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Functional Apparel for the Unconventional Spirit
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A few weeks ago, Gwen Pavlick and I were invited to speak at an industry night in Orange County for FIDM, a leading fashion school here in California. The school has an extensive traveling exhibit called ‘Recycle. Reuse. Reinvent., an Innovative Materials Connection’, that displays the latest in sustainable and eco friendly textiles, materials and trends. Our product development team had been involved in some of the previous events at other campuses, so it was an honor to be considered for this event as well! As product developers of prAna’s women’s performance products, Gwen and I are leaders within our team in regards to building sustainability awareness and increasing our offerings in this area. We love learning (and sometimes teaching) about how to be the change! No one is perfect, as we say, it’s all about the journey.
What a great partnership this was with FIDM. As an apparel brand we constantly balance the understanding, that while we want our materials to have a longer, better and closed-loop life cycle, we also want to be fashionable. Just pulling up to the building, we knew this was going to be a fun time.
The creative energy from the students and instructors was contagious. Their interest and expectation of sustainability was inspiring. A prAna table was set up within the exhibit that displayed a few of our recent sustainable products. We have been focusing our efforts on Organic cotton and Recycled polyester over the last few years. You have to start somewhere, right?! Our exhibit information reviewed these fabrications and also noted our dedication to wind power. The other items in the exhibit were provided and managed by the FIDM Librarians. It is amazing to see what innovation there is in this arena, from luminescent material to man-made material grown in a lab, makes recycled and organics look simple!
The evening started with a wine and appetizer hour. It was a great chance to meet other industry peers and focus on the details of the exhibit. The DJ played rhythmic beats, as attendees found their way to a seat amidst a forest of twinkle lights. Our presentation began with an overview of who prAna is, what we have been doing, and where we plan to go, in regards to material and product sustainability. It was a great opportunity to educate our audience on our alliance with Natural Power Initiative, our support and growth with Fair Trade, and our interest and direction towards Blue Sign certifications. After talking to the group about the work we have done with these materials, we wanted to show the audience what we had been working on the last few years. We were able to bring in a few students to help us show off our products from Fall 2011 and Spring 2012 collections.
All items shown here are made from one of the following: recycled PET, organic cotton, Blue Sign certified materials, Fair Trade products, or sustainable fibers. Since Gwen and I only work on a portion of our seasonal collections, we were proud and impressed to present such a well merchandized and robust offering in just this eco category.
Overall, the event was a wonderful collaboration between FIDM and prAna. It is always great when industries can come together and partnership towards a larger goal. We love the support from FIDM, and thank them immensely for the amazing evening, especially Rebecca Markman and Dorothy Metcalf!
~Rachel K. Lincoln & Gwen Pavlick, Product Developers
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Functional Apparel for the Unconventional Spirit
A couple of days ago we were driving up to Seattle from Hood River Oregon and we thought we would avoid potential bad traffic by heading east, then north. No more than 20 minutes into the drive our road was closed, so we backtracked and tried another way, then another hour in there was a forest fire that had gone across the road. So back again and onto another route, well this route was very rural and soon the gas light came on, we did find a gas station just in time. And what should have been a 4 hour drive was 8 eight and there were a few more wrong turns in that adventure, despite a map and a GPS.
I tell you this story to illustrate that even as something as straightforward as driving from point A to point B is NOT straightforward. So when you get to manufacturing products in a global society you can definitely bet it isn’t straightforward.
prAna gets a lot of questions and demands from customers about where we manufacture our products. There is a desire to see more made in the USA, less in China and a definite theme of protecting worker’s rights and the environment. I resonate well with these voices. I still write these same letters to companies that I feel should be upholding the values that I believe we need to ensure a better life right now for everyone.
So I wanted to respond not from a company that has a “line” we give our customers, but from my perspective as a person who works on social responsibility in our supply chain every day.
When it comes to China the issues people have varying reasons for why they don’t want to support China, the communist politics, no freedom of association with the single trade union belonging to the government, or the human rights practices of the government, the globalization of work or other many reasons. Regardless of the reason, I am not writing this post to convince you of changing your thoughts, nor am I here to defend why prAna does source some of our products from China. The way I look at it is that this is a complex discussion and should be treated as such. So I write this blog post to start this discussion with you – our customers on what we are dealing with every day.
China is a leader in manufacturing bar none – this came about through an investment in manufacturing by the Chinese and their government. Coming out into market economy in the 1980s meant that China was still in development, yes that meant that wages were lower than in developed countries, as well as lower cost of goods. In addition, China centralized its manufacturing; there are massive industrial parks where raw materials, parts and final products are all put together which reduced costs and delivery times. And with shifts in production, this meant that more investment into China was made, so companies globally began setting up offices and more production there to tap into the industrial machine.
It is a very different landscape in 2011 than ever before. China has changed dramatically for its people and especially its workers. There is more choice, I hear repeatedly by factories I work with in China that it is becoming more and more difficult to find and retain workers. Especially in the apparel industry, as sewing is hard work, it is monotonous and requires skill. Workers are finding jobs in other manufacturing where the pay might be higher, the factories newer, or even retail jobs. The amount of development that has happened in China is incredible.
Workers also have had more access to education; this has resulted in a desire for different types of jobs where manufacturing may have been the only option 30 years ago. Now people can work in administration, law, education, and various other positions that you would find in other developed countries.
Why does this matter? Well when you have a lack of workers this impacts your business – so we are seeing costs increase because worker’s wages are going up as well as factories having to invest in upgrading their facilities and providing benefits to workers. China is not solely a cheap destination for manufacturing any longer. This means there are other reasons companies including prAna are doing business in China.
So why do business in China in 2011. Part of the reason is we have relationships we have had for 8 – 10 years and we enjoy working with them, and like the product quality we get from the factory. Also there are many options in China, especially for more technically difficult products. Take a look at your jacket or hiking pants compared to a T-Shirt. There are a lot more pieces that go into making that product. So when you have the trim supplier, thread supplier, fabric supplier and factory all near each other it makes delivering the product on time a positive.
Also we are starting to notice more opportunities to source organic and recycled content fabrics from China and this is important to prAna. Additionally China is the largest resource for hemp fibers since growing of hemp is illegal in the USA.
Despite the benefits that China provides to manufacturing there is still a need for companies and customers to put pressure to keep these improvements going. The issues of human rights are significant and the people inside China who are working on these issues need support. Not engaging is not an option for us. I totally agree and support customers who are choosing not to buy from China, this is your decision and you want to support your values.
prAna supports its values by selecting the types of factories we do business with and are able to work with these suppliers to address issues of working conditions and environmental impacts and this is our approach. I believe both approaches are needed, values need to be brought forward, but also engagement creates change.
Is the change we would like to see happening fast enough? No. But it is happening.
We will continue to aim for a supply chain that is able to protect its workers and offer a safe working environment. This is a must – back to my driving trip, it isn’t straightforward and it is slow, but we are driving in the right direction at least.
~Nicole Bassett, Director of Sustainability
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Functional Apparel for the Unconventional Spirit
prAna like many companies makes our products all over the world. I have a unique job in that I get the opportunity to visit many of the suppliers who make our products and check on their business practices as well as working conditions. I recently returned from a trip that mixed both work and vacation in Vietnam and Cambodia. In my visit I was reminded about the need for a global commitment to sustainability and how everyone regardless of who we are needs to be a part of this commitment.
Countries like Vietnam and Cambodia are developing at a rapid rate. Buildings, roads, electricity and opportunities arrive every day to places where they didn’t exist before. And this can be done in a sustainable way or not. You may have heard before the concern “what if the entire world lived the way we do in North America or Europe”.
This really struck me on my trip. The people I saw lived in such a frugal way, homes were small, many people lived in them, people didn’t have the amount of “stuff” we seem to fill our closets and garages with. It is a more simple life, but that is dramatically changing. The opportunity to buy stuff in these developing countries is growing increasingly. There are more retail outlets for any type of product than ever before. And we are noticing it first hand, workers in the apparel industry are harder to retain in factories as there are other job opportunities in electronics factories or even retail stores that people can take.
Not only did I think about consumption as a global society, but as I was there visiting factories it is important to think about HOW things are made and the impact of our decisions. I visited two factories that I was impressed with and rivaled some of the better garment factories in the world. This is not something people think of when they think manufacturing overseas. But the dyeing factory I saw had state of the art waste water treatment, which is a requirement for sustainability. The sewing factories were well lit, clean and one even with air conditioning. With the need to retain workers, changes have been made to meets worker’s need above the legal requirements. Otherwise the factories loose talent – and brands like prAna need to see consistent quality out of our suppliers. In my visits I was reminded of the trickle down affect of decisions that we make back in the USA, selecting where our products are made and how that leads to global sustainability. There are opportunities to support companies further down the supply chain who are trying to make a difference as well.
We are all so connected, in the water, air, and land we share. And so as we live we do have to think beyond the product in our hands but the world in which it touches and what impacts that might have. Every decision we make has an effect and there is evidence in this once we leave and see what is happening on the other side of the world. Luckily globally people are aware and there are commitments to both social and environmental responsibility.
~Nicole Bassett, Director of Sustainability
Breath, life, vitality of the spirit.
There is nothing that makes us more proud of what we do than the letters we receive from our “tribe”! This is a great way to start the week and we humbly say… Thank You.
prAna,
I wish that I could write a thank you great enough for the clothes you manufacture. I started out roughly 13 years ago in climbing. A few years later (I dont recall how) I found me a pair of stretch zions. Since then I have been stuck on prAna and even influenced by the different sports that prAna markets their clothing to. I became a slack liner and have even dabbled in the art of Yoga.
While working at City Rock in Colorado Springs I had the great opportunity to let interested clients know that if they were going to get into climbing prAna sells the best clothing. I stayed in the hospital in a pair of sutras through my father’s ordeal with cancer. Hospitals can be an uncomfortable place but I never felt that way while wearing those pants. Now I work as a counselor for 4-5 year old children who are social and cognitively behind. Running around the playground is impossible in blue jeans but the stretch of the lycra in the pants really helps for bending and moving. All of these different parts to my story say this. I didnt have to worry about the clothes I was wearing. This gives me time to focus on my tasks, dreams, and desires. To me that says so much and for this reason I wanted to take the time to say thank you. I know my life would be of a lesser state/quality without the clothing that you passionately craft.
Keep Smiling,
~Jonathan Seubold
Breath, life, vitality of the spirit.
Photoshoots are my favorite part of my job and we just got back from a great one. We spent a week in Crested Butte, Colorado shooting our winter and holiday catalogs. It was hard to not fall in love with such a great community full of friendly faces and such character at every turn. That’s not to mention the amazing mountain scenery you are smack on top of! It was below freezing and the blizzarding snow only let up for about a day and half. Flying in and out of a blizzard, not my favorite thing, but I digress. All the bone chilling weather made me yearn for my sunny southern California home and the spring clothes from our new line that I usually wear day in and day out instead of a knee length down coat and snow boots. I’m always intrigued to see which pieces season-to-season seem to transcend the “season” and find a place in each collection no matter what the climate. This time the styles that caught my eye are in part the ones I couldn’t wait to get home and wear and also ones that I realized might be something it’s time to purchase for my fiancée. Here are my top pics from our Spring 2011 line that you’ll also be excited to see again and wear this Fall (and if you really wear them out you can get the new colors in August!).
For Women:
1. Amaya Dress: Perfect in the summer for a day at the beach or running errands around town with some cute sandals and a jean jacket. The dress is nothing if not easy to wear. In the winter and fall months I’ll add some tights and boots and an oversized sweater.
2. Julz Hoodie: This spring and summer I’ll be wearing it over my bathing suite top with some cut offs to the beach. When it get’s colder I’ll wear it with skinny jeans, boots, and a little leather vest.
3. Mackenzie Pant: Full-length yoga pants are something I wear all year round. I’ll wear these to yoga with one our great yoga tanks this season and then I’ll throw my Julz Hoodie over it in the Fall to beet the chill on my way from work to class. *available April 2011
For Men:
1. Linear Short: I love this short. They are so versatile. They work as swim trunks in the summer and athletic shorts all year round.
2. Sutra Pant: Timeless and season-less, this pant is key for yoga and even just lounging around the house & it’s made with organic materials as well.
3. Mandala Heathered T: This t is so soft and comes in great colors every season. It’s basic enough that it’s a great layering t under a button up our hoodie in the Fall and if it’s good enough for Chris Sharma…
~Sarah Sheras
prAna Marketing Coordinator
Breath, life, vitality of the spirit.
These qualities infuse not only our name, but also our aspirations, the things we make and how we make them.
Welcome to mindfully designed, built to last products – born from the experience.
