Nau is a new outdoor apparel company churning out designs strong enough for the backwoods and stylish enough for the urban jungle. Though the designs might occasionally give off a Jil Sander/Helmut Lang vibe, Nau assures they are designed to perform. The company was founded in 2005 and built with sustainability in mind from fabric to foundation.
Nau is headquartered in a LEED Gold certified building and all stores will be built with sustainability in mind. The stylish line uses only organic cotton and counts Ingeo and recycled polyester among it’s other materials. The company is comprised of individuals with experience in top level positions at brands from Nike to North Face, not to mention the revered Patagonia. Like the latter, Nau pledges to donate proceeds to various environmental organizations and you get your choice at the point of purchase. Their Spring 2007 line launched this month via their website and will eventually be available at storefronts nationwide.
+ Nau
Think of the great schmata towns — Barcelona built on textile profits, beautiful Lodz in Poland as well.
I’m so glad that inhabit linked to lime.com. I’ve been dying for new content and Sustainable Style Sunday is a weekend addition no brainer! It takes a lot to make a fashion line environmentally sustainable. The vast majority of the multinational textile industry is supported by a foundation of economic institutions that have been or are guilty of numerous humanitarian and environmental offenses.
Fashion Lines that make a commitment to sustainable garment production take a huge risk. I guess John hasn’t made the connection between production costs and retail costs. If production costs less the product will retail at a lower shelf price. If environmental regulations and or precautions run up the cost of production, the product will retail at a much higher shelf price…. ever heard of Patagonia?
But this is a whole other blog….
This company seems to be heavily invested in “sustaining” their own pocket books. $80 for a Polo!?!?!? Not even places like Banana and Abercrombie charge prcies like that. There’s nothing sustainable about it if its only for the rich.
nice cutting! simply and elegant design, I like it.
I have to say, I really really want to like this company’s stuff. I ordered a few things and unfortunately was disappointed, and returned the stuff. As somebody above says, at that price, you have to hit quality deadon, as somebody says like Patagonia…
Definitely off to a great start…hopefully they just work out a few design kinks. I’d say give them a chance, but definitely don’t expect anything heavy duty.
It looks great, and if nothing else I’ve gained another source of very cool looking stock people for inserting into uni coursework designs! A bit steep price-wise, but then you can easily pay £50 for a good quality shirt in the UK so the prices aren’t toally ridiculous…
I’d really like an opportunity to see this gear in person, but they don’t ship to Canada.
As to the cost, you could say it’s the price of fashion. I’m used to paying $90 for a Lacoste polo and $150 for jeans, so $80 for a durable, nicely fitting pair of shorts is within reason. I’d rather that than $40 for some Gap POS that looks like hell after 1 wash and self-destucts after 3 months.
i wouldn’t really call what i got gear, or really expect to use it hiking…at least not in colder weather. the stuff i got (long sleeve shirt and short sleeve golf shirt) were both really thin and definitely more heavy on fashion/design than function or sports/athetic.
probably better for a village bar than even a day hike, as i go the impression the stuff would tear relatively easily.
The reason your Banana/Gap/Old Navy empire clothes are so cheap is because they are produced overseas sweat shops.
[...] the same magazine where we found the bizarre swiffer story). Sarah’s article explores Nau, Terraplana and similarly chic brands who have done a great job incorporating sustainability into a [...]