The Changing Landscape of American Organic Cotton

I live in a cotton producing area.  In October I drive past miles and miles cotton fields.  Bits of white fluff line the road like frost.  Yet, I've repeatedly heard "there are almost no cotton fabric mills in the US, much less one that makes organic fabric."  Really?  We grow mountains of cotton, I drive past them regularly.  Do we really ship it all to be processed overseas?

Turns out that since all of the stories that the American textile company was on its last legs, much has changed.  While thousands of factories closed in the last 20 years, they have also consolidated, improved technology and benefitted from being close to the major world markets.  In the last 3 years, the industry has expanded by almost 40% according to the New York Times.  No, it did not bring back the thousands of jobs that they once provided--much of the production is automated--but the ones they brought have decent pay and safe working conditions.  Imagine that!  Many of these revived factories have started oroducing organic cotton fabrics.  In 2010 all of the news stories seem to indicate there was only 1 organic cotton fabric mill in the US.  Now, I can find evidence of at least 4 on this site, not to mention the many others I was able to find through product references.  For instance, there is a mill that now produces organic cotton sheets here.  And another makes custom t-shirts--I bought one from TS Designs  and will write about it after it comes.

Be skeptical if you hear that the US doesn't produce organic cotton fabric--we have factories churning it out by the ton!

Photo from New York Times article linked to above

Master of Fabric--the History of Fortuny

There are some things in fashion that are simply mythical.  One of the most notable of these is Fortuny Fabrics.  Every time I see them I immediately think of Lousie Brooks and Greta Garbo and their glamorous dresses!  The production of the fabrics began just after 1900 and their current factory opened in the early 1920s.  Ever since, their secret formula has been used to create some of the most fine fabrics in the world.

Mariano Fortuny was a Spanish designer who studied achlemy, art, science, music, architecture and history all over the world with a particular emphasis on Greek and Egyptian history.  Oddly, he also had an obsession with Wagner's music.  When he started his foray into fashion in 1907 he decided to open his own fabric production so that he could have access to the high-quality fabrics he envisioned his designs to be made of.  It even seems that neither World War managed to completely shut down his factory, either.

The processes that were and still are used to create these fabrics is still a trade secret and the Fortuny company still claims that no one has been able to exactly replicate their fabrics.  The factory is still using the same machinery and processes that were implemented by Mr. Fortuny himself.  Some of the processes that are known to be used are dying the fabric from the back and the use of dye chemicals from achlemy.  Regardless of what secret thing they do to make their fabric as wonderful as it is, what really makes Fortuny fabric really so wonderful is that it truly stands the test of time.  I'm inclined to say that no other designer seems to have as many surviving gowns from the first few decades of the 20th century as Fortuny and I think that is the true testament to the quality of his work.

Picture of Fortuny gown from http://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/hispanicdesigners