COTTON USA Embrace Nature, Choose Cotton

NEWS

20 years of the COTTON USA mark

Shopping can be a very confusing business as consumers are confronted by an increasingly diverse array of fibre and fabric logos and labels. Who could blame them for being sometimes uncertain about what the logos represent and whether they indicate any significant product benefits?    

When purchasing cotton products, there is one label that stands out - the COTTON USA Mark. The distinctive blue and white Mark, with its cotton boll motif, identifies and differentiates superior products made from cotton grown in the USA, one of the world's largest supplier of high quality cotton and the leading innovator in enhancing the performance of cotton products.  

For 20 years the COTTON USA Mark has signified that products bearing it are made from a minimum of 95% cotton, of which at least 50% is U.S. grown cotton. And the recently introduced tagline to the COTTON USA Mark, "COTTON USA Naturally", further highlights the purity and natural aesthetics of cotton products.

When CCI embarked on its campaign to identify U.S. cotton merchandise with the Mark in 1989, its aim was to create cotton quality awareness in key global markets and to increase demand for U.S. cotton products by working with licensees at both trade and consumer levels.

Today, the Mark has grown in stature to become one of the most recognised of all textile symbols in apparel and home furnishings. It identifies and "ingredient brands" products made with U.S. cotton at all stages of processing and marketing, and its increasing success has benefited manufacturers and retailers throughout the supply chain.

The number of CCI licensees continues to grow and in 2007, 240 million textile units were labelled with the COTTON USA Mark. It is highly visible at retail level where it enables COTTON USA licensees, ranging from major players such as Marks & Spencer to exclusive underwear brand Bodas, to communicate to customers the quality and value of U.S. cotton goods.

As Stephanie Thiers-Ratcliffe, CCI International Marketing Manager, points out: "Consumers have become aware that the COTTON USA Mark is a symbol of quality, comfort and luxury, and it appeals to discerning consumers who appreciate this combination."