March 04, 2022

Do One Thing Well - Why Taking Time to Design Matters

The apparel industry tends to favor a,“More is Better” mindset.

This might be better for the bottom line of a business, but it's not sustainable for the planet or likely to result in quality products.

In this article, we will explain a core production principle of our brand that's behind each and every product.

Crafting quality products takes time.

Doing one thing well is a core pillar of our brand philosophy.

More often than not, this means a lengthy production process. It takes considerable time to receive samples, test prototypes, and then incorporate feedback to get things just right with our designs. From a purely financial standpoint, it's more profitable to speed things up to keep sales churning.

That's not our style though. Our rather modest selection of product types is a testament to a process in which we wholeheartedly believe. We wait until a product has been rigorously tested and ridiculously dialed in before releasing it to the public.

Our Flex Canvas Pants were our primary product for almost three years while other ideas took form. Having only one product available for so long flies in the face of conventional business wisdom, but this was intentional. We are happy to take the time necessary to dial in all the meticulous details for a higher-quality end product.

Now, thanks to the success of this process and the support from the public, we have all kinds of new products ready to be released into the wild. Behind all of them are years of development and countless hours of our team's time, and we're excited to share the results with you.

Before we do though, we would like to explain the reasoning behind our apparel production mindset with you all. We believe open and consistent conversations between brands and audience benefits us both.

Design one product at a time (and keep improving it).

Designing something that fulfills a unique role in the marketplace overnight is nearly impossible. In any industry, it takes time to both succeed and stumble, and learn from each experience.

We think it’s worth going through multiple prototypes, fit model feedback, and as many iterations as it takes to get to that, “aha” point.

Once we feel confident enough to officially launch a product, we don’t like to call it a day and just move on to the next one. Our Flex Canvas Pants have gone through four iterations (so far) and we continue to listen and tweak the design based on customer feedback. We are as transparent as possible with these changes and provide a complete timeline in this article—Patch Notes: Flex Canvas Pants.

Our new products like the EcoTrek pants aren't quite old enough to receive such treatment, but as we gather feedback and release more, they too will continue to be refined over time. If you have ideas, then share them, and you just might see them incorporated down the line.

Only create products that need to exist.

There’s an almost nauseating amount of apparel products currently out there, many of which have near-identical purpose and only exist to generate sales. As a brand and business, we understand the need to stay financially afloat, but we believe in only creating products that fulfill a need in the market not currently met.

As counter-intuitive as it might sound coming from an apparel company, we want our customers to ultimately own less. By possessing fewer things of higher value, we believe people gain more space and freedom in their day-to-day lives.

So we aim to create unique products that blend features and fashion seamlessly. Apparel that lasts longer, performs better, and has sustainable production practices behind isn't just better for the individual. It raises the bar for the industry as a whole and gives the limited resources of our planet a much-needed break.

Design for decades (not seasons).

We all look for that magic balance between comfort and style with apparel.

Looking and feeling good with our clothes is a natural desire. However, we feel that chasing seasonal trends lead to waste when they inevitably fall out of favor with the fickle fashion gods in the months or years to come.

Our color palette was hand-picked to be timeless without lulling you to sleep with blandness. As we grow, we'll add more, but it's unlikely you'll ever see us adding anything that's just the flavor of the week.

Our fits and cut compliment most body types, and in this area, we will be expanding more quickly to meet the needs of all. Until then, we offer a repair and alteration program to help our customers give that perfect fit if what we offer now isn't quite there yet.

By designing for the long haul, we hope to eliminate waste and give people a timeless staple to their wardrobe.

Step-by-Step Forward

We know our process might seem slow to some, but we believe now more than ever sustainable quality matters and is worth the wait.

As we grow and add more members to our team, we will be able to expand our product offerings more quickly. Yet no matter what, our core belief in taking the time necessary to do things right will remain the same.

We'd like to thank all our supporters for their patience and support that makes such a unique business mindset possible. Without you, none of this would have ever gotten off the ground. Every day, the challenge of designing and creating apparel in this unique manner motivates us.

By taking the necessary time to do all the little things right, we believe our products exceed your expectations of outdoor apparel and help enable a lifetime of adventure.