Salt: The Other Side
On one side was extreme anxiety.
My girlfriend and I were so elated for 2020 to start. It had a brand new chapter waiting for us. Pretty quickly though, we learned this year was going to be a very different one. It was the middle of March. We were sitting in our small apartment here in NYC, both silently scrolling through Twitter. Just reading headlines. Eventually we looked at each other and said, should we just leave? Not long after that conversation, we fled to my mom’s house in Pennsylvania for almost two months. Salt was born somewhere in that timeframe.
When we left our home, we found ourselves cleaning everything. Literally, everything. We should own stock in Lysol. We were suddenly very aware of all the germs and vapors that came around us. OMG, Did she just sneeze? Gross, that guy just touched my hand! Was I six ft from his cough? I think I have a fever!…We were anxious to be around people for the first time in our lives. And we are NOT anxious people. *Nervous laugh*
This was a side we had never experienced about ourselves.
I started to brainstorm ideas on how to pivot a new vision into our new reality. Kat and I love clothes. I always told Kat she needs to start her own line... She has a true feel for what the market wants and frankly, what it needs. So I needed her help to get started. What if I made clothes? And what if the clothes were protected from all of the things that concerned us? This is how the idea took on a life of its own.
After talking with with Kat’s father who, thankfully, had some connections in the Denver area, the idea really started to formulate. The vision and branding was there, but now it needed the technology and infrastructure to put it into fruition. This was definitely a time of ups and downs. There was a major fight over the decision of the stitching color palette. Do you know how many blues there are? They all looked the same to me…
Cleaner By Nano-Tech
Once the actual style of the clothes was decided, it was time to get the details settled over what would make the apparel an element above the rest- the nanotechnology. You may be familiar with what it means to be antimicrobial. Essentially, the fibers on this certain polymer are in place to kill most harmful microbes that may surround it. 95.280% is killed, to be exact.
The old way is to use silver in clothing. The difference is, silver reacts mostly as an anti-odor mechanism. It falls under the same umbrella, but does not accomplish what ours does. In addition, silver is known to have toxicities and can cause a build up of resistance. This can be harmful to your body and the environment after long usage. Again- not the case for Salt’s technology. They can worry about smell, Salt is focused on protecting better health. Can you tell we’ve done some reading?
After a few testing rounds with the nanotechnology manufacturer, our embroiderer and our wholesaler, we were ready to order the first batch. We really didn’t know if this was ever going to get far enough. It was easy to wonder, “is this even worth it?” With the vendors, the website and the money involved… it was starting to become a headache. It started to feel real as we got towards the end of July. The major purchases were done and there was no choice but to start selling. I think my credit card company was/still is confused.
Let’s just see what happens.
On the other side was a fresh new vision.
As we approach the launch date, we can’t express just how blessed we are to have the support system that we do. To our family and friends that have helped us so far, we can’t thank you enough.
We are so excited to present to you, Salt. We knew that 2020 had the opportunity to give us a brand new chapter in our lives, but we had no idea it would be through creating apparel. Dreams do come true.
Welcome to the other side.
Cheers,
AL
