Rogan for Target = Barneys New York + Target + eco-fashion

If Loomstate's $88 organic T-shirts make you dismiss enviro-fashion as a sales gimmick for the Barneys crowd, stop looking down your nose at them -- because soon, you might be wearing the same clothes they are.

How? Barneys New York and Target have teamed up -- over eco-fashions. Yep, eco-ethical designer Rogan Gregory of Edun and Loomstate fame has created a fashionable collection for Target. And somewhat strangely, that collection's debuting at Barneys for a few days, before moving to Target's mass market racks on Sunday, May 18.

Stop by Barneys in Beverly Hills this weekend and you can get organic cotton T-shirts, jeans, and other breezy summerwear for Target prices. We're talking $15 to $45 per item!

All the cotton used in the collection is organic; other more eco-friendly natural fibers -- such as flax linen -- are also used. However, not all items are so eco. One swimsuit, in fact, seems very synthetic and un-eco-friendly. Check out the tag below, for the swimsuit to the right:

I highly recommend making your eco-shopping decisions on a per-item basis, instead of simply assuming everything in the Rogan for Target line is eco.

Last night was Barneys' sneak-peek shopping party in L.A. (New York had its Barneys party last week), and hordes of well-heeled regular Barneys shoppers snapped up Rogan for Target clothes. My friend Summer and I thought we'd browse around at the beginning and shop at the end -- to find that many items in our sizes had already sold out!

The Barneys racks'll be restocked though, at least during this weekend. After May 19, the cheap duds will be excised from the high-end retailer, to reappear on Target's more plebeian racks for six weeks.

Why're these items so inexpensive? Obviously, a company the size of Target can bring down prices simply through economies of scale. But labor justice activists may raise an eyebrow about the fact that these clothes are made in China and Bangladesh.

Of course, that doesn't necessarily mean the clothes were made via exploitative labor. But what I've found interesting is that the details about the production of this collection are scant, and never even mentioned in the Wall Street Journal's or New York Times' coverage.

The omission's especially odd considering the fact that Rogan made his name not just through his use of eco-friendly materials, but also due to his commitment to social justice issues. EDUN, for one, was basically founded to foster fair trade and labor. According to EDUN's website, "EDUN's primary goals are to create beautiful clothes using ethical conditions and to help create long-term sustainable employment in the developing world, particularly sub-Saharan Africa."

Loomstate too describes itself as being "dedicated to creating demand for certified organic cotton using socially and environmentally responsible methods of production," and says its "factories must use the highest environmental and labor standards, controlling factory pollution, and enforcing fair labor as the cornerstone of the effort."

All of that makes me want to believe that Rogan's new line has also been produced under such rigorous labor standards -- except that Target isn't exactly known for its commitment to fair labor and trade. I'm waiting to hear back from the Rogan for Target people for details on its labor policies.

So stay tuned. I did end up buying a cotton-and-linen T-shirt (right) for $19.99, which I'm wearing now as I type this. I love the design and fit -- though I do find the linen a tad scratchy. I also own a Loomstate T-shirt, for which I paid $50 a year and a half ago. That shirt's held up very well and still looks like it did when I bought it. I'll report back on how well the Rogan for Target tee stands the test of time.

After all, the Rogan tag on the tee encourages me to "enjoy these clothes and don't hesitate to wear them forever." The tags, by the way, were printed on 100% post-consumer recycled paper -- a small consolation for the fact that each item of clothing came with three separate tags -- two attached via those non-recyclable plastic wires.

Update, 6/08: Target responded to my inquiry about fair labor -- by letting me know their  cotton purchase, handling, and use methods were organic certified. I wrote back asking them to actually answer the question I asked -- and was pointed to Target's own "business ethics practices" page. It seems the Rogan for Target line used the same labor standard employed for the usual Target products -- an industry-defined, self-regulated standard that often comes under critique by fair labor organizations and advocates.

Photos by Siel

Comments

[Leslie @ the oko box]

I would be really interested to see how they cut corners to get the price down. I would like to believe that Target is so big that is can scale down, but that is quite a downfall from the wholesale prices I am familiar with. If the cotton is organic, obviously they would have not practiced fair wages... i hope though that I am wrong.
I am happy at the least for eco friendly products to be more available, just not if it's mostly greenwashing.

[justine kelly]

I was having the same thoughts as the previous blogger. I work in ethical fashion, and okay I'm in Australia but still a $15 t-shirt made in China is cheap- yet an organic one.

Rogan also designs for Edun (Bono's wife's label) who call themselves 'ethical" even though only 50% of there product is organic, some dresses use non-biodegradable fabrics, some are made in Indian factories that they inspections just twice a year and most of the goods don't have a Fairtrade label etc. I'm soft of Edun because I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt that they are a trying to build a realistic business model that encourage African countries whilst making a profit and year-by year they are increasing the porpotion of organics and increasing the fairtrade and African labour. Compared to a lot of small companies doing it hard but keeping to their principals, Edun is not ethcial at the moment but has a handfull of ethical porducts- namely their jeans and tees.
However, compare Edun t-shirts that retail from around $55 which is pretty standard for organic and fairtrade to Rogan for $15. Something is a miss!! Is Rogan taking Edun fabrics to slave factories? I would Edun or Rogan to answer this directly.