Under the Nile Headed for Target
From the Billings Gazette: “Pink and blue are passé. The hot thing in the children’s market these days is green.”
Parents are increasingly turned on by the idea of organic products—clothing, creams and food made without chemicals that they think are too harsh to be used on their pristine and delicate children.
While organic baby food has developed a strong following over past years—a $206 million industry last year, according to the most recent figures available from the Organic Trade Association—interest in organic clothes and cleansers is growing as quickly as the kids they target.
Sales of organic fibers for infant clothes and cloth diapers rose 40 percent between 2004 and 2005 to $40 million, and fiber for the child-teen market grew 52 percent to $3 million. Meanwhile, organic personal-care products, including baby care, rose 34 percent to $26 million.
Whether organic products offer any sort of health benefits is unclear; most experts say only the most sensitive children could have a problem with conventional clothing or personal-care products. But parents seem more motivated by a desire to keep their kids untainted from some of the harshness and artificiality of the world for as long as they can.
“This is the first time—and I’ve been in business 10 years—that we’re catching up to organic food,” says Janice Masoud, founder of Under the Nile, an organic clothing company based in Milpitas, Calif., that specializes in children’s items.
Under the Nile will launch a test program in 150 Target stores this coming holiday season with towel sets, swaddle blanket sets, a sherpa two-piece cardigan set and flannel footies.
From her regular collection, the most popular items are bodysuits, buntings and baby gowns that can be worn home from the hospital. Masoud thinks that’s because they’re all pieces that are right next to a baby’s skin for long periods of time.
She says she cringes at the thought of the pesticides and insecticides used to grow some cotton rubbing against a newborn’s skin. She also notes that formaldehyde is sometimes used in fabric’s finishing process, as is polyvinyl chloride, known as PVC.
“Cotton is supposed to be a ‘natural fiber,’ ” says Masoud, who obtained fair-trade certification for her brand, meaning that the co-op of Egyptian farmers that grows her cotton she buys her cotton from are paid more—and they, in turn, put the investment into their land.
“A mother would rather spend some dollars on her baby than herself,” Masoud says. “There are so many pollutants in the society today that moms are worried about for the kids. Moms are trying not to add extra chemicals to their babies.”
(Emphases are mine.)
The Worsted Witch » The Pesticide-Parkinson’s Equation said,
September 15, 2006 at 6:24 pm
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