Consumer desire for sustainably produced goods is driving domestic and global demand for Australia’s $2.5-billion cotton crop, according to retailers and millers.
Leading brands are now introducing clothing ranges made entirely from Australian cotton as an alternative to cheaper fibre mixes.
Photo: article supplied
“More and more international retailers and brand owners want to know the story about the production cycle,” Cotton Australia CEO Adam Kay told ABC News.
“They want to know about the sustainability and the environmental story,” he said, adding the industry had worked hard for years on winning a social license to operate.
“We can clearly demonstrate over 40 per cent improvement in water use efficiency over the last decade and we’ve reduced the amount of pesticide used by 90 per cent in the last 15 years.”
Mr Kay recently hosted a visit to the cotton fields of Narrabri, New South Wales, for designers and retailers from some of the biggest brands in the country.
“We’ve seen a huge increase in interest,” said Cotton Australia’s Brooke Summers, whose job is to sell the story of Australian cotton to the world.
“A couple of years ago we struggled to get even eight people on a plane out to a visit like this, and now we’ve got thirty people here today.”
For Lisa Hunter, who manages womenswear for Jeans West, the tour gave her a feel — quite literally — of the fibre in the field, as well as an insight into the ginning process and the research being carried out to continually improve the crop.
“[Environmental credentials are] incredibly important to our customers,” Ms Hunter said.
“So we’ve been working transparently trying to trace back the cotton to the region and to the farm.”
The jeans retailer will feature its first all-Australian cotton shirts this spring.
This article was originally published by ABC.net.au.