Sad news about the demise of NAU, a sustainable fashion/outdoor clothing company who recently announced its intent to close. Just 14 months after launching, the Portland based retailer claims a "combination of less than ideal market conditions and lack of venture funding."
I was one of it's many fans who loved their sleek designs with great attention to detail (including no logo), performance and sustainable textile use. I was actually excited to venture to their new Beverly Center (my first trip there in 2 years, mind you!) store to attend the grand opening and witness the green ethic extended into its store interiors which featured displays made from reclaimed wood and dressing rooms with curtains made from recycled material. I somehow missed the cancellation email and the store manager told me that they had called an emergency meeting at their headquarters. The next day, they're done. What happened? Good question. First year's sales expectations were exceeded and plans for four other locations in San Francisco, Boston, Seattle, and a second Portland store were in the works and Nau planned to open 140 stores by 2010. Previews of the Fall '08 collection were set to be released, as well.
My guess is that they may have jumped to expand too quickly into to many retail outlets. I've learned that it took $35 million of capital to get through its first year of sales. In the midst of a scary economy especially for retail, they struggled to find new investors and were forced to cut back its planned number of store openings this year from 20 to 5. The Beverly Center location couldn't have been cheap although they did have an inspired model of keeping inventory in stores at a minimum, offering 10% discounts to customers who had their purchases shipped to them. That fit Nau's concept for a smaller, lower-cost store footprint albeit a risky one due to the emotional nature of purchasing apparel. In a mall-setting and an instant gratification culture, that's a tough ask. Though the apparel was extremely well conceived, it wasn't cheap as a pair of jeans cost $138.
Regardless, they are to be applauded for their pioneering efforts including offices and stores built to LEED Gold standard and 5% of purchases given to non-profit organizations. In less than a year Nau was able to donate $223,000 through its customer-directed giving program, they tagged "Partners for Change." Their fierce loyalty (myself included) and a mantra of 'unfuck the world', will be sorely missed. A now haunting elegy to the company can be found as part of Sundance Channel's 'Big Ideas For A Small Planet' series with a great segment on the idealogy of the upstart company.
What's left to be appreciated is their pioneering spirit as eco-fashion and sustainability march forward in the messy process called evolution. Here's some of the amazing standards Nau put upon themselves that will undoubtedly inspire others to follow:
• Apparel that adhered to the credo of ‘Beauty, Performance and Sustainability’
• Multipurpose apparel equally suited to weekend in the hills or a night on the town
• No external logos or branding on apparel
• Impressive tailored designs and construction detailing
• No paper catalogues
• LEED Gold standard offices and retail shops
• Purchase of Forest Stewardship Council certified timber for fittings
• Third Party verification of workers rights and conditions through Verite
• Restricted Substance List of materials not to be used in products
• Over 30 custom designed fabrics, using only recycled polyester, certified organic cotton, PLA corn, lambswool or merino wool
• Purchase of equivalent yield conventional corn to offset any GMO corn that might be in their PLA
• Use of high grade componentry like RiRi zips and Prym fasteners
• 5% of purchase price donated to customer-directed not-for-profit organisations
• Webfront retail stores promoting direct-from-warehouse-to-customer shipping
• Recycled content flat pack shipping bags, instead of space wasting boxes
• Carbon offsets for shipping and corporate travel
• Renewable energy certificates (wind and solar) for office and shops
• Acting as an agent for change through their blog
• Sponorship of environmentally and socially oriented online videos.
• Customer prizes and Flickr postings for photos of the clothing in action.
1 comment:
I was shocked when I heard this. I had no idea they were so young - their brand appeal and loyalty seemed so solid, that I had assumed they'd been around for ages. I never saved up the silver to buy anything for myself, but A invested in a very cool raincoat jacket that he completely loves.
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