Betabrand's Constant Innovation Makes for a Sustainable Clothing Line

Most often when people think of sustainable fashion they think organic cotton or recycled polyester, but there’s more to creating sustainable clothing than just the fabrics. One San Francisco company is embracing a number of other sustainability tenets: make only what you’ll sell and make your products locally.

Betabrand has been making men’s clothing for over a year (really more than six, under the name Cordarounds). The company is known for their wit, being online only, and producing their pants, jackets, hoodies, and bags in limited quantities for reasonable prices (their most popular pants sell for $90).

In a New York Times article, founder Chris Lindland explained that he always believed that limiting the supply and offering new items weekly would be key to their success (as well as baking clever humor into the brand and being an online retailer).

This credo has created not only a sustainable clothing line, but a sustainable business model too. Betabrand doesn’t need to have closeout sales to get rid of old inventory, because they simply don’t make more than they know they’ll sell. According to a Fast Company piece on the company, Betabrand is on track to do more than $2 million in sales this year.

While Lindland may not have been thinking about sustainability as he began building his company, he has have achieved it. Not to mention, their website is just plain fun and they’re an excellent example of how to create a successful online clothing store.

photo credit: Betabrands

 

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