Updated: American Apparel stumbles upon organic cotton purchase

American Apparel has this week purchased 30,000 pounds of organic cotton from a Californian sustainable cotton program.

The Los Angeles-based company purchased the cotton through the Sustainable Cotton project, which works with local farmers to reduce chemical use on cotton farms and avoid using genetically modified seeds. The project runs the Clean Cotton campaign, which tries to engage manufacturers in purchasing organically produced, environmentally-friendly cotton.

The cotton is produced as part of the biological agriculture systems in cotton (BASIC) campaign, which educates farmers on soil management, non-chemical weed and pest control, and sustainable harvest methods. According to the Sustainable Cotton project, it takes one pound of chemical fertilizers and pesticides to conventionally grow the three pounds of cotton needed to make a T-shirt and a pair of jeans.

However, sources at the Sustainable Cotton project revealed that the one-off purchase was finally agreed after multiple failed attempts. "We were trying to promote a grown and sewn in California product with him. He'd say yes, but when it came to buying it didn't work for them in terms of the bottom line," said a source at the Project, of conversations with American Apparel CEO Dov Charney.

"They're not used to knowing how to purchase raw cotton – they normally purchase yarn or woven fabric. Our problem has been pulling this through the supply chain," said the source, who added that it has been difficult "making the pieces fit together."

However, the project happened upon a quantity of left-over spun cotton from a local spinner, and decided to offer it to American Apparel. The American Apparel purchase is expected to be a one-off. The Project has a more regular relationship with yoga clothing manufacturer pr Ana, said the source.

A spokeswoman for American Apparel insisted that the company remained fully committed to sourcing organic cotton and had been using organic cotton in its products since 2002. She added that the company's organic cotton line retails for the same price as its garments made from conventional cotton.