How did you come up with the name of your company?
The name Natural Border essentially means a boundary defined by nature. Borders were commonly associated with nationality as nations began to define their territories by boundaries; boundaries marked by natural landmarks were considered the most efficient and strategically favorable (both for commerce and defense). Coupled with the logo, the name Natural Border creates an image of a world with only land and water boundaries …. it calls us to protect what’s coastal, eco-centered, and preexisting.
What inspired you to start a sustainable fashion line?
The inspiration to start a sustainable fashion line came from inefficiency I saw within the fashion industry. I felt a growing desire to make an impact and increase awareness within the sustainable fashion sector.
What is your company’s mission?
To encourage folks to wear shirts that make you proud, wear shirts that you want to be associated with, wear shirts made by brands you want to promote, wear shirts that give voice to what you believe, and wear shirts that make you smile a little more often! Natural Border was established with the ambition to create activism, craftsmanship, durability, environmental minimalism, local production, performance innovation, and sustainable development. And proceeds from each sustainable shirt are used to provide clean drinking water to children who previously had none. Natural Border lives out the mission to “bring sustainable fashion to the planet and water to the community, one shirt at a time”.
Who is your customer?
The Natural Border customer is generally focused on active engagement with the outdoors, water, and community.
What is something you wish people knew about sustainable fashion?
The lifecycle for clothing can be broken into two kinetic parts. The first part of the cycle is the “pre-purchase” process that transpires before you buy your favorite label. The second part of the clothing lifecycle is the “post-purchase” experience, often accounting for over half of the garment’s environmental footprint.
Both the agricultural practices and waste associated with the clothing industry ensure that fashion is one of the dirtiest industries in the world. The fashion industry accounts for massive amounts of manmade irrigation, insecticide, and pesticide use. Our collective care and wear practices along with the quick and careless disposal of garments is leading us in an unsustainable direction.
What’s the most challenging thing about running a sustainable business?
The biggest challenge is informing the community that the need for sustainably produced clothing is just as important as sustainably produced food and beverages. Every week many of us are making decisions to visit a local farmers market, to dine in a farm to table restaurant, to drink a locally crafted beer …. it’s as important, if not more important, to ensure that our clothing purchases mirror this same, locally crafted approach. Every single day we are getting dressed, drinking, and eating …. usually in that order. It’s important to approach each of these daily activities with the same awareness of the impact these activities have on the environment and communities around us.
Just For Fun
What’s your favorite color?
green …. the color of some grass, trees, water, nature, and ca$h
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