ROOTED TO NATURE RADIO
Host - Zach Matheson
October 2007
ANNOUNCER: Welcome to Rooted to Nature Radio. Today's program is part three of a three part discussion on sustainable lifestyles in natural fibers. Natural fibers are making their way into the mainstream of the clothing industry, but unlike much of fashion, this is not a trend rather a change for the better in the industry. We now join Zach Matheson of VTalk Radio, Cathy Montgomery of Rooted to Nature, Matt Reynolds of Indigenous Designs, and Scott Leonard of Greensteps in this open discussion.
ZACH: Hello, we're back with Matt Reynolds and Scott Leonard, co-founders of Indigenous Designs and Kathy Montgomery one of the co-founders of Rooted to Nature . I would like to quickly get into right away the difference between the synthetic fiber market or synthetic fiber production and natural fiber production, and I'm going to turn it over to the folks at Indigenous Designs to tell us how those items are different.
SCOTT/MATT: I think it's ironic that natural fibers are beginning to actually replace synthetics. If you look at the textile industry and what is trend right now, and where the industries are going, it's a pendulum. We started maybe a thousand years ago plus using natural fibers. Wool and organic cotton and in the 50s you had the rise of synthetics through companies like Dupont with several different types of polyester and spandex type products, but now we're seeing that the pendulum is sliding back the other direction. With a lot of people wanting to go more natural. Even in their sports and active wear segments. At Indigenous, we have actually procured and put together different types of active lifestyle blends that mix organic cotton with say Tencel and also alpaca and merino wools for a superior performance to most synthetics, because synthetics actually end up trapping a lot of the moisture that comes off your skin whereas natural fibers are really more breathable. I think with that, maybe Kathy could explain more about her customer base and what she's seen in this particular area.
CATHY: Absolutely, we have so many people here in Northern Michigan where our store is who love the out of doors...who spend a lot of time on the water, in the forest, just hiking, camping, biking, swimming, doing all the things they love and feel like they are really dedicated to preserving that environment. Yet, and they are just starting to make the link between what they wear and keeping a healthy environment, and they're also making the link between what they wear and their own personal health. So, they're trying to cut down on their consumption of fossil fuels in all different ways and then they're realizing that they're wearing fossil fuels, and they are starting to get a little discanapped. So they think..when they come to our store, at least, or a lot of them are coming in already with some ideas of their own, they're looking for those natural fiber things they can wear while they're biking for example. We just were cosponsors of the Tour de Leelanau which was a big professional bike race in Northern Michigan, and we're promoting wool bike clothing, wool bike jerseys which was what the original riders in the Tour de France used to wear. In fact, there was a famous rider who refused to wear the first synthetic yellow jersey when he won it. It's a really prestigious thing to win, but he didn't want to wear it because it meant giving up his wool bike jersey, which he felt had carried him through heat and cold and wet and mud and dust and was one of the reasons why he won. So, that was kind of a funny turn. Now, we've had so much marketing that says if you're a serious athlete, you're going to wear this polyester work out gear, and there's lots of research that's showing that it's not good for you, for your skin, which is the largest organ in your body. You shouldn't be clothing it in petroleum products. So people are actually going back to the natural fibers. And I really appreciate learning about a lot of that from Scott and Matt who, you know, they've done the research to show...to make the progress, to find the right combinations of fibers that will perform actually outperform the synthetics.
ZACH: So, I'm going to go back to what I feel as though is a key word to our discussion which is the LOHAS, you know, this demographic of people, and I guess what I'm learning is that that just isn't what I'll say is in quotes, you know "the tree huggers " the old "hippy" type folks. That could mean anybody and it can mean young, old; it can mean well off, not well off; it can mean educated, not educated; it can mean people who are into the outdoors or who aren't. I know you guys do at Rooted to Nature, I know you do some..you go to the farmers' markets. You even sell at the farmers' markets. I mean you're selling natural fiber clothing at the farmers' market. So the LOHAS demographic is pretty much a very large demographic?
CATHY: So we look for people who live lifestyles of health and sustainability. We looked around to see where would we find those people and one of the places we thought would be the farmers' market, because people who are concerned about what they put into their body are also pretty concerned about what they're putting on it...what they're wearing. So we went out with an idea of basically meeting the people so they were comfortable just coming into a store they hadn't visited before, because they've met us and they know who we are and a little bit about what we're about, but also to carry on that educational component to take it out to the folks. Not just sit in the store and wait for people to come in and ask questions, but actually go out there, and I think one of the really key things is to have people see the clothing and try it on and just love it. And that's one of the ways Indigenous really excels is their clothing is so beautiful and so soft that when people come in they say, "Wow, I just really want to have that." And it's very gratifying to have multiple generations of consumers coming into the store. We'll have a woman comes in and looks around and then comes back with her mother and her daughter and the granddaughter. We've had four generations coming back all at once because they know that what we're doing is important and they want everybody they love to be part of it.
ZACH: I mean it's almost like if you take that petroleum metaphor of putting petroleum on your body, and you can get this really wild image in your mind of somebody smeared smeared with goo and you know that isn't a very pleasant image and it's almost like when I walk into Rooted to Nature, I'm in there because I understand the cause or I understand the idea. Once I'm in there and I start looking at the different clothes you guys provide, I think to myself, wow those are nice, and the bamboo, the fiber aspect is almost secondary, and then I make the purchase, and I feel good about the purchase because it meant something more to me than just feeling awesome or looking fabulous.
CATHY: That's what's important.
SCOTT/MATT: You hit the nail on the head there. We found that we sell to all different types of retailers. The ones that are really emerging fast and doing really well are the ones like Rooted to Nature which actually have a strong message and are directly catering towards an all natural, organic story. But we do also sell to a lot of mainstream retailers. And what happens is the customer comes in and almost says exactly what you said. They'll be drawn in by a silhouette or a color of a garment because it meets their...it appeals to their design sense and their desire to have something of high quality. And then try it on and feel oh my gosh this feels so soft and they start looking at the details and realize that this is hand done if it's an Indigenous product, it's all hand made. There's a sense of wow, this is incredible quality. Then they try it on and they say it fits great and I look good and then they go to the counter. They have already... a lot of times they haven't made their purchasing decision. This is again...this is a first time customer that's finding our product. They'll then go to the counter and buy the product. Maybe, maybe not somebody in the store will start telling them the story behind the product at that point. But if they haven't they'll actually get home and maybe notice at that time they've already bought it, the hang tag. Then they start reading the hang tag and it says ok, this is hand made using 100% organic, sustainable fibers. This is done through fair trade practices, paying a fair wage and that's when the customer looks across to their spouse or their significant other and gives the high five. And they go, "Did you know this? That not only did I love this garment, and I thought it was so perfect for me, but it's also totally aligned with my belief and my values that are deeply rooted in me." And that is when the brand, the name Indigenous sticks in their head forever more. They might not even remember who the brand was when they bought it, but then they find that out about, and they become the LOHAS. I'm talking about the LOHAS demographic. Then they become customers for life because they are extremely loyal. It's like the old school Ben & Jerry's ice cream customer. They'll go and they'll buy Ben & Jerry's over Haagen-Dazs every time. So, what you just said is just to me, exactly speaks back to that. you go in there and you're going,"This is cool product." I don't have to feel dumpy or hippy and it feels good to wear it because I know it's made environmentally and socially responsibly.
CATHY: And I should say that Rooted to Nature goes beyond Indigenous Designs. We're not just an outlet for their products. They are absolutely gorgeous and sell themselves in the store, but our customers have, you know, do a lot of activities where they need different kind of clothing that Indigenous doesn't make everything so we we have Earth Creations which is a great t-shirt company. Zach is actually wearing an Earth Creations t-shirt today which is clay dyed and made from organic cotton, of course. And we have Mission Playground which also sells a lot of great, rugged outdoor gear, and Ibex and Icebreakers, some merino wool companies that specialize in base layers that people can use for their exercising or for doing kayaking or canoeing, they wear the wool and even if it gets wet, then they can wear it. We also have Kavu which is another great company from the Seattle area that has some pretty rugged outdoor gear that people can wear. Some hemp pants and some active wear pieces. So we carry a full range of products and it tends to meet all the needs that our customers have throughout their active busy lifestyles. Whether they are having to dress up to go to work or they're just kicking back and relaxing after a hard work week. We've got some comfortable, natural fibers that they can put on.
ZACH: Alright. At this point I want to make sure we've covered as much as we can and in doing that, I'm going to throw it over to Indigenous Designs to give us a quick wrap up in case they feel as though we've missed anything and they'd like to fill in the blanks, then we'll let Rooted to Nature wrap it up and we'll be done. So, guys at Indigenous Designs, if someone were listening to this interview and if there was something you feel from an educational standpoint that we've missed, what would it be? What would you want the main touch point of our conversation to be as somebody listening to this interview?
SCOTT/MATT: Ok, first I'll give you kind of our mission statement and then the educational component I would like to talk about briefly is a summary of what, we mentioned fair trade a lot, and I would like to just tell you what that is. But first off, Indigenous' ultimate mission when Scott and I started this business was to build a profitable business by empowering artisans and elevating them to world renowned status in fair trade and organic premium apparel, and thereby creating significant impact in the lives of these artisans and their communities in a beneficial way. We believe that we pay more to the actual artisan that makes the product than any other appearer company on the planet and that is our goal. We don't know anybody else that does now, and if somebody comes up we're going to strive to beat that as well. In terms of fair trade, fair trade is an alternative approach really to conventional international trade. It's a trading partnership which aims at sustainable development for excluded and disadvantaged producers. It seeks to do this by providing better trading conditions with the following goals: To improve the livelihood and wellbeing of producers by improving market access, strengthening producer organizations, paying a better price, and providing continuity in the trading relationship. To promote development opportunities for disadvantage producers, especially women and indigenous people, and to protect children from exploitation in the production process. To raise awareness among consumers of the negative affects on producers of international trade so that they exercise their purchasing power positively. In other words, being a good global citizen by knowing where your dollars go. To protect human rights by promoting social justice, sound environmental practices, and economic security, and finally, campaign for changes in rules and practice of conventional international trade. One day it would be nice if there was no such thing as fair trade, and that just our way of international trade gave people a fair shot whether they were a small scale producer or a multinational. And I would really like to thank you guys for having this on the talk show.
ZACH: Yeah, that's huge. I think that mission statement, I mean if anybody hears that, they'd be hard pressed not to pick up at least one piece of your clothing, I mean really. So, Cathy, we'll let you sort of wrap it up here, and then we thank you guys for being on as well. So, Cathy take it away.
CATHY: I think we've pretty well covered all the talking points we had when we first came in. I would just like to say that, really the most gratifying part of being in this business is well the clothes are great, and we love dealing with them, but mainly it's the people that we've met and worked with. Suppliers, like Matt and Scott and everybody at Indigenous are just great to work with, and so we love dealing with them. Meeting the customers who come through the door either knowing or not knowing what we're about. Taking them from wherever they're at into the next level of their understanding of the value of their purchasing decisions and the implications of how they spend their money on the whole world really. And then the last thing of course is working with our - family business, with great people we have fun with everyday.
ZACH: Great, so we're going to wrap up and I had a request just real quick before we go. If there were three websites, Scott and Matt at Indigenous Designs, three websites that consumers of your products should be aware of, what three would those be?
SCOTT/MATT: Wow, this is where the truth stands up how we barely get to look up from our desks. I would say the Greenpages is a great site.
ZACH: Is that greenpages.com?
SCOTT/MATT: It's .org.
ZACH: Ok, www.greenpages.org
SCOTT/MATT: I would say www.organicexchange.org is extremely informational and I would say rootedtonature.com.
ZACH: And Cathy how about you and then we'll call it a day?
CATHY: Well, I've gotten a lot of information from the Indigenous Designs website and from the I think it's greenpeople is one that we're part of, and LOHAS, the LOHAS Journal, they have...I don't know if it's www.LOHAS.org, but they also have some good information on their website. I've used the Organic Trade Association website also.
ZACH: Alright. Very good. Thank you all for coming. We really appreciate it. www.indigenousdesigns.com Indigenous Designs, Scott and Matt, thank you so much. Kathy at www.rootedtonature.com Rooted to Nature, thank you all very much. Have a great day.
ANNOUNCER: This segment has been brought to you by Rooted to Nature. You can visit them on the web at www.rootedtonature.com.