What to Wear, Now through Fall

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I wrapped up my eco-shopping session at Sport Chalet, which supports local beach cleanups and all of whose stores and warehouses recycle cardboard packaging. There I hunted for Nike and Adidas, both of which get top Greenpeace grades for phasing out PVC vinyl, the most hazardous plastic to our health and the earth. I especially liked the sturdy Adidas Tuttle Backpack ($59) and a halter-style Anna Dress ($60)—for tennis, yes, but also for the beach or sipping organic tea at a Russian café.

It's happening everywhere, of course, not just in my hometown: In response to our growing demand, green is taking root and is poised to become "the new black," as The New York Times reported in an article on an eco-fashion show in March. "Approximately 30 percent of the adults in the U.S., or 63 million people, are currently considered consumers of Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability (LOHAS)," says Ted Ning, managing editor of LOHAS Journal. The Natural Marketing Institute (NMI) reports that 20 percent of the U.S. population bought organic-cotton clothing in 2005, a 3 percent increase. In a random Internet survey of 2,000 people, 66 percent said that the environmental impact of the clothing they purchase matters, according to Gwynne Rogers, NMI strategic marketing consultant. Among LOHAS consumers, the number was 98 percent.

It's not surprising, then, that trendsetting stores like Barneys are starting to stock organic-cotton clothes. But "the designers from Europe have been working with organic lines for a while," says Ambie Stapleton of Fred Segal Hollywood Trading Company in Santa Monica, which carries Rogan Gregory's Loomstate organic-cotton sportswear. "The jeans are a big hit, even at $180, and their T-shirts fly off the rack at $55," Stapleton says. The store is eagerly awaiting the fall Edun line—"nude" spelled backwards—designed by Rogan, Bono and Ali Hewson and made of organic cotton in family-run, fair-labor factories. And recently on the TV show Desperate Housewives, Andrea Bowen wore an Avita sweater, made by designer Amanda Shi of fast-growing, replenishable bamboo.