Mastermind behind the Brand
Patrick was raised macrobiotic, and grew up soaking up the effects of the cultural revolution of the 60’s, living on a commune on the Hudson River in the early 70’s. Reading about ‘Halston’ and leafing through ‘W’ inspired him to become a fashion designer. In 1982, his first hat collection was bought by Barneys, prior to that he had never worked for any “designers”, he then spent the next 20 years figuring out how to make clothing.
John Patrick’s ORGANIC collection started development in 2002 and the first piece was produced in 2003. “I went to South America, to Lima in Peru, to develop fabrics and embroideries and bags and even got someone to make organic sneakers. My team had so much fun and learned so much making the collection. When we have problems we make the solution. A white organic bed sheet can become a white shirt. If we need stripes for a tee shirt we can hand print.” says Patrick.
Patrick feels his label is now the world’s leading brand in sustainability and ethical design. A regular stream of students from all over the world want to join his company to learn the new way.
Last year, ORGANIC was selected as one of the finalists for the 2008 CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund Award. “I am incredibly honoured by the VOGUE-CFDA nomination. It has brought me an incredible amount of recognition and for the entire "organic" movement as well. There are endless possibilities in the fashion world and that is what makes it so much fun to be in a privileged position such as mine.” John feels his label is now the world’s leading brand in sustainability and ethical design. A regular stream of students from all over the world want to join his company to learn the new way.
The fabric’s story
Each fabric has meaning because of the relationship to the country or farm or farmer whence it came. For his label, the fabric may be from Vermont, Peru or Japan. “We make sexy, modern organic clothes for the sexy, modern organic world...to look at ORGANIC and see only clothes is to miss the point: the clothes reflect a lifestyle. To wear them is to vote for the radically modern concept that luxury isn’t about stuff, it’s about integrity.” John is so obsessed with finding the purest fibres for his collections that he’s going back to the land to grow his own special crops!
“I can speak freely and honestly about what concerns designers and manufacturers; transparency is one key thing that needs to be changed. Labelling and trans-shipping is so detrimental to the integrity of fashion.” Patrick - a master designer who chooses to make clothing that is responsible and environmentally sound says: “The biggest challenge is for consumers to accept the new ideas and accept the new luxury that is nature and honesty.”
Supermodel Shalom Harlow, who was modelling Patrick's cute boy cut suit à la JPO, complete with a striped bowtie.
Because of his stringent standards in organic quality, Patrick travels around the world, training his factory workers to mill the organic crop into fibres and to maintain sustainable, local cottage hand-production industries. He would also like to be able to support many farmers in remote places so that they may participate in the 21st century interest in all things organic and agrarian. “It is important to support farmers through fashion and think of the entire supply chain and who it really is feeding. Today, the organic movement is open and transparent across the world.”
Luxury is Ecology
ORGANIC currently produces three collections for men and women each year - Spring, Fall, and Resort. Looking ahead, John Patrick intends not only to expand the retail reach of ORGANIC and the depth of its collections, but to grow the brand into the household name for sustainable luxe. The future is coming, and John Patrick is racing to meet it - one small step at a time.
“My style is super fine tuned with each new collection. But I always return to certain classic pieces that make dressing a pleasure. Beautiful, free and happy; these three elements can basically sum up the direction of my style.” Patrick continues, “I want the clothes themselves to have a work ethic and one of the best ways to make clothes that really work is to make thing that are easy to wear, and easy to wear in lots of ways. So I’ve tried to think in terms of essentials, and layering pieces, and mix-and-match.”
Expect to see classic Americana in his JPO SS/10 collection and also with the help of a very special guest: supermodel Shalom Harlow, who was modelling his cute boy cut suit à la JPO, complete with a striped bowtie. Swingy organic separates, a structured trench coat made of recycled polyester, high-waisted trousers, and floaty frocks printed with florals and watercolored patterns make pretty much the whole collection to die for. The contrast between the flowery lavender and arty “Acid Rain” prints and the traditional solids and stripes keeps the collection interesting. Every item is simple enough that you could easily transform it with the addition of a poppy accessory or favourite cardigan, which really lends itself to the frugalista climes we’re living in.
Quote from Patrick to mark the end of this article: I envision a world in the near future where people won’t ask “is it organic?” but say “of course, it’s organic!”
© EcoAsia 2009
