Ep. 81: Zero waste manufacturing in the US Podcast

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Ep. 81: Zero waste manufacturing in the US

In this episode of The WTiN Podcast, Jessica Owen interviews Britt Howard, founder of the Portland Garment Factory.

Speaker 1: WTiN
Speaker 2: Britt Howard

Speaker 1
Hello, my name is Jessica Owen, and I'm part of the team here at WTiN. And this is the WTiN podcast. Join me, my colleagues and our guests every month, as we talk about new and interesting innovations from across the textile and apparel industry. Whether it's talking to sustainable startups quizzing experts on the latest research and development, or chatting to companies about their most recent products, you can rest assured that the WTiN podcast will connect you with everything you need to know. This week, I am joined by Britt Howard, who is the founder of the full service manufacturing company, the Portland garment factory. Brett talks about the services the company offers their Zero Waste manufacturing approach relaunching the factory after a devastating fire and much more.

Hello, Britt, and welcome to the WTiN podcast. How are you? And how is life in Oregon?

Speaker 2
I am doing well. Life in Oregon is a little bit topsy turvy. But we're all just getting through it. And luckily big support system here at my work and in my personal life. So everything's as good as it could be. Good.

Speaker 1
So is this about COVID-19? Still do you mean?

Speaker 2
Yes, a little bit. And just other issues that we I think that everything is all you could relate it to COVID-19? Actually, if you really wanted to tie a thread through all issues? Yes. It let's just say yes, let's blame it on COVID.

Speaker 1
Okay, all right. So it's not been maybe the best start to the new year, then by the sounds of it.

Speaker 2
It's a mixed bag, because we are in a new space after we had a fire last year. And we so we've relocated, we've reset up the factory, we've done 100% One, you know, 183 60 I don't know, maybe a little bit of both in reestablishing the business. And then you know, our city's hurting a lot. There's a lot of issues that have cropped up that have come to light that even more since the beginning of the pandemic that kind of lifted the veil on a lot of the disparities in socio economic and just in our city so, so it's it's something it's hard not to talk about, I guess it's on the top of my mind. We've we've had some issues and at our you know, at the new shop and so I think that yeah, but on the bright side, we are doing a great job at getting our name back out in into the on the desks and in the inboxes of our clients and making sure that they know we're back up and running and we want you know, we're ready to work and it's working. So that feels really positive. And really, it feels great to be back at work, huh?

Speaker 1
Yeah, no, I mean, I have no idea. I feel so ignorant now that you had a fire last year. So yeah, the fact that you're back and running, and you're even doing this podcast. I mean, that's great news. Well done.

Speaker 2
Thank you. Yeah, we had a total loss fire in April of 2021. So my old location burned all the way to the ground, and we lost everything. So we've started over, luckily, no one got hurt. And we it's been almost, you know, it's been 10 months. So we've had quite a journey. We're in a new building. It's beautiful. We have all new equipment, where we have new software, we have new everything is brand spanking new, which feels a little bit weird coming out of this factory that had been cultivated and set up and felt very lived in and we were there for you know, I think almost 12 years. And so it is a little bit funny to be it's like, I feel like I'm in an Ikea factory because everything just looks clean and like right in the right spot. And I'm just like, walking through each room just kind of messing it up a little bit making it feel more alive and lived in you know, yeah,

Speaker 1
no, I get that. I mean, there's probably better things I should say. But I'm always one for looking for silver linings. And perhaps that's it, you've got a great beautiful new place like New spanking brand new factory equipment. Like, you know, that might not have happened as soon as it did. I mean, I don't know what your take on it is but I mean, anyway, should we actually talk about what you guys do then what what you do in this space of yours? I mean, tell us about yourself and the journey you took to starting the Portland garment factory. Yeah, so

Speaker 2
Portland garment factory is a full service manufacturing company and we're located in Portland, Oregon. We started I started the business in 2008. So we've been in business I think this year will be 14 years this summer. And we offer a variety of services all under one roof to man manufacture soft goods. So it's anything from garments to cushions, drapery costumes, we do theatre props, and all different kinds of soft items. If you can imagine our clients are mostly coming to us with special projects. So we kind of specialise in unique and wild things like we've made men's tailored Blazers out of paper, for instance, and things like that. And within a bit, but then we so we're kind of, we're kind of an anomaly as far as traditional manufacturing, because we don't just make one thing over and over like a T shirt manufacturer, or a G A denim factory, like, we're a more of a creative hub mixed with a factory. So we do have the capabilities to do full on patterning, you know, cuts, so prototyping, and then we have a sourcing department that finds all the materials and then we get off to the races and make full productions but but what we do differently is that we infuse our design side and kind of innovate on the wild materials or different design or we take on unique projects that are not just so cut and dry.

Speaker 1
So was that the goal, then when you started the company just to do things a bit differently, was there like a gap in the market for a company that could do sort of all these different things? 

Speaker 2
Well, I think when I started it, I thought that it would be a great place for designers, local designers and startups to come and have their first samples or small runs made and get help with things like pattern grading, say you have your pattern for a dress that in that dress sells well and but you need to grade it into seven sizes and offer it in a more a wider array. And you don't know how to grade we don't have a garment industry Garment District in the way that there is in LA or New York where there's just a whole hub of you can go to the button store, and you can go across the street to the machine repair shop, and you can go over to see your pattern maker. And so I had visited those places and knew they existed and was kind of working on my own soft sculptures. And also, I was making a lot of baby clothes at the time. And I just thought, you know, hey, wait, maybe we could have something like this in Portland. And then it really blossomed from there, because maybe there was a gap in the market that I didn't know existed until I started my business because that's when I started getting into the more like, weird commercial side of things. And the industry was probably even more alive in Portland than I realised. And also I was 25 and I did not have any experience in the industry or even in corporate industry. When I started my business, and I just considered myself an artist and I had worked many different jobs including or mostly though waitressing. So I, I didn't have the full range of understanding of what the history of the industry was in Oregon until I started my business. And I started having lots of conversations. And it actually is a very robust, at least it was in the 80s. And before manufacturing centre on the West Coast.

Speaker 1
Yeah. Because from what I understand, it's like the Nike Headquarters or even Lululemon a base there on a

Speaker 2
Yeah, and Nike started in Oregon. And I think that Nike being the humongous company that it is and the talent attractor, and just their design centric, the way that they run their company, they attract other businesses. So even since I've started PGF and and I grew up here, you know, I've seen a lot of companies are moving out here. We have Adidas headquarters Under Armour. Yeah, I don't know about Lululemon that much. But and then Keene and, you know, we have a lot of, of similar or competitive like that athletic apparel, manufacturing and shoe industry is is very big in Oregon, I'd say that's like one of our biggest industries, and in a lot of them are my clients. And that's, that's a thing that yeah, I didn't expect that that's not something that I didn't set my business up with an expectation to work for these companies at all it was if anything, it didn't even I didn't even know, at the time. But now, but no, I definitely do know, and that's what I do most days.

Speaker 1
Right. Well, I mean, hold on to that thought because I wanted to ask you about like, the range of clients that you have. But just before that, I mean, you you mentioned about the different services that you offer. What's the thing you do the most of

Speaker 2
Yeah, I'd say the most common thread from all the projects that we have inquiries for is something that is unique. So it's not that it's we always get requests for a tote bag or we always get requests for sweatshirts or something. It's that we get requests for it. Can you take this otherwise normal idea and how can you guys with your creative mines help us twist it into something super fun and unique to solve XYZ problem. For instance, we just we just finished a job that's just launched yesterday. For the tiller muck Tiller muck cheese factory is an old Creamery. And, well, dairy farm, I guess is how to say it in Oregon. And I think they're over, I think they're over 100 years old. Anyway, they have a holiday called National cheddar day. And that's every mid February, and they go crazy about cheddar. That's probably one of the things they're most known for. I mean, they make they make everything, yoghurt, ice cream, all of it. And it's like a national brand, or maybe international anyway, they're a big company, they sell a lot of cheese. And they are like, hey, it's national cheddar a day. And we want to launch with a bunch of cheddar themed items. And normally, I think if you went to a manufacturing company, they'd be like, Okay, what do you want it to be? And you'd have to either bring it with the concept already all flushed out and with this is the design, and then yes, we can make it what fabric Do you want. But instead, people come to us and they say stuff like that, like that's the prompt, what would you do, or we're thinking, a sweatshirt, a crazy pant with that you can fit little cheese, like into every pocket, and they get really wild with their ideas. And then we help them kind of refine the idea to make it a reality. And we we show different materials and we kind of come up with okay, if you want to sweatshirt, how could we tweak it to actually manufacture it in a in a way that meets the goal. Like maybe the goal is not that it has to be inexpensive, maybe the goal is that it has to be unisex item and neutral sizing or something because it's ease of selling or there's always a there's always like underlying things that clients want to get out. And then we also bring the sustainability mindset to it. So it's it's a big process, and it takes a minute to get those kinds of projects off the ground. But once we do then then we just go for it. So we were recently tasked with another another anniversary of 40 year anniversary for a very large ad agency here, headquartered here in Portland. So, you know, they want to do something really fun for their employees. And what would you what could we do? And then we launch into that, and there's 1500 employees, so we have to make something that would have pleased, likely that many people is that's a tall order. So yeah, those are good examples. I think of kind of like, how that works.

Speaker 1
Yeah, yeah, no, I think it makes a lot more sense to me now. Is what you do. Has it changed over the years? Since you started in 2008? I think you said, or are you still doing very much the same thing?

Speaker 2
Yeah, I think it's similar, but it's more robust. Obviously, when I started, I was in a 200 square foot room. So it was just me and one pattern making table and like two machines or something. And then so obviously, we have a bigger team. And we can do pump out a lot more work. But it's also that we used to work a lot with smaller brands and, and startups. And as the business has grown, that is not a sustainable for us long term. So we still work with startups and designers like say, a new designer, or someone who's just maybe not new designer, they've been making everything themselves for 20 years, and they have a boutique and everything's custom. And then they come to us and they're like, Okay, I need, I want to get a run of this, or this made or, you know, we still do take on those kinds of projects, it's just a little less so because the way the model of the whole business changed, like we have more of it just take it takes more budget and to get through the factory. Because of just the way that I've set up the business now. So we did like, for instance, when we started, we didn't have a sourcing department, like everybody had to find their own material. And if you're a if you're a small designer, you can go find your own material. But if you if you come to us and we are going to find your material, but you don't have a budget for that it's just it ends up being it's it's yeah, it's just evolved. 

Speaker 1
I'd say you said that, that you were startups, you've even like worked with Adidas and Nike and that. But considering you're such a small team, how were you able to sort of catered to, like a small market and also producing lots and lots of products, if that makes sense?

Speaker 2
Yeah, I know. It's a funny, it's a good question. And it's a it's kind of hard to wrap your head around. But when you're in here, you can see that, well, first, I would just start off by saying first. It's really shocking, how much you can like a group of 15 women can get done. It's actually not shocking to me anymore. But it is shocking to think like how did we just do that? But we have really great systems set up for meeting deadlines and flowing projects through the shop. And then we also have lots of behind the scenes. Well, we have a lot of experience too. So say someone comes in they're like we need 3000 have X thing by this date. It's it's pretty quick, Trent kind of a math problem on my part or on the part of our project managers to decide if that's something that we can do because we have experience of doing that in the past. And so we can just be like, Oh, that reminds me of this project. We did that. What were the pitfalls of that. But you know, when we try to like, just assess it before we say yes, but I'd say that we also have contractors that come in on contracts. So say, I need five extra people, I have a lot of different people I can call and if they're available, they're available, that's great. And they come in and help us. So we're lucky to have formed really good relationships over the years with lots of different people in order to kind of turn on the faucet or turn the faucet off with with the work, how you know, flow. But it is tricky. And it's probably one of the biggest. It's an it's an issue for me, it's a hurdle for me as a business owner, is that's one of the biggest things is okay, you say you do have a huge job. And then you don't have you have a lot of bunch of little jobs, just turning that faucet off and on or getting that faucet turned off and on on for you by the world kind of like what's happened over the past few years, it has been is something that I spend a lot of time trying to, you know, refine our processes and make it easier on us. But it's always a challenge.

Speaker 1
I can appreciate that. Yeah. I mean, what's the what's the difference between working with the small brands? And then and then the big names? I mean, you have mentioned that obviously, they might not know how to great products like the smaller companies, but I mean, what what are the bigger companies coming to you because in my head, I'm like they have these massive headquarters big teams like, surely they can do that in house. So what makes them come to you guys?

Speaker 2
Yeah, the so the, the difference between the small and the big is really, sometimes there's not a lot of difference as far as the individual you're working with. So for instance, if we're working with a designer from Nike, they might have a very similar vibe to a designer that's working on their own line, and they're chill and they come in and we talk and we Jive really well, we can just get the project done together, I'd say the biggest difference is, when it's a small designer, it's their baby like this is their, they are the owner and they are very involved. And then somebody who works on behalf of a large company like Nike they are involved. But they also are detached from this object we're building. They can because it's, it's on behalf, it's for their work. And they do care about their design and their work. It's just a different feeling. Because working with small business designers is kind of like working with entrepreneurs who are really passionate and really, you know, it's just it's a different animal with with those two. And then I would say the other thing is budget, obviously, like that's the elephant in the room is always that small designers, they're also not as maybe it's our first time working with a manufacturer. So there's a lot of little little fees that come along with working like things that you might not think like sometimes people are like, it's the fabric and it's the labour to sew it. But it's also like, there's a lots of in between stuff that costs money. And so it's unfortunately, it's a budget because I say unfortunately, because I think there's so many talented designers that we've worked with that I just wish they had some sort of fund, I wish they were funded the way Nike was because they're brilliant, and we just can't go as far with the with the project, sometimes you can't get that special zipper or you can't get that, you know, whatever it is like spend a lot of time on Fit sessions and making it fit perfectly, because there's just not that many rounds of prototype reviews built into their invoice or whatever. But people think that we are that Portland garment factory is making stuff for Nike that gets sold in their stores. And that's not what we do. I don't think we've ever made anything that got sold in a Nike store. So we do special projects for them. And so this is stuff that their other people are working on, like in their sample rooms. And like Nike and all the other companies, they have a sample room where they have a little miniature Portland garment factory, and I've been to some of them. Those people are working on concepting, perhaps like an actual new sports bra that's gonna go into production in their overseas factory, but they're just working out the kinks of it in real time in their studio. So we have worked on those kinds of projects with big clients, but a lot of times yes, they would work with their own sample room. And the reason why they would come to us is only if that sample room is too busy and can't meet the deadline then their overflow work comes to us. But I would say that the the majority of the projects we're doing for the big names are more like specialty one off, there's a lot of like gifting a lot of seeding kits, which is like when they launch something new and they want to put it out to influencers like somebody has to make those items and make the bag that goes in and make it look all beautiful. We do work in that case. And then also if they're doing something that's more pro bono on there, like, like think of the Olympics like if Nikes like we want a 50 foot flag hanging from In Beijing, like when we want it to say this or that, or whatever, and we want it to be made out of all upcycled material, like old Nike backpacks, but you can't even tell because it's a quilted flag. Like, they'll come to us with stuff like that. And then we will build like a humongous flag made out of backpacks or something. And so there, so that's why because we're just we're more of the science lab for them, I'd say, right,

Speaker 1
That's so interesting, that like, These things never even crossed my mind, you know, and I got a bit of insight in there.

Speaker 2
I need to be better about getting that out on our social media and stuff. It's just so so much work to and also sometimes you can't talk about the thing you just finished. And then when it does come out, you're like, Oh, I got a post about that. But that was like, so three months ago or whatever, like, yeah, exactly. We we do a lot of weird things. And I think that's because a lot of like, my background is in sculpture and art, like I said, and I want to bring an artful creativity kind of mind to the table when I work on projects. And my background is not in necessarily in fashion or garment construction, although I do feel like I have a master's degree in that now. But I, it's my passion is in making something that seems like it couldn't exist? Or, or how could you? How could you do that? That's what gets me going. And so I think we also attract that kind of talent in our employees. A lot of people that come and work for Portland garment factory are coming from really unique backgrounds, like cedar or prop building, or you know, they've, they've worked in the fashion industry, and they've travelled all around, and they know about how shoes are made in, you know, and they bring all of that knowledge. And then when we're making this totally different thing they can lend, they have this experience that they could lend to that innovative side of the work that we're doing. So it's actually quite cool.

Speaker 1
Yes. I mean, I was having a little snoop on your Instagram page before this, actually. And there was a picture of you all as a group, and it looks like such a tight knit, like community of employees, it looks really fun to work there.

Speaker 2
I hope it's fine. Yeah, it's, it's been a really hard year, but everybody so awesome. And I mean, I just try to extend my professional familial side to my group and be support them in any way I can. And they, they're very dedicated. They I do think they love working with each other, too. And, and so I've had some of my employees have been with us for 10 years. And, you know, like I said, they wrote it out when we had our fire last year. And, and, you know, we were off for seven months. And so we didn't have we weren't doing our normal work. We didn't have anywhere to work, but and they're, they're dedicated. So yeah, I feel very grateful. For that, for them. And for our tight for our community. Yeah, for sure.

Speaker 1
Now, another thing I wanted to ask you about was when I did look on your social media, and on your website, it said that you have now become like a zero waste, like company Zero Waste manufacturer. Do you mind just telling me a bit more about this? And how you have managed to achieve that? Because it's, it's a pretty huge thing to do. 

Speaker 2
Yeah, it is. And it's, it's a lot of resources, that it's hard to be where B Corp certified as well. And it's hard to run a company, when you're already running on such a small margin. That is like, you know, what, we're gonna put people in Planet right up there with profits. And then if you really truly do that, you're actually you're, you can lose profit. So it's, I'm still trying to figure out how to master the three the triad of the people planet profits, but it's a fun challenge. But so yeah, in 2000, I mean, we'd been working on how can we be zero waste for years, and I think we figured it out in between 2015 and 2018, or 19, is when it really took off. And in essence, what we do is we sort all of our waste, which is kind of if you think about your own kitchen, like how you I mean, depending on where you live, you put your food waste in the compost, and then you put your cardboard over here, so we sort all waste and then that becomes a hole. And then you have to sort the sorting. And when something's too small to be made into something else, like there's a scrap that's just the size of my pinky or something or something that we don't want anymore. Nobody wants to make anything out of it or it has Sharpie all over it because we wrote on it in a session or whatever. We that goes into a pulverizer and that gets pulverised into this kind of like lofty puff. It's actually not as lofty as I'd want it to be, but we're working on it. And then we that puff gets put into other products that we make. So unlike going back to the well, we don't have Nice, we don't have a lot of waste right now, because our whole factory burned down. So we're starting over. And in this opportunity to start over from scratch. We're even finding better processes for the waste streams and how to not pull just pulverise so much, because then you have to come up with products that are stuffed with your pulverised Puffin, is that really zero waste, are you just making a new thing out of garbage? Like, I think I think the real way to do it would be to figure out how to spin those fibres into new thread and then make the threads into weave them into a textile and then use that textile to then make something else right like that would be full circular. But we're not there yet. The way that we do it is we just we just say zero waste, we don't have a dumpster, all this all the different materials get like for instance, right now I'm working on a project with the leftover leather scraps actually did, we had a shipping container on our old property, and we kept all of our zero waste out there. So we didn't lose the leathers from that, the fire. So I actually have that here. And we just are stamping out different shapes and making different things with that. And that leather is from 2019 From a job a Michael Jordan project. So it's kind of like funny how that works. But and then we today they're finishing actually blankets for a shelter, we actually are building as next to a women's shelter. And so we have all of these patchworked flannels, like pieces of flannel that didn't get used, but they're in pretty great condition. So we just patched them all together. And we're going to take the blankets over there. So what we'll usually end up doing is designing something around the waist that we have. So it's it is a lot of work, because it's a lot of me helping with design and then talking through with the with the production team, okay, so when we have a lull in the schedule, or you have a whole, here's a project you can work on, that's a filler project. And we used to sell a lot of the stuff that we made on our website. But we've since you know, had to we have to relaunch that. And that's how that's happening in February, we will relaunch the website, I think February 10 is when it will go live. And then there will be some zero waste products on that. But like I said, we don't have, we haven't cultivated enough waste yet to make anything. So but we do we do. We can like quilt a bunch of stuff together and cover furniture, cover furniture and like do a poster, an old chair and make it brand new and beautiful again. So we do a lot of that on the side, when we're waiting for the next project or waiting for a decision so that we can cut the next thing you know what I mean, like keeping the sewers busy? 

Speaker 1
Well, I think it's so interesting how you've like got different avenues. I think some people think you've got to think of one solution. But I think if you've got the time and you've got the space, like if you can just keep it and work out what's best to do with it. And even if it changes from time to time, I think that's a really good approach really. And I mean, there's that quite a big selling point for your clients as well, the fact that you would like whatever they're doing with you that that waste like that can be part of their sustainability story is a lot of companies like to have these days. 

Speaker 2
Yeah, I think that it does help when they already know about it, or I can dig deeper and explain it to them and and try to truly get them on board with telling that story on their end. And there's some clients that are way more likely to do so. And then there's other people who were like, That's awesome, like behind the scenes I love that we they probably will never talk about it with on their end of their marketing, because it doesn't make sense. But for whatever reason. But yeah, I'd say it is a selling point. And it's hope that it's inspirational to other large companies that we work with I I think that it's hard to move the dial in? Well, all I know is it's hard to do a new thing in my company, and when there's only 15 of us. So if you imagine like, where there's 1000s and 1000s of employees, and it's almost its own bureaucracy. So I'm talking I'm talking about like Nike or something like for them to go fully to do something they have to start it as a small initiative like they're a global company. So people have to start somewhere. It's it's the greenwashing side of things that I see sometimes that is I'd rather have them jump on my bandwagon and say like, we worked with a company that's zero waste, like that's better than saying that. They're making you know, they're having a certain circular dress, but they also make like fast fashion like a company like that. You're like well cool, but it's not it that's not really a solution. 

Speaker 1
It's no it's a it's a very complex thing is greenwashing. Like, I mean, how people sort of read between the lines when even me and I write about textiles every day sometimes can't tell the difference. I mean, it's difficult. It's a problem. But you know, there are companies like yours who are trying to do their best anyway. 

Speaker 2
Yeah, it's all about just doing your best. It's never about doing them perfectly. We won't get anywhere. Even me sometimes I'm like is this greenwashing to say that we're zero waste because we don't make our own threads? And then I'm like, Well, I'm a tiny business, I can't have that. I gotta figure out some day, I hope that when I'm retiring, then the next person who takes over this company in like 40 years or 100 years whenever I would have the that equipment, and then that would go into the future. So. So that's why I say it, because I think if you build it, they will come like I really believe if you if you start putting your energy into something, it will, it'll turn into something. 

Speaker 1
No, I'm with you on that one. I believe that. Now, we've sort of spoken a little bit about how you know being zero waste might be a bit of a selling point. But is the fact that you're sort of Made in America and made well made in Oregon specifically, is that a selling point as well, because from speaking to other companies since COVID-19, happened, and lot of people were so much more interested about just making local these days. 

Speaker 2
Yeah, I wonder how important that is to people who are on the retail end of the things that we make, I think the clients that we build for are excited about that. And it's a story they want to tell, you know, it's made right here, even the all of the items we just made for national charity that those will launch next week, and that will go on till a mux website, and it will, they will be available to purchase. And they they're very much telling the story like, hey, this was made right here in Oregon, just like our cheese. And I think that that's great. But I don't I've always wondered and wanted to start I want to survey people do they do people care like they do the consumers care of things are made in the US? Because it's going to cost more? So I wonder? 

Speaker 1
Yeah, no, I mean, if you get the results of that survey, let me know. Because I mean, some people just say yes, they are. But I mean, I personally love the idea of something being made in the UK, for example. I mean, I bought a throw for my spare room in the house, just because it was made in Yorkshire, which is where I live. But it did cost a lot more than a blanket that was you know, I was out well, I don't know if you have somewhere but Danelle mill or the range of the brands we have here. They're like home where companies and you have to make such a conscious decision in and like, oh, well, okay, if I buy that I might not be able to buy something else to go in that room or whatever. And, yeah, it's hard to do. And there are people who try but I think the vast majority, as you say, it just comes down to price at the end of the day. And it's a really tricky one, I think to figure out.

Speaker 2
Yeah, I hope that people who are privileged enough to like buy something that is made locally are also I imagine that people that are doing that and making that very conscious decision are also living slower in though in so much as they are okay that they don't they have like a goodwill couch, but they have their rug, and they'll get that they'll get that like locally made couch when they can. But it's not about it's not about bringing the whole room together overnight. And it's not about having all of the little things all you know, and because you can you can basically like when you see these makeover shows, and they just go basically to like Target or Pier One imports. That's what we have over here, like or wherever and you can tell he just bought the whole collection, but like the little sculpture that goes on it's like so canned to me. And I, it's so it feels soulless, but I'm like, oh, that it does look clean and nice and everything matches but does it feel like lived in yet? And and how do you get there? Well, you get there by making conscious decisions and going slower, it's gonna look more and feel more cosy and eclectic. But maybe that's just me, that's just my vibe. But I, I hope that I preached that to like, even my children, I tell them like, you know, you can get this new pair of shoes, but we can't if we get the good ones we can't we have to everything else. The other outfits have to be purchased secondhand or something because because of the budget, so I think you can do it. It's just takes a lot longer. It's like a slow process.

Speaker 1
Exactly. Yeah, no, I completely agree with that. Yeah. Now I'm aware that we're sort of running out of time, unfortunately. But now that the pandemic at least is easing, and now that you're sort of starting up again, after after the fire. I mean, what are your plans for the rest of this year, if you've got any more sort of cool projects going on or anything else in the pipeline? 

Speaker 2
Yeah, well, I'm really excited to do this project with this ad agency that we're working with, because they're a global agency, and it's a project for them. They've been a client of ours for years, and it's a project for them for their employees who I've worked with. So it feels like oh, this is so fun. Like we get to make something for the people that we love working with. So it's it's like a double whammy of a good project right at the right time when we're trying to relaunch and reopen the business and shout from the rooftops like, Hey, we're open like who wants to make stuff in the middle of a pandemic with creative factory You know, it's a, it's a huge risk to reopen the company. So I think I'm navigating that risk and navigating the new world because even since the pandemic changed my business a lot, and then it'll year into the pandemic, to have a fire coming back out of that is totally, the world is so different than I even realised just in reopening. So I'm just spinning this year, like navigating that getting all of our systems down in the factory so that we can be efficient and, you know, make really rad stuff. And then also, I really want to focus on our gift shop, because I think that we have a lot of potential in the stuff that we come up with the things we design, and that we all like here and that we can create for people that are are all of the sales that we captured in, in selling masks, like all those people are hungry to want to buy other stuff from us because that we captured a new audience, which is so beautiful, and I just, and so I'm going to focus on them because that's our community, like majority of the people that are like on our newsletter, for instance, are live near to us. So I know they're like people I could see in the grocery store. So I'm like, I'm going to make you something we're gonna make you really cool, high quality products. And so that's what we're focusing on.

Speaker 1
Oh, well, that's such a nice idea. Yeah, giving back to the community and stuff because I imagine a lot of them have probably been there to support you guys with all that's been going on. I mean, that's, that's a pretty bad streak. Bad luck, isn't it that you've had with the pandemic and then a fire? That's, that's not on? I think, I believe in karma. So something good is coming your way.

Speaker 2
But I might I believe in karma, too. But why is this happening to me? What did I not, it's got to be that I believe that it's because I can handle it. And and for whatever that means like I'm a strong resilient person. And I am here for it. I am feeling pretty depleted and rundown some days, but I also am like, I'm here for it and, and I feel like I'll fight anything to fight a whale to protect my company. So but no, I love whale. So I love

Speaker 1
that's quite an image. But

Speaker 2
I'll punch a whale if I have to. Yeah, I you know, I think that the we have been through a lot. But the community totally showed up in an insane amount. There was a crazy GoFundMe when we had our fire. And it was so overwhelming. Just because like I said, I want to help others. I don't love being helped. That's a hard thing. For me. I think it's just how I was raised or something. So it's been interesting to receive be on the receiving end of the community's help. So yeah, I'm gonna get them back even though they didn't aren't asking for it. I'm like, Oh, I'm coming. 

Speaker 1
Well, I mean, the final thing I wanted to ask you them before I can let you go is like, Do you have any ideas for what the future of the garment manufacturing industry might look like? I mean, you've already said that things have just changed since you've you've had to shut down to sort of re rebuild. So do you have any idea of what it might be like in say, 510 years time?

Speaker 2
I you know, I would hope that we are upcycling more and repurposing, taking things that would go to the landfill, turning them into other things, and that there's small hubs doing this in different communities all over to where it's not like normalise wearing a garments made out of something else or normalise having the cushions in your house made from old pairs of pants or something like because that can be done in a really fashionable artful way that's really unique and cool. So I so and just like the renew and the repair. So like a lot of companies that have started doing that, I'd say like, the one that comes to mind is Patagonia, with their Warren where I think in 10 years from now, I would love to see all of the big players in the industries like sports and, and okay, I'm talking about Nike, I'm talking about Nike and all the people who are adjacent it to them doing these really massive and they already have started it you can you can already at some locations, like recycle your shoes or get your shoes repaired in different Nike stores, so I know they're trialling some of these things but I would love to see where you know they partner with a company like me and to end you can bring in any Nike item and have it made into this other item for X amount and Nike just fronts that because it's brand loyalty and it's also like it could it could really serve the planet and the people and the profits if you say if I you know, in my mind and my little tiny business plans I've put together and and I think also more sustainable textiles and textile. Recycling will probably be way further along in 10 years. So the things that are being made brand new, are being made Made out of more sustainable materials and less materials that are like emitting like microplastics and things like that. So it's it's really making these really fancy fancy materials that are used by like Stella McCartney and Nike, sometimes and other companies that it's really use utilise are getting those down to the people. Like, I think it's so cool what Stella McCartney does with her company and all of the innovation. And I would love for some of those innovative materials to be available to people factories like me to order for the everyday designer, because it's the gatekeeping of all of these proprietary technologies. That is like, Yeah, it's cool. No one can compete with it. And small designers that want to start up or still just have to go to the regular fabric route. Does that you know what I mean? Like, they don't have the budgets to like, innovate technologies. And so I wonder where we'll be with that in the future, if it will just be normal. Like, if you go to any old fabric store, you can just find recycled plastic, t shirt material in bulk. And you don't have to be a big designer to have, you know, does that make sense? 

Speaker 1
Yeah, no, I think that'd be really cool. Yeah, definitely. I mean, there's a lot of companies as well that once upon a time, would even if they had leftover fabric, I think they used to say like, because that's their pattern or their design. Like they just wouldn't, you wouldn't, you'd have to throw it away. They just wouldn't allow for anyone to repurpose it. And I think that is slowly changing. And so yeah, I mean, only time will tell, see if any of these ideas of yours actually become reality. Yeah, I

Speaker 2
think it's gonna take somebody people in positions of power, just like any change has to come from somebody being willing to put their neck out. And just be like, I think this would be better for the world. And this is just our life's work. If this is our industry, we this is our life's work. This isn't just about us today. It's but you know, so that's how I feel. I'm like, let's just go for it. People like what do we hold on?

Speaker 1
While everyone else had that sort of spirit? We might be in a better place, but I think it will come. I mean, everyone I speak to is so optimistic. So I reckon down the line. Well, we will get there. But I mean, in the meantime, though, I'm afraid we're gonna have to sort of stop it there. We're running out of time. But I mean, thank you so much for coming on the show and for telling us about like the work you're doing at Portland garment factory and like, the ideas and how you're bouncing back after the spider. It's been it's been really great to talk to you and well, I wish you all the best with 2022 Hopefully, it's a much better year for you guys.

Speaker 2
Thank you so much, Jessica. Yeah, I'm I wish you the best too and you're way over there across the pond as they say.