Hive Interview: Zooey Organic Tees Now Right Beside Organic Teas

Zooey's new eco-friendly tee line for men and women - available at stores including Bloomingdales, Nordstrom and (wait for it) Whole Foods (!) - is made from 100% organic pima cotton from Peru. And Zooey's just getting started saving the world. A portion of the proceeds benefits the charity Healthy Child Healthy World, which promotes environmentally safe and friendly practices for children (Erin Brockovich and Brooke Shields are on the board of advisors).

I talked to Zooey CEO, Alice Heller, who tells us she's becoming a lean, mean, green machine, committed to taking her whole Zooey line organic as soon as possible.

Stylehive: So... Whole Foods. Ever had clothes sold at a grocery before? What's that like?
Alice Heller: I wouldn't consider whole foods a grocery store, it's more of a lifestyle shopping experience for people who want to live with a healthy consciousness and awareness from the food that they eat to the clothes they put on their backs. It seems natural for the Zooey green line to be sold there and help to make a statement. Whole Foods is was a natural place to sell Zooey because they already have a captive audience for this life trend.

SH: How big a process is it changing Zooey to eco-friendly practices? Is there a time frame?
AH: Changing Zooey to eco-friendly practices is a very big process, and it is very challenging, but we are taking it one step at a time. We are doing whatever we can right now, starting from changing the type of cotton we are using. Traditional ways of cotton growing are extremely hazardous to the environment because of pesticides. Zooey is focusing on getting cotton from Peru because there is much more awareness, consciousness and concern about the environment there.

For us to shift over to organic cotton means finding ways to ensure that the cotton has all of the qualities that our customers are accustomed to from Zooey, with the added benefit of being organic. We can not sacrifice the quality that Zooey is known for.
We plan on Zooey's products being completely eco-friendly within the next year. We must move with the availability of the technology and right now we are not able to produce everything with the quality and richness we would like using all eco-friendly practices.

SH: Do you remember the FIRST TIME you heard about eco friendly design? When was that, and how was the fashion world changed since then?
AH: The first time I worked on eco-friendly designs was about 10 years ago. At that time, organic materials were not easy to use for a fashion brand. We were not able to manage color, hand, and shape using organic cotton and the product ended up being compromised it in every way. In the last 18 months the urgency, awareness, and education about the environment has become enormous and has made a key impact on all of us. Clearly the time is now. Eco-friendly fashion is not about a trend, it is about changes that need to be made and the beginning of a new age in business. Companies must adapt to new ways of doing business and developing product, it's the beginning of the future.