Friday, September 01, 2006
Sustainable Clothing
A few years ago (must be nearly 10 now!),
A good friend of mine (lets call him Stretch), gave me a tee shirt.
Not just any old tee shirt, but a groovy tee shirt, made from organic cotton, with a cool logo and strap line that made you chuckle for hours and hours
The manufacturer was a bunch of guys just starting out called Howies
Since then I’ve bought their stuff a couple of times a year, from all points of the compass North, East, South and West, most of its been good, some of it excellent, occasionally its been a bit shoddy around the edges.
But when I’ve winged they’ve offered to replace it – even if I’ve been wearing it to death for over six months or I didn’t read the washing label correctly.
So what put these guys above all the other ‘funky’ tee shirt peddlers out there ?
Mainly the attitude to their niche/and their customers, the focus they gave their brand, their products, their attention to detail, and the way they have seemed to educate their chosen stockists to promote and present their stock.
These were the first guys to publicly admonish the use of the rocking chair test, in all the things they do.
Which has been part of my families credo for generations before my time -to the extent my paternal grandma left me her rocking chair in her will, with the note that stated ‘for jonathan, use it well’ -
And as such I’ve always attempted to apply this as the litmus test to my personal and professional life, probably in some respects to my determent. But if you can’t look yourself in the mirror each morning, what the hell else can you do……….
So time has moved on for these guys, they’ve moved to bigger premises, expanded the operation, the range and the number of personnel the employ
They’ve generated a load of publicity with their attempt to flog jeans with a tab ‘like’ Levis, and after a barrage of legal action and a not inconsequential amount of ‘tongue in cheek’ communication to state, ‘lets settle this like adults’ to the CEO of the Levi corporation, then challenging him to an arm wrestling competition (with the winner taking all, of course!)
but they’ve stayed faithful to their original beliefs,
they’ve still got focus, the plot, the vision thing. but most importantly they still love what they do .
To be consistently good, you have to grow organically, grow slowly, stay loyal to your vision, and your customers, to keep control you gotta keep it small.
So what the point of this post ?
Simply just to say, I like these guys and the gear they punt, their a few of the folks that give me some faith in my fellow man
So girls and boys, check out their site and their products, there worth the few click from here …..
Stretch, thanks for tuning me in bro’
Howies folks, thanks for the ride to date its been a blast, I love what you do, keep the faith
To all the other folks out there, thanks for listening
Oh , and one last thing, before any one asks. Yes they are based in Wales…
Laters !
A good friend of mine (lets call him Stretch), gave me a tee shirt.
Not just any old tee shirt, but a groovy tee shirt, made from organic cotton, with a cool logo and strap line that made you chuckle for hours and hours
The manufacturer was a bunch of guys just starting out called Howies
Since then I’ve bought their stuff a couple of times a year, from all points of the compass North, East, South and West, most of its been good, some of it excellent, occasionally its been a bit shoddy around the edges.
But when I’ve winged they’ve offered to replace it – even if I’ve been wearing it to death for over six months or I didn’t read the washing label correctly.
So what put these guys above all the other ‘funky’ tee shirt peddlers out there ?
Mainly the attitude to their niche/and their customers, the focus they gave their brand, their products, their attention to detail, and the way they have seemed to educate their chosen stockists to promote and present their stock.
These were the first guys to publicly admonish the use of the rocking chair test, in all the things they do.
Which has been part of my families credo for generations before my time -to the extent my paternal grandma left me her rocking chair in her will, with the note that stated ‘for jonathan, use it well’ -
And as such I’ve always attempted to apply this as the litmus test to my personal and professional life, probably in some respects to my determent. But if you can’t look yourself in the mirror each morning, what the hell else can you do……….
So time has moved on for these guys, they’ve moved to bigger premises, expanded the operation, the range and the number of personnel the employ
They’ve generated a load of publicity with their attempt to flog jeans with a tab ‘like’ Levis, and after a barrage of legal action and a not inconsequential amount of ‘tongue in cheek’ communication to state, ‘lets settle this like adults’ to the CEO of the Levi corporation, then challenging him to an arm wrestling competition (with the winner taking all, of course!)
but they’ve stayed faithful to their original beliefs,
they’ve still got focus, the plot, the vision thing. but most importantly they still love what they do .
To be consistently good, you have to grow organically, grow slowly, stay loyal to your vision, and your customers, to keep control you gotta keep it small.
So what the point of this post ?
Simply just to say, I like these guys and the gear they punt, their a few of the folks that give me some faith in my fellow man
So girls and boys, check out their site and their products, there worth the few click from here …..
Stretch, thanks for tuning me in bro’
Howies folks, thanks for the ride to date its been a blast, I love what you do, keep the faith
To all the other folks out there, thanks for listening
Oh , and one last thing, before any one asks. Yes they are based in Wales…
Laters !
// posted by jonron @ 10:02 pm 
