Slow Fashion: Nick Bergmann On Why They Are Embracing Slow Fashion and Renewable Consumption
An Interview With Dina Aletras
Stick to your morals: We have had advice and multiple offers to shift production overseas to decrease costs, but we have chosen not to do this. The thing we love about our business is that we are now part of a community of vibrant makers and thinkers whose goals are not solely financial gain. These people are trying to make the world a cleaner more equitable place.
As ‘slow fashion’ grows in popularity, more fashion companies are jumping on the bandwagon. Renewable consumption has been gaining popularity for a while, as people recognize its importance, and many fashion companies want to be a part of this change. In this interview series, we are talking to business leaders in the fashion industry to discuss why they are embracing slow fashion and renewable consumption. As a part of this series, I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Nick Bergmann.
Peace House Studio is a small but mighty design studio in Maine that creates kid’s clothing that is designed to be returned, refreshed, and resold. Peace House Studio’s collection for kids is created from organic cotton, in bright colorful combinations. They are sturdy and made for playing in — handmade in Maine.
What’s unique is that when customers have outgrown or damaged their Peace House Studio pieces, the company buys them back through their Patches Program! Once returned the pre-loved pieces are cleaned, mended and resold — thus creating a cyclical program that reduces the need for raw materials as well as discarded garments.
The company was founded by husband-and-wife team Kate Wiebe Bergmann and Nick Bergmann. The idea for a sustainable line of clothing for the family came to them through the course of raising their 3 young children who seemed to go through clothing very rapidly.
What inspired you to pursue a career in slow fashion, and can you share the story behind your decision?
I don’t believe we had the forethought to say, “let’s create a business in the slow fashion industry.” We started mending our children’s clothing after the birth of our first daughter. Not because we thought they were stylish or had grandiose visions of interrupting fast fashion, but because we had a rescue dog who had a habit of chewing holes in anything with food residue. We patched clothes, bibs, and toys, introducing us to the craftsmanship and beauty of the visible mending aesthetic. When we started Peace House Studio, we wanted to do something different than the status quo; the world didn’t need another brand offering cheap, trendy, “disposable” clothing. Looking at our own children and those of friends and family, we wanted to create clothes for the sustainable shopper who cares about how what we make and buy impacts the planet.
Who is your fashion hero or heroine, and why do they inspire you?
After reading Yovani Choinard’s book “Let My People Go Surfing,” it is difficult to get his vision and leadership out of my mind. He built one of the world’s most successful companies, Patagonia, and never wavered from his mission of treating the environment and employees as partners rather than extractable resources.
What’s the most intriguing or memorable experience you’ve had since starting your career in slow fashion?
Our buy-back program, The Patches Project, has proven to be incredibly popular with the customers who use it, which has led to many funny and memorable interactions. We have had multiple parents strip their Peace House Studio clothing off their children, buy different items utilizing store credit, and dress their children in their new clothes right in front of us. My favorite memory was a little girl who discovered her new pants had pockets. Before her parents could buy them, she had taken off her leggings, slipped on the joggers, and ran around in a circle singing, “look at my pockets, look at my pockets, I can put rocks in them.”
As a successful leader in the industry, which three character traits have been key to your success?
Resilience: Our brand was not built overnight. Almost immediately after launching our business, The COVID pandemic began. COVID lockdowns started a few weeks later and our first fabric shipment was delayed a year. Once we had supplies, we started small at local art walks with a handful of clothing. Kate was 6 months pregnant, and our two older children, ages 3 and 6, sat on our laps. It has taken us years to build a reliable domestic supply chain, cold calling businesses with the hope that suppliers and other companies would take a chance on a two-person startup.
Creativity: The world needs new ideas to evolve past today’s problems. If you look to the past, our distant ancestors found ways to survive under the most extreme circumstances. In Africa, archaeologists have found ostrich eggs with reeds plugging drilled holes buried in what became some of the world’s first reusable water bottles. This practice is estimated to be over 15,000 years old. The idea of sustainability and reuse is not new and has existed throughout human history. Yet there is a need to rediscover that ethos today and transform our society away from hyper-consumption. We need bright, thoughtful people to reinvent wasteful systems and products that we take for granted and are ripe for disruption towards a cleaner future.
Hard work: Building a business isn’t easy. You can be resilient and creative, but without actually putting the hard work in day after day, neither of these will take you very far.
How does your company embody and implement the principles of slow fashion, and what motivated you to adopt this approach?
At Peace House Studio we practice active sustainability. We will buy-back, in the form of in-store credit, any article of clothing we have made, regardless of condition, repair it and resell it. We call this the Patches Project. The clothing enjoys a second life and beyond as a visibly mended and truly unique article of clothing.
What measures does your company take to ensure the sustainability and ethical integrity of your supply chain and production processes?
We made the decision early on to keep our production domestic. I don’t believe it is possible to ensure ethical integrity without doing so, and even then, the realities of the global market dictate that our organic cotton is sourced from India. There is an amount of blind faith in the Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) certification process that we require of our suppliers that we must rely on. We control what we can. Our fabric is milled and dyed in Los Angeles, prints come from a family business in western Massachusetts, and we sew everything in Maine.
Can you tell us about the materials you use in your products and how you ensure they are sourced sustainably?
All of our products are made from 95% organic cotton interlock and 5% spandex. We chose this combination because the inclusion of spandex maintains its shape after years of use allowing for repeated mending. The spandex also enhances the stretch and comfort of our designs, which is incredibly important for parents of fussy children.
Could you share some examples of how your company’s practices have benefited local communities or the environment?
We have not thrown out a single item that has been returned to our buy-back program. There have been multiple returns that we didn’t believe it was possible to mend, but Kate always finds a creative solution. When we do, as seems inevitable, receive something that simply can’t be repaired, we will disassemble and reuse as much of the fabric as we can on other items. This will reduce the waste to an absolute minimum from even the most damaged products. We also save all our scraps from our initial cutting and are developing different products for their usage.
What initiatives are you undertaking to educate consumers about the significance of slow fashion and sustainable consumption?
I think our patched items speak for themselves. They are eye-catching and each piece is unique. When a customer wears our used clothing they become a billboard for the aesthetics of sustainability.
What are three essential things everyone should understand about slow fashion?
You will pay more money upfront, but it will last longer and save money in the long run. If you consider the actual cost of fast fashion, environmentally, socially, and monetarily, fast fashion is more expensive. A shirt that is unwearable after one or a few washings, made by cheap labor under potentially unethical working conditions, will end up in a landfill. The Environmental Protection Agency estimated that, in 2018, 17 million tons of clothing ended up in landfills. Next, you will have to buy another shirt. Repeating this cycle just a few times and very soon you will have spent more money than you would have buying a slow fashion item and supported an environmentally damaging system.
Of course, the consumer also plays a part in maintaining their clothing. Learning how to launder your items correctly is one of the biggest ways to conserve. Wash less, on cold, inside out, is a quick rule of thumb to maintain color and shape for most clothing. Of course, check the labels of both your clothing and detergent, but these rules work for most items.
Slow fashion has attracted companies that engage in greenwashing. Greenwashing happens when a company makes an environmental claim intended to promote a sense of environmental responsibility that is either misleading or doesn’t exist. If you are buying new do your research on a brand. Knowing how and where your clothes were made ensures environmental responsibility. Remember, the most environmentally friendly way to buy clothes is to buy used, the underlying imperative of our Patches Project. We decided to make new clothes because we can maintain Consumer Products Safety Commission(CPSC) compliance and the fact that the children’s clothing market is inundated with such low-quality items that many end up in the landfill without the possibility of being handed down.
What are the “5 Key Elements to Leading a Successful Slow Fashion Brand”? Please provide a story or example for each.
Think differently: When we started our business we went to celebrate the decision at a pizzeria. We eventually discussed our launch with a patron who happened to also be a business owner. After telling him about our brand he said, “you should have started your business ten years ago.” He was correct because being soft and organic is a saturated market and not good enough anymore. It took months of thought before we put the pieces together of a visible-mending-based buy-back program, an idea which now seems incredibly simple. His advice can be extrapolated to all industries because society needs new ideas to fight over-consumption and climate change.
Stick to your morals: We have had advice and multiple offers to shift production overseas to decrease costs, but we have chosen not to do this. The thing we love about our business is that we are now part of a community of vibrant makers and thinkers whose goals are not solely financial gain. These people are trying to make the world a cleaner more equitable place.
Sustainability is more than environmental: Our view of slow fashion and sustainability in general starts with our environmental impact, but it doesn’t end there. We want to live in a community where are neighbors prosper. If our neighbors prosper then our society prospers. If our society prospers then it will be capable of protecting the people and the environment, which then allows our business to prosper.
Asking the question, “why is fast fashion fundamentally successful?” Our answer is that people yearn to be unique. In our business model we create unique items through sustainability rather than chasing microtrends. Our styles are bright and basic because we view them as a canvas. Once they are returned is when we get excited and create unique articles of clothing that allows both us and the next buyer to express their individuality and creativity.
Finally, be consistent. Consistency drives a brand image. Due to consumer demand, we have expanded our size ranges into tweens and adults. We have extended our buy-back program to include these sizes and offer a visible mending service for Peace House clothing people are ready to part with just yet. Slow fashion does not stop when the item leaves the shelf, that is where it begins.
Do you have a favorite quote that has influenced your life?
I don’t have a quote, but a line from a T.S. Eliot Poem has stuck with me since college.
“Do I dare
Disturb the universe? In a minute there is time
For decisions and revisions which a minute will reverse.”
It took a long time, but unlike J. Alfred Prufrock, I dare.
Thank you for sharing these fantastic insights. We appreciate your time and wish you continued success.
About the Interviewer: Dina Aletras boasts over 20 years of expertise in the corporate media industry. She possesses an in-depth understanding of growth, strategy, and leadership, having held significant roles at some of the UK’s largest media organizations. At Reach PLC, the UK’s largest tabloid publisher, she served in various director capacities. Additionally, she held leadership roles at The Independent Magazine Group and DMGT. Her extensive knowledge spans editorial, digital, revenue, sales, and advertising.
Upon relocating to Switzerland, Dina took on the responsibility of managing and promoting the international section of Corriere del Ticino — CdT.ch pioneering the English page “onthespot.” She also was the Co-Editor of Southern Switzerland’s first official Italian and English bilingual magazine.
