You may have heard about the sustainable clothing movement — it calls for consumers to use pieces longer (more mending); buy used items; refrain from purchasing clothes made of raw materials that are bad for the environment; and avoid “fast fashion.” Invest in well-made classics instead, say proponents of “slow clothing,” some of whom avoid the use of the word “fashion” altogether.
Then there’s making sure that clothes themselves are produced in a more sustainable way. Madison’s Fair Indigo has been working to make sustainable, fair trade clothing since 2006.
The company was founded in Madison by Robert Behnke, a former Lands’ End employee who wondered if the fair trade concept he was familiar with from coffee could work for clothing.
Fair Indigo started in a storefront at Hilldale Shopping Center; that closed in 2011.
At first it was a shop for many products — clothing, gifts, holiday ornaments, to name a few. It now sells only clothing and related accessories for men and women, and Joobles, organic hand knit dolls for babies.
Fair Indigo uses Madison residents to showcase their clothes on real people. The essential scoop neck T-shirt (left) is the company’s best-seller.
Today, Fair Indigo’s headquarters (no storefront) are on the far west side on D’Onofrio Drive; locally, its clothes are sold only at Change Boutique on Williamson Street and at FairIndigo.com.
Behnke says the Madison office is “the furthest from a hipster startup district you’ll find — tucked away in a 1980s-era office park between a shopping mall and the Beltline.” It’s home to three full-time employees and four part-time employees. Photos from trips to Peru, where Behnke sources the company’s cotton, are hung on the walls, and garment samples are also on display.
Fair Indigo uses Pima cotton, which is stronger and more durable than shorter staple cotton; it also pills less and holds its shape more once woven into fabric. But the cotton plant also needs more exact conditions to thrive.
“Peru has the perfect weather for growing this long-staple fiber,” says Stacy Imhoff, designer and social media marketing manager.
For the spring line, Imhoff searched for prints and colors she wasn’t seeing elsewhere in the industry. Standouts include Fair Indigo’s first-ever jumpsuit and a reversible wrap dress with pockets. Imhoff is wary of fashion industry trends causing over-consumption: “Trends are anti-sustainable.”
Husband and wife Javier Otoya and Elsa Ortiz run an independent business and are partners with Fair Indigo. They grow Fair Indigo’s cotton on organic farms, and own an eight-person production facility in Lima, Peru. They in turn pay fair wages to their Peruvian employees. They also work with small cooperatives and workshops in Peru, says Imhoff.
Imhoff has traveled to Peru not only to see the production facility, but also to see the work being done by Fair Indigo’s nonprofit, the Fair Indigo Foundation, that supports two schools in the Peruvian community where their products are made.
“Individual lives have improved with access to safe, clean working conditions and fair, living wages,” says Imhoff. She cites a husband and wife team who run a hand knitting business out of their home who were able to build a better house in a safer neighborhood and send their children to school after marketing their wares to Otoya and Ortiz.
The fully bio-degradable polybag also contains the care instructions, avoiding the need for a label.
Fair Indigo has been making other forward-thinking changes. It stopped printing and mailing a paper catalog and began using non-models in their photo shoots — friends, family, people they meet in Madison — to better showcase their clothes on persons of all sizes, heights and colors. (The company previously worked with Ford Models in Chicago.)
“We had customers request it,” Imhoff says. “One said she’s a size 16 and couldn’t visualize our products on her body.”
Fair Indigo concentrates on a wardrobe of wearable basics, including organic cotton leggings, skirts, dresses, jackets and sweaters. Most styles are for women; shirts, sweaters and jogging pants are available for men. Most styles are under $100.
Women’s essential organic tees are Fair Indigo’s bestselling items. These start at $35. Imhoff understands how people may want to opt for a $5 T-shirt at a discount store, but notes that to make such a shirt, exploitative cheap labor and cheap materials are involved. “We aren’t perfect,” says Imhoff of Fair Indigo, “but it’s about making small changes.”
[Editor's note: This article has been corrected to note that the production facility is located in Lima.]
