By Carol Tisch

As fashion critics around the globe scrutinized every fabric, color, ruffle and hemline at Sunday night’s Academy Awards, Michele Young of Sarasota and her sister Melissa Blanco of Miami scanned for Hollywood’s newest trophy: the ever-so-hip baby bump.

 “I never thought the pregnancies and birthing practices of celebrities would become part of my marketing plan,” says Young, who launched Sarasota-based OBLI Organics, an organic children’s clothing company, with Blanco last November. Indeed, both sisters are marketing pros. Michele was a vice president at Smith Advertising in town, and Melissa a relationship marketing guru for a Fortune 100 company. That expertise played no small part in the Hollywood-style overnight success of their company.

The nascent baby and toddler clothing company garnered national media exposure last week because OBLI (an acronym for On Borrowed Land, Inc.) Organics’ best-seller – an infant “onesie” with graphics of a green baby pram and the slogan, “I only ride hybrid’ – was selected for Oscar night goody bags (AKA swag bags). And there’s more: The same eco-friendly item was chosen for gift bags at January’s Sundance Film Festival, where they also appeared in a display called the Eco Closet at the Lexus Hybrid Living Eco House.

OLBI Organics' onesie is a hit with celebrity moms-to-be.

“We picked up retailers in several states that are new for us because of the Oscar coverage,” said Young, who told us Write-On Sarasota carries the line. Web sales spiked as well. And while celebrity endorsements have long been the preferred marketing tool for luxury goods, the current obsession with Mommywood is impacting all sorts of maternity and baby gear. OBLI Organics’ timing is perfect!

But the product’s environmental attributes are what really resonate with consumers – celebrities or not. The sisters, both young moms in the same demographic age group as Jolie, J-Lo, et al, are passionate greenophiles. In fact, their families do drive hybrid cars: Michelle’s is a Toyota Highlander and Melissa’s a Prius. And the cachet of OBLI products, beyond the organic cotton and their adherence to  Fair Trade Practices, is the hip, educational messages of the environmental graphics and slogans.