CARRIE KUNZMANN | staff writer
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Carrie Kunzmann
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| Senior communication studies major RUTHIE STONE wears a shirt designed by her cousin, creator of Africa Hope Apparel. |
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The craze of wearing clothing for a cause is sweeping the Azusa Pacific campus. Whether that cause is providing a child a pair of shoes or helping the environment, students are becoming active participants in helping their world one fashion trend at a time.
Finding a perfect pair of jeans can be a difficult and sometimes unsuccessful task. Freshman business administration major Carter Posladek has ended his search with his pair of Nudie brand jeans.
Made from 100 percent organic cotton, Nudie Jeans have become increasingly popular in today’s market due to the organic nature and human rights conscious practices of the company.
Posladek owns two pairs of these form-fitting and comfortable jeans and highly recommends them for others to try. He often wears his Nudies 4-5 times within a week.
“I don’t really care if I wear them multiple times in a row because they’re my Nudies,” Posladek said.
Nudies can be found and purchased online at www.nudiejeansco.com, or at a clothing store found through the website’s store finder. Priced between $150-250, Nudies may not be easy on your wallet but they are definitely easy on the environment.
Another company that is taking on the organic market is Bamboo U. Based in Brentwood, Tenn. its founder Jeff Fulmer chose to “discover the bamboo difference” as stated through the company’s motto.
“The environmental story of [bamboo] is very strong,” Fulmer said.
Fulmer gets his T-shirts that are made purely out of bamboo and organic cotton from two companies located in Los Angeles: Eco Designz and Bamboo Clothing. Bamboo Clothing owns a bamboo factory in China.
“[The factory is] professional and all workers are paid 25 percent more than Chinese labor laws require,” Fulmer said.
Fulmer prints the shirts locally in Nashville, Tenn. using water-based ink. The mission of the company expands beyond simply selling shirts and making a profit.
“Obviously we’re a business and we want to sell shirts, but more importantly, I want people to be more conscious about what they’re wearing and buying,” Fulmer said.
Currently, Bamboo U only produces women’s T-shirts but the company hopes to expand to hoodies, yoga pants and eventually men’s apparel.
Fulmer said the company aims to provide activewear for the college-age female demographic and described the shirts as comfortable and good to work out in.
Bamboo U shirts can be found primarily on their website www.bamboo-u.com as well as in select stores that are starting to carry the line. The shirts are $30 with a small fee for shipping.
Senior communications major Ruthie Stone has also joined the eco-bandwagon.
The phrase “Shed Some Light” can be read on Stone’s t-shirt, purchased from Africa Hope Apparel, a company that was started by her cousin Katie Rystrom.
According to Stone the company began with a T-shirt roughly made at a summer camp with a stenciled, spray-painted image of Africa. Rystrom wore the shirt and was asked questions about Africa and what’s going on in that country. Her idea soon expanded to a website.
“It was started primarily to raise awareness not only for Africa, but also to raise awareness about these organizations that are already doing something,” Stone said.
Currently the company makes t-shirts for both men and women. They can be ordered online at http://www.africahopeapparel.org and the shirts are $20.
Half of the price goes directly to one of the five organizations of the customer’s choice. The website also provides the opportunity for anyone to e-mail ideas for T-shirt designs to Rystrom through the email link on the website.
When considering the idea to go organic or support a cause, there are some obvious costs and benefits.
Benefits include being more aware of the world around you and aiding in providing a necessity to those in need while buying a necessity of your own.
Also there is great appeal for eco-friendly or purposeful products in today’s market.
The primary costs are the products themselves because it’s not as popular to use bamboo versus the 100 percent cotton mass market of our society.
“Buying clothes on sale at a particular store may be good for my pocketbook, obviously as a student and paying a lot to go here, but is that benefiting anyone else?” Stone said. “You realize that it might cost a little more but it’s supporting something that is bigger than ourselves.”
