Posts Tagged ‘prAna’
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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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prAna Looks To Expand Fair Trade Certification With A New Pilot Project For The Women Of Rural Swaziland
As World Aids Day draws to an end, we are reminded of the staggering numbers of people around the world suffering directly and indirectly. Our partners in Swaziland are dealing with the continents highest rate of the disease on the continent which only renews our commitment to help improve their quality of life… We’re always looking for new ways to fold the intention of sustainability into our materials and practices, whether local or global. One way of doing just that is looking at connecting the work we are doing with artisan workers and Fair Trade Certification. PrAna, Fair Trade USA , and the co-op women groups in rural Swaziland, Africa have begun a pilot project to look at bringing a the structure and standards of Fair Trade Certification to these women. These gifted artisans have been knitting products for prAna for several seasons now and are looking forward to participating in the pilot project and obtaining the official Fair Trade Certification label for their products. In addition, workers in Fair Trade Certified factories earn a premium of up to 10 percent of the cost of the garment for community investment or cash bonuses. We thank them for all they do…
Support the GoGo’s (endearing term for grandmothers) in Swaziland by purchasing their crafts. These artisan products, made for prAna, help our partners to create and implement sustainable solutions for the women and rural communities in Swaziland. For more info visit www.nnlfilm.com and follow Never A Neverland on Facebook also.
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Functional Apparel for the Unconventional Spirit
There are lots of reasons we love working at prAna but one of the best is our dedication to serving our local community. Twice a year, we get the opportunity to close our HQ and the whole company heads out for a day of service. Here is a pictorial of our latest endeavor…
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prAna Portland is now open! We are excited to share the news that we have joined the neighborhood of Northwest Portland at the corner of NW 23rd and Irving. Our second store features the entire prAna collection as well as beautiful jewelry from local Portland artists.
We also invite you to join us for community events such as First Thursday Art Shows, climbing clinics and slide shows, as well as free daily yoga classes in our studio. See the calendar below for details each month. Bring your Bike and park in inside. Enjoy the community representing the collaboration of many local artists.
Come check in on Foursquare through December 21st and win the sweet new Electra bike in the window! Join us on the prAna Portland Facebook and Twitter pages and we look forward to seeing you…
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Functional Apparel for the Unconventional Spirit
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Functional Apparel for the Unconventional Spirit
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Here is another great customer story we had to share about our Stretch Zions. Ryan wanted to have his favorite pair of Zions repaired vs. getting a new pair and since we have a 100% satisfaction guarantee, we were happy to oblige. PrAna pants not only climb well, but are great for offshore ocean passages!
I am curious as to your repair policy. I have a pair of PrAna pants that are from 2006. I believe they are the Stretch Zion pant. I have used these extensively, including on two, long, offshore, sailing voyages. They are the perfect pant. Unfortunately, the zippers on both hip pockets are broke (they went fairly early), and there is a hole in the right knee area. Would your company repair these pants for me so that I may continue using them? They climb and sail well!
Thank you, Ryan Cooper from Baltimore, MD
Hi. I just wanted to let you know I received my original prAna pants, fully repaired (patches and zippers!). This sort of customer service is what will keep me a loyal customer of prAna. In fact, the other day I picked up a prAna sweat shirt at my climbing gym. I originally thought the price might have been a little steep, but knowing that the company will stand behind the product and that I will thus get years of use out of the sweatshirt, led me to buy the it.
Once again, thank you, especially for repairing the pants instead of just sending new ones. Hard to believe one can be attached to a particular pair of pants, but those pants have endured more than 50 days at sea in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, as well as numerous cracks at Jtree, Yosemite, and countless crags here on the East Coast….all since 2006. Hard to believe that only the zippers and a little hole had to be fixed.
Thanks! Ryan Cooper
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Functional Apparel for the Unconventional Spirit
