Company Profile: Culturata Organics
The “Company Profile” is an Earth911.com series highlighting consumer goods and services making a difference through product stewardship and recycling. Products and services featured do not pay for placement and are not endorsed by Earth911.com.
As organic products become more popular, they begin to enter every realm of our daily lives. From foods, body products or clothing, organic is a hot word accompanied by some hot new trends. On that note, Culturata Organics is leading the crowd with its new Organic Cotton dress shirts.
Culturata Organics stays true to the Italian tradition of shirt-marking with careful attention to detail and uses organic fabrics to create a modern progressive collection. To learn more about this up and coming company, we discussed its products with Jacques Haggiag, Director of Culturata Organics:
Product Overview
“Our goal is to redefine how men shop for cotton dress shirts. For the past two years we have focused on supporting organic cotton production and educating the public,” says Haggiag. “Culturata Organics has created a unique line of environmentally responsible dress shirts using organically grown cotton. Our philosophy is to provide a sustainable fashion choice without sacrificing style or quality.”
Culturata Organics products really talk to the modern dresser. “Years ago organic clothing meant frumpy, hippy clothes,” he explains. “Today, we proudly bring together exceptional quality, luxury and the comfort of knowing that your dress shirt is healthy for you, healthy for those who produce it and healthy for the environment.”
New to the Scene
Though Culturata Organics has only been in business for two years, its learning process started some time ago. “Our research into this market started five years ago,” explains Haggiag. “We wanted to ensure that we did our homework and spent a lot of time researching organic cotton production, ways to reduce excess shipping materials, perfecting fits and styling.”
Company Eco-Friendliness
- All of the dress shirts use organically grown cotton:
- Organic cotton is grown without pesticides from plants which are not genetically modified
- Organic agriculture uses crop rotation instead of agrochemicals and artificial fertilizers, and biological pest control instead of pesticides
- Practice recognized environmentally-friendly working methods such as:
- Careful selection of dye-stuffs
- Optimization of the dye baths
- Chlorine-free bleaching techniques
- Low formaldehyde finishing methods
- Pesticide and heavy metal-free materials
Importance of Consumers
The evolution of the customer has been very noticeable as it relates to organic clothing. Demand has rapidly increased in the last few years.
“It started with baby and women’s clothes,” explains Haggiag. “Now we are seeing growth in men’s clothing and in-house wares. People are really starting to understand that conventional cotton production is extremely harmful to the environment and to those who grow it. Therefore many brands have started using organically grown cotton to meet consumer demand.”
As the trends have evolved and interest peaks, the public awareness goes beyond just organic shirts. “Recycling by the public helps us with our shipping needs. We only use recycled boxes and packing materials for all of our shipping.”
Most Exciting Part of Running Culturata Organics
“Converting people one by one to a better integrated organic lifestyle,” Haggiag says. “Having these people thank us for having made their life better and for our commitment to the environment.”
Future Plans
- Continue to build awareness about the benefits of organically grown cotton
- Extend product offering to retailers around the world
Favorite of the Three R’s
“That has to be reduce. I think that this hits the problem at the start of the cycle. By implementing the right measures up front we can eliminate the inconsistencies of end users of reusing and recycling.”
