JOOB's Everywhere Shorts, Brooklyn Made, Sustainable Style, Ready for Summer
The Start of Our Journey
When Nicha and I started to develop our initial product assortment, our main goal was to develop clothes that can be worn doing any activity, while being stylish and maintaining enough technical capability to get the job done. All while being Climate Neutral and sustainable across a number of fronts.
We searched across a number of textile suppliers to find the right fabric that had quick dry features, stretch for comfort, lightness for use in hot climates, and enough form/style to look good in any situation.
Finding the Right Fabric
Our partner Kendor Textiles out of Vancouver, BC helped us out and we found a great nylon/spandex mix from an OEKOTEX Certified supplier. So what is OEKOTEX? If a textile article carries the STANDARD 100 label, you can be certain that every component of this article, i.e. every thread, button and other accessories, has been tested for harmful substances and that the article therefore is harmless in human ecological terms. We also learned from Kendor that our supplier was a Bluesign vendor - which is additional certification that the vendor practices sustainable manufacturing practices.
Our Brooklyn Partner MCM
To prove out the fabric and to see how it looked and performed, our Brooklyn partner MCM took our sketches and turned them into initial prototypes. We took them hiking, climbing, running, to yoga practice, fishing the flats, cycling, and wore them travelling and around town. We gave them to our collaborators to get their opinion, to friends and family. We received great feedback and made some tweaks which we incorporated as best we could - and within a few months we had our Everywhere Shorts.
The shorts have a great flex to them but aren't too baggy so they have a great look when wearing around town. The material dries quickly - so after a wade in a stream or a session at the gym, they'll be ready to go to your next task. We added zipper back pockets - two of them - to hold your stuff when you are active.
The front pockets are designed to hold a phone or wallet snugly. The length of the inseam is 8.5" for size L, and goes up and down by 1/2" increments for other sizes. We wanted the cut to be above the knee - long enough to use for yoga and other activities where you may be inverted and want coverage. The length is also suitable for basic wear around town - without looking like gym shorts.
The waist has an elastic stretch to fit comfortably across sizes, with belt loops as options for those wanting a tight fit.
Zero Waste Initiative
In addition to having a New York based cut and sew partner, we wanted to make sure we practice repair, re-use, recycle with all of our products. So we found a repair partner near our Ann Arbor HQ to repair any damaged shorts that our customers bring back to us. We want our products to never go to landfill, so we take back items to repair - and re-send out to customers or to offer as a gently used item on our ReJOOBinate page on our website.
Climate Neutral Certified
Our Everywhere Shorts, like all JOOB products, have been Climate Neutral Certified, which means we measure, reduce, and offset any unavoidable emissions in the making of our products - from textile supplier to shipment to customers. Every year we look to reduce our footprint and find new ways to incorporate sustainable fabrics, packaging, and processes.
We look forward to the day that every CEO knows their CO2 emissions footprint and has plans to reduce and offset those emissions to be climate neutral.
1% for the Planet
We built JOOB on the foundation of sustainability. To us, sustainability goes beyond fabric type - it includes fair trade practices, the understanding of climate impact of the supply chain and working towards being climate neutral, practicing repair, re-use, recycle, and it includes giving back to help preserve and protect our environment.
We are a 1% for the Planet member, and give a portion of our revenue to the Huron River Watershed Council which works tirelessly to preserve our local watershed - and that includes over 10,000 acres near JOOB's home city of Ann Arbor.
Food Gatherers
This year, with coronavirus impacting so many, we wanted to give back to help the food insecure, and have dedicated a portion of our revenues to Food Gatherers, Michigan's first food rescue program. Established in 1988, this non-profit distributed over 6.6 million pounds of food in 2019 alone.
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