Sustainable Fashion with Threads for Thought
Sustainably-created clothing and fashion-forward style can go hand in hand, as proven by Threads For Thought (T4T).
Eric and Leigh Fleet created T4T as an answer to their growing concern with how consumerism can make a negative impact in the world. T4T creates environmentally-responsible clothing and gives back to the community with every purchase. LadyLUX talked to Eric Fleet to find out more about this company and its mission.
LadyLUX: Tell me the premise of T4T. How is it different than other clothing companies?
Eric Fleet: When Leigh and I came up with the concept for the brand back when we were seniors in college, it was a fairly simple but somewhat radical idea compared to many other clothing companies. We wanted to create graphic T-shirts inspired by social issues that we cared about, use sustainable fabrics and donate a portion of the profits back to the social causes that inspired us to start the brand. At the time, it was difficult to find sustainable fashion that you would actually want to spend money on and so a main goal of ours was fit and feel. We wanted to make sure that there were no sacrifices that the consumer had to make in order to purchase a sustainable garment from us. We then selected two charities to support: The International Rescue Committee (IRC) and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). We set out to be different than other clothing companies with the goal of offering quality sustainable fashion products and by committing the brand to giving back.
LL: How did you two meet and decide to start a company together?
EF: We actually met in SAT class at the end of our junior year in high school. Leigh had just moved up to New Jersey from Virginia and we were attending separate high schools and living about 30 minutes apart. We then dated throughout our senior year of high school and went to separate colleges that were about an hour’s drive from one another. We never intended to start a company together but we would always talk about different ideas from businesses to non-profits. We were always both socially conscious growing up and I knew I wanted to create my own job rather than apply for one, so together we came up with a way to bring those two things together. Why not start a socially responsible graphic t-shirt brand? And so we did.
LL: Did you have a background in sustainability when you began Threads for Thought?
EF: No, not from a fashion standpoint anyway, we pretty much learned about it as we went. We were and still are very environmentally conscious people, but we did not have a formal background in it.
LL: Do you design the clothing yourselves?
EF: I design the men's along with a team of designers and assist in the creative direction for women's along with our women's creative design team.
LL: Where do your ideas come from?
EF: Pretty much everywhere. Life, shopping, travel … I love to observe and take things that I see in my daily life and apply it to new designs, colors, prints. I also always ask myself and our designers a simple question,“If I saw that in a store, would I want it and be compelled to buy it?” For me, that is the standard. I have to see myself buying it. If I wouldn't buy it, why should someone else?
LL: What is your best selling piece of all time?
EF: As far as the most units of any one item, in women's everyone loves our basic T-shirts and tank tops and it is consistently the largest volume category for us as far as one individual item. On the men's side, pretty much any kind of hoodi. We sell a ton of hoodies.
LL: What is the most popular item(s) this season?
EF: On the women's side, our Juno Poncho has been fantastic and probably one of the most exciting pieces of the season for us. On the men's side, crew neck sweatshirts are the thing of the season. Our all-black camo crew has been great, as have all of our washed crew neck sweatshirts. And for holiday, we have a great Fair Isle printed crew on the way.
LL: We see that you support New Roots. How did you get involved with this organization?
EF: We have been working with IRC ever since we started Threads 4 Thought and New Roots is a fantastic program that IRC launched about a year ago. We got involved after visiting the New Roots program down in San Diego. It was such a cool program and it was so clear to us how beneficial it was for those participating in it that we knew it was something that we wanted to support. We discussed a number of ways that we could contribute and determined, along with IRC, that we would donate 10 percent of the retail purchase price of our women's long sleeve basic T-shirts back to New Roots. This fall, we are projecting to raise $120,000 for the program to help to build greenhouses, purchase farming supplies and assist in the continued expansion of the program into more cities.
LL: Tell me more about New Roots and how it benefits those in need.
EF: New Roots is an urban farming program for refugees that have been resettled here in the United States. New Roots gives refugees access to plots of land within these urban farms to grow fresh food for themselves and also provides them with an economic opportunity as many of the refugee farmers sell a portion of what they grow to farmers markets or local restaurants. Many refugees come from agricultural backgrounds that they were previously unable to utilize here in their new home because they did not have access to land. New Roots provides them with that land access an also provides them with a way to grow healthy foods as many live in urban areas that traditionally have limited access to farm fresh produce. The program has been a fantastic success that is now in 22 U.S cities with 26 community gardens, supporting 42 farm-based businesses with over 500 refugee farmers participating … and still growing!
LL: Do you work with other non-profit organizations?
EF: We do but on a smaller scale. We continue to support the NRDC and in the past we have done special projects with organizations such as the Alzheimer's Association and Operation Homefront, which is an organization that supports military families.
LL: Why is buying sustainable clothing important?
EF: Cotton is one of the dirtiest crops in the world because of the harmful pesticides that are used to grow it. Simply by using or buying organic cotton instead of conventional cotton the garment's toxicity is reduced by 90 percent. Organic cotton is not treated with harmful pesticides like conventional cotton and is cultivated in a way that uses less water and healthier crop rotation practices. All of the polyester we used is made from recycled plastics, and so by purchasing products made with recycled poly instead of regular poly, you are essentially buying a product that is derived from could potentially be waste or garbage. We only get one planet and it is up to all of us to find and support healthier ways to make the products that we consume.
LL: What makes an item sustainable? Is it the manufacturing process, the materials used, or both?
EF: It my opinion it is both but mainly it is the materials that are used. We tend to look at our manufacturing as a whole and so we are committed to what we call “ethical sourcing” for all of our products. We define that as a product that is made in a factory that treats workers fairly from their pay to their working hours to their safety and a product that is made using sustainable materials such as organic cotton or recycled polyester. We personally visit all of our factories to ensure that that the working conditions exceed industry standards and all of our products are made using sustainable materials. This commitment is really at the core of our brand and we aim to project a lifestyle and attitude that speaks to how important it is for consumers and brands to care about where and how their products are made.
LL: What's next for T4T?
EF: There is a lot that is next … and there is a lot that I am not at liberty to spill the beans on. Product wise, we will be launching scarves and footwear in 2014, which is very exciting for us. On the charitable front, we are going to be continuing our New Roots partnership and our goal is to raise $500,000 next year for the program through the sale of our basic T-shirts.
LL: Where can we find your clothing?
EF: The best selection can be found at our website, Threads for Thought. You can also find us at Nordstrom, Bloomingdales and Whole Foods nationally as well as a number of specialty stores and other regional chains.
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