Looptworks launches retail strategy
By Christina Williams
Sustainable Business Oregon
Next month at the Outdoor Retailer Show in Salt Lake City, Looptworks will officially hang its upcycled shingle in the retail business.
Portland-based Looptworks, founded in September of last year, is looking to shake up the outdoor apparel business by bringing upcycling — the use of discarded material to make something new — into the industry.
After 10 months of honing its business model and solidifying its product line of clothing made from discarded and scrap textiles, the company has signed on seven U.S. retail sales representatives, plus three in Canada, whose mission will be to place Looptworks inventory in specialty outdoor stores. They've been selling products on their website for several months.
The company expects to sell $450,000 in inventory through that channel by the end of the year.
"It’s been a pretty interesting 10 months to say the least," said Scott Hamlin, who along with partners Gary Peck and Jim Stutts funded and started Looptworks.
He said the company would look at possibly expanding its funding strategy next year as growth continues.
Looptworks is all about closing the loop of apparel manufacturing by giving new life to what Hamlin estimates is the 60,000 pounds of textile scrap per week that is generated by the average large factory.
"What everyone has been focused on (in making clothing more sustainable) is materials. They weren’t focused on the entire process," said Hamlin, an industry veteran who used to work at Royal Robbins, a California outdoor clothing company.
Looptworks is aiming to reduce the waste stream by using discarded textiles to make what the company classifies as "urban outdoor" clothing.
In April, the company launched a line of upcycled t-shirts that can be printed with a custom logo.
The company has four full-time employees plus a dozen part-timers.
Looptworks takes its less-waste mission throughout the business, recycling cast-off business cards and meeting with Metro to discuss the possibility of curbside textile recycling. This week employees were struggling with how to make an expo booth for the outdoor show that reflects the company’s values.
"It’s difficult because you have to think more," Hamlin said. "But it’s also fun because you get to think more."
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