Two billion T-shirts are made every year. You probably feel like you’ve sold your fair share of them, have your favorite suppliers already in place, and a pitch from another T-shirt vendor is just what you don’t need right now. I know, I know — I’ve bought more than my fair share of T-shirts in my lifetime, I get it.
That’s all the more reason to pay attention to the folks at Allmade® Apparel, a living wage and sustainable apparel brand, in spite of the fact that you might already feel as though the T-shirt market is both saturated and as innovative as it’s ever going to get. Allmade’s co-founder and CEO Ryan Moor has gone all in on spreading the word that innovation is definitely possible in a category that’s been around awhile, and his message is worth paying attention to. Ryan’s keynoted at skucon, commonsku’s user conference for the promotional products industry, in a presentation called Don’t Stop! How to Catalyze and Carve a New Niche and also recently appeared on a PromoCares radio interview over the last couple of months.
Moor is not exactly new to screen printing, or our industry. He founded Ryonet in 2004 after printing T-shirts in his garage for his punk rock band. Some 15 years and 120 employees later, Ryonet has provided new products and education to help other industry screen printers, and as a result, Ryonet has connections to more than 450 million of the shirts printed a year.
But Moor and team weren’t done innovating. Almost two years ago, Ryonet launched the Allmade® Apparel line, featuring products focused significantly on responsible sourcing and sustainability. “It all began with wanting to make a better T-shirt to print on and wear. We are a screen print supply company first and foremost after all,” Rogier Ducloo, Allmade’s co-founder and CMO told us.
“After we familiarized ourselves with cultivating, sourcing, processing, and manufacturing processes still common in the fashion industry, we decided we didn’t want to participate in and contribute to it. GoEX, a subsidiary of GO Project, exposed us to a dignified and living wage supporting cut and sew operation in Haiti. That was something we could align with—for less than $1 more you can market a garment that does not exploit labor resources. We then questioned whether we could expose the farmers, makers, our customers, ourselves, and the environment to the toxicity that is a significant component of nearly all textile production. The answer is clearly not. We opted to use organic and Tencel Modal instead of the common GMO/chemical cotton and rayon combo. With that, we also decided against contributing to the plastic waste crisis that we are facing.”
Think you might feel differently about the T-shirts you’re sourcing and buying? I know the Allmade message and its founders’ commitment to doing the right thing, in every part of the product cycle, from inception, to creation, to ending up in the consumers’ hands, resonated with me. Responsible sourcing is something a lot of suppliers lay claim to, but in a crowded market, it’s tough to get time to plead your case to distributors. That’s why the Allmade Impact Calculator caught my eye. It’s a quick illustration of the resource savings of the Allmade Tri-Blend compared to 100 per cent cotton, 50:50 Blend, and more typical Tri-Blend shirts. It’s an eye-opening comparison of water, chemical, and crude oil savings, and you might want to check it out for yourself. “It wasn’t until we lost an order from an organization that claims its values are aligned with ethical and sustainable practices to a bargain basement brand that doesn’t at all adhere to such practices.” Ducloo told us, “We were upset and joked we should take the sum of oil and water wasted, and the number of bottles they could have redirected away from a landfill or the ocean and dump it on the field in their stadium. We never did but it is what sparked the development of the calculator.”
Rogier Ducloo continued, “Awareness among consumers of the unsustainable, unethical, and environmentally destructive practices that are common in the fashion industry is significantly greater now than it has ever been. Corporations, brands, and others are increasingly challenged on the authenticity of their values, brand promises, and corporate responsibility claims. Customers are asking for it. Businesses are recognizing that their credibility is at stake. For promo companies, it is a way to differentiate. But we recognize it will require significant ongoing education campaigns on our part to get recognized, and that is what we’re committed to doing.”
For co-founder Moor, it’s a work hard/play hard opportunity. “How lucky can we get? We get to innovate, disrupt, and grow in business, connect shops, companies, and brands with more than just a product that they use—it’s a chance to change the world and lives one shirt at a time! Whether it’s day-to-day operations, talking to new clients, shipping orders, or experiential trips to Haiti and India with our clients and the people whose lives they are changing, this is work, this is play, this is a blast! We subscribe to ‘be passionate about what you do, make it better, make a difference!’”
I don’t personally have a business connection with Ryonet, or Allmade, but we do have a connection when it comes to their interest in sustainability and responsible sourcing. So, whether you choose to give Allmade® Apparel a look or not, we do hope you are as passionate about thinking about and sourcing products responsibly for your clients as they are. Their story about a lost order leading to changing everything about their company is inspiring. So is forming your company so that you can spend your life and your business focusing on not only doing the right thing, but making the world a better place. It’s good business for them, and hopefully for you as well.
Jeff Jacobs has been an expert in building brands and brand stewardship for 40 years, working in commercial television, Hollywood film and home video, publishing, and promotional brand merchandise. He’s a staunch advocate of consumer product safety and has a deep passion and belief regarding the issues surrounding compliance and corporate social responsibility. He retired as executive director of Quality Certification Alliance, the only non-profit dedicated to helping suppliers provide safe and compliant promotional products. Before that, he was director of brand merchandise for Michelin. You can find him volunteering as a Guardian ad Litem, traveling the world with his lovely wife, or enjoying a cigar at his favorite local cigar shop. Connect with Jeff on Twitter, LinkedIn, or Instagram, or reach out to him at jacobs.jeffreyp@gmail.com.