Or how to find fashion with a conscience.
There are three stores in Ottawa that carry a fairly wide range of environmentally-friendly organic cotton and hemp clothing (as well as a smattering of bamboo and soy): Karma Wear, Mountain Equipment Co-op, and Arbour Environmental Shoppe.
Karma Wear is an eco-boutique in the byward market that sells only environmentally-friendly clothing. They stock a wide and constantly changing range of clothing in silk, organic cotton, hemp, bamboo and soy as well as recycled and reclaimed materials. They stock casual trendy clothing as well as shirts, pants and skirts that would be at home in an office setting or even at a wedding. The kind of clothes that you buy when you feel like treating yourself. And I should mention the fabulous shoes they carry if you feel like an extra-special treat.
Mountain Equipment Co-op in Westboro caters to the outdoors set, carrying organic cotton and hemp t-shirts, trekking pants and shorts, yoga pants, athletic tops, sweatshirts and even jeans. They have their own brand of organic cotton clothing and they also carry Prana, Sportif, Patagonia, Carve Designs, Mission Playground, Blurr and Sickle brands. All of these brands make some of their items out of organic cotton. MEC has probably the best selection of men’s organic and hemp clothing in town. A hint for shopping for environmentally-friendly clothing at MEC: check out both the women’s clothing section upstairs as well as the “climbing” clothing section downstairs.
Arbour Environmental Shoppe in the Glebe carries a wide selection of household items, books and now clothes for green living. While their clothing selection is small it is of high quality. They carry casual sweaters, sweatshirts, socks, underwear, skirts, shirts, and pants in hemp and organic cotton. One of the main brands they carry is Ecolution, a company based in Romania that grows organic hemp and manufactures a wide selection of clothing from it. The dress in the photo above is from Ecolution. Arbour is the best place for organic baby clothes in Ottawa.
Karma Wear, 110 Parent Ave., Ottawa, K1N 7B4, 613-789-0441
MEC, 366 Richmond Road, Ottawa, K2A 0E8, 613-729-2700
Arbour Environmental Shoppe, 800 Bank Street, Ottawa, K1S 3V8, 613-567-3168
May 29, 2007 at 1:01 pm
Cotton Ginny also sells clothing made out of organically-grown cotton at all of its retail outlets. They’re also moving towards using more green energy at their retail stores.
June 2, 2007 at 11:34 pm
I was really surprised at how competitively-priced MEC’s organic clothing was compared to non-organic lines.
When I think “organic,” I tend to think “out of my price-range.” However, their stylish t-shirts and tanks were $12-20, and some light cotton pants were around $45.
February 29, 2008 at 5:59 pm
Hello, I have been searching the web for some place who sale hemp and or bamboo fabrics, i am a fashion desinger from Cosra Rica and it will be very helpfull if you can gime some info. Thank you very much.
March 11, 2008 at 10:03 am
I cannot find a place that sells hemp or bamboo fabric in Ottawa directly. Karmawear on Parent Ave will order it in if you like. You can also order fabric from http://www.efforts.ca, a Toronto-based company.
By the way, a Mother’s Touch in Nepean sells organic cloth diapers.
July 12, 2008 at 12:58 am
It is a common misunderstanding that organic products automatically mean more expensive. Yes - some stuff have to cost more due to more labour involved in the production but you can find lots of great certified organic items for just about the same price as non-organic.
Organic By Nature company is based in Ottawa valley and we sell fabulous organic cotton fleece fabric and organic merino wool fabric through our online catalogue and the prices are very competitive too!
August 17, 2008 at 5:48 pm
I would like to add my store to the list as well. Although not located in Ottawa, we are a Canadian store that will be offering a wide variety of eco-friendly clothing and clothing accessories that can be purchased through our on-line store. I have included a short description of our company below. If you sign up before our opening in September, you will get 20% off your first order.
About Fashion & Earth
A green clothing retailer looking to make organic clothing choices easier for online shoppers, Fashion & Earth draws together exciting brands at http://www.FashionandEarth.com with two-way free shipping that delivers throughout North America in as little as three days. Launching in September 2008, the site offers a range of eco-friendly fashions including tops, jeans, jackets, dresses, shoes and accessories. A stringent environmental policy ensures that each green clothing brand adheres to requirements for organic fabrics, environmentally friendly manufacturing processes and fair trade practices, so consumers can shop eco-friendly fashions confidently. Five percent of the company’s profits are pledged to help the earth. Fashion and Earth serves shoppers across North America from picturesque Prince Edward Island, Canada. For more information, please call Adrian Desbarats at 902.675.2217 or email pr@fashionandearth.com.