Perhaps you remember the Jane Fonda workout, Step Aerobics, or own a pair of neon legwarmers. Not old enough? How about the “Cookie Diet”? Spoiler Alert on that one, while six cookies a day for breakfast and lunch was right up my alley, the 500-calorie dinner menu of a 4-ounce serving of shrimp sautéed with basil, scallions, and spices with a side dish of a cherry tomato and bean salad in a light vinaigrette, ummm, not so much.
The point I’m making is that fitness and active wear sales opportunities have been around the industry for a long time, and may now have the potential to outpace the rebound in your sales of other categories. Even in the middle of the pandemic’s first year, sales of activewear were at an all-time high, accounting for 40 percent of all online sales in 2020.
But wait, you say. You’ve talked in this space before that popular activewear is largely made of synthetic, plastic-based materials — polyester, nylon and spandex — with the stretchy, moisture-wicking qualities that are large contributors to climate change. Manufacturing polyester throws off 700 million tons of carbon into the atmosphere every year. And then, when the trendy fashion-forward products reach the end of their very short life cycle, they don’t biodegrade in the landfill, but instead break into tiny microplastics that just end up back in the food chain. Well then, perhaps it’s time we all start looking deeper into alternatives.
I’ve watched with some interest to see if the innovative shoe company Allbirds might make a bigger splash in promotional products (iPromo does make custom shoes available). If you’re not familiar with Allbirds, the company is still best known for the first product launched in 2016, casual sneakers made from materials not commonly found in footwear, wool and Tencel. The founders, Tim Brown and Joey Zwillinger, said in the most recent company sustainability report that they believe they are building a materials innovation company rather than a fashion label. “When we founded Allbirds, we imagined a business that demonstrated the possibility of marrying great financial success with environmental stewardship — that we would build a great business because it is sustainable. Five years in, the opportunity to build a globally relevant brand that combats climate change is bigger and more important than ever. We have found that consumers continuously reward us for building the brand with authenticity and intention.” The report expands on the importance of using renewable materials and ones grown through regenerative agriculture practices, and actively removing greenhouse gases from the atmosphere, while transitioning to renewable energy across its supply chain.
While, for the time being, still targeted as a retail line, Allbirds just launched the Natural Run Collection of both men’s and women’s activewear products, made with fiber blends of 75 percent plant-based or recycled materials. And what I like best about these collections is that Allbirds actually calculates the carbon footprint of each product and includes that information on the individual product label. Then, the company offsets the exact same emissions, making each item of clothing truly carbon-neutral, and supplying a label so the purchaser can prove it. Wouldn’t your earth-conscious clients be interested in showcasing their stance with that kind of messaging?
“As Allbirds grows, so does our voice and our responsibility to be a thoughtful community member, while helping customers understand the global environmental challenges we all face,” Brown and Zwillinger say. “We’ve reached an important moment — as excited as we are to grow our business and launch new products, we’re just as inspired to continue expanding our sourcing of sustainable natural materials for our products. This expansion will help continue the creation of new markets, which in turn should bring down cost and accelerate adoption by other companies and manufacturers. In this way, Allbirds can join forces with other businesses to be a better environmental steward.” That sounds like just the kind of focus we should all hope newer suppliers into the promotional products industry bring, truly better for our clients, our businesses, and our world.