European Eco-Trend of the Week: Traceable Clothing by IOU Project

April 18, 2012 in Green News, World, Green StartUps, Green Companies, Green Stories with 7 Comments

U.S. Green Technology | Where Main Street Meets Green Street

Each IOU piece is handmade and totally unique, meaning it's only available in one size. Image from IOU Project.

Kavita Parmar, an Indian clothing designer in Spain known for her line Raasta, was frustrated with her industry. Why did the emphasis have to be on mass production of poor quality clothes, which were produced at a low cost and sold at a high price? Never one to sit back and wish others would solve problems, Parmar set out to start a green technology clothing line that would benefit everyone involved–from the artisan weaver, to the everyday wearer. The result is the IOU Project, a clothing line focused on total transparency and green technology.

In order to develop the green clothing line, Parmar visited everyone involved in the production process. All 246 artisan weaving families in India. Every European factory and collective that turned the cloth into clothing. As she said in an interview with Source4Style, “We had to talk to everyone involved to understand their craft and their business model . . . so that we could build something that worked for everyone involved . . . We talked to every one of them about their dreams and aspirations, frustrations and limitations.”

IOU doesn’t interfere with the artisans’ fabric making methods, which incorporate green technology like organic cotton and natural dyes. Instead, they take the artisans’ creations and turn them into designs–all made by hand, of course.

Each IOU garment comes with a tracking code (like a UPS package) that allows the user to trace its history through the green technology factory that assembled it, all the way back to the weaving artisan. As the clothing company’s website states, “We think people will enjoy knowing how and where their clothing comes from. We also think that this knowledge helps foster a sense of shared social and environmental responsibility.”

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yybe3hB3Ix4

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About Leslie Hedrick: Leslie Hedrick has been a freelance writer and journalist since 2009. Her work, centering around green technology and sustainable living, has been published across the internet and in magazines throughout North America. She studied writing at Columbia College Chicago, and currently resides in northern Kentucky. Connect with Leslie on Leslie Hedrick

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