population in a sustainable way.

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