Cherie Ingraham of Brewster has combined 30 years experience working in the garment industry with her love of the environment.
This year, she developed My Earth Too!, a line of 100 percent organic cotton apparel, intimates, accessories, bedding and layette.
Retailing between $22 and $55, the My Earth Too! line takes organic products mainstream.
“The customer now knows about organic food.” Ingraham said. “I think it”™s an educational process for the consumer. It”™s (organic clothing) at the beginning of it”™s evolution like it was in the food industry. High end designers have created organic lines and it is now just coming down to the masses. It”™s still not easy to find organic clothing in a lot of places.”
At 23, Ingraham, who grew up on a farm in western New York, moved to New York City to pursue a career in the fashion industry.
Now, she is vice president of merchandising and design for Manhattan-based apparel company Jaclyn Inc.
My Earth Too! is Ingraham”™s company within Jaclyn Inc.
She partnered with her husband, Ricky Feuerman, to create My Earth Too L.L.C.
They moved with back to the country after their wedding, and it was then that she started getting in touch with her environmental side through gardening.
“We lived near beautiful land; it started speaking to me again,” she said. “I just started noticing everything that was happening to the environment and it”™s very hurtful.”
In 2001, she and Feuerman incorporated the Chuckie Goodnight Foundation for the Environment, a nonprofit organization with a mission to teach children about being kind and respectful to the Earth.
A portion of proceeds from the My Earth Too! line are contributed to the foundation.
“This is a dream of ours and it”™s a brand with a heartbeat,” Ingraham said. “There”™s more environmental awareness that”™s happening now.”
My Earth Too L.L.C. has been carried in several department stores, including JC Penney, for 6 months.
The products are now becoming available at national retailers, including at Kohl”™s.
“They are doing a really nice ad campaign for it,” Ingraham said of Kohl”™s.
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Ingraham already has plans to expand the line, which currently includes apparel for women and girls, boys and menswear, and home products.
Teresa Walsh, event manager for Riverkeeper, a Tarrytown-based Hudson River watchdog organization, said the organization was thrilled with the news of Ingraham”™s new clothing line.
“Organic makes sense,” Walsh said. “It”™s sustainable. We”™re thrilled as an environmental organization that organic is no longer a catch phrase. It”™s a concept and an idea that”™s just growing.”
But what are the consumer benefits of purchasing organic clothing?
According to Ingraham, there are different levels of organic, but basic benefits include soft fabric that is not grown with or treated with chemicals.
Each product is imprinted with an Earth-friendly message.
Additionally, hangtags on all products feature an environmental giveaway to educate and remind the consumer to continue to make eco-friendly choices.
“People can make a statement about how they feel about the environment,” Ingraham said.
For more information, visit www.myearthtoo.com.
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