When I finished my former sponsorship to start Outerknown, I challenged my partners to create a pioneering new company that made great clothes with a radical commitment to sustainability.

With the challenge from Kelly, Outerknown was created, and we started our journey. When we began, our own friends and trusted peers from the clothing industry doubted us. They said consumers didn’t care enough about sustainable style to pay more. It was also challenging to find factories and material suppliers willing to go through the extra steps we required as a startup. We built an entire collection that never saw the light of day because it couldn’t deliver on our vision, but we continued to persevere until we found the right partners who believed in our mission and could deliver on our strict sustainability standards. It’s been five years since we sold our first item of clothing, and we couldn’t be more proud of what we have built and accomplished. We haven’t figured it all out, but we continue to learn every day. We’re quite proud that we’ve pioneered many new ideas at Outerknown while raising the standard for sustainable design in our industry and beyond. We look at our sustainability commitment like the North Star. We will never actually get there, but the North Star is always reminding us what direction we should be going. Our commitment as a brand is to keep learning, exploring, and innovating. With every decision we make, we will always choose the most responsible path.