Looptworks rethinks textile industry

Looptworks downcycles textiles.

We know, we know: The last thing the world needs is another t-shirt maker, right? Looptworks, a new Portland-based apparel company that makes clothing made of pre-consumer waste, is doing more than making and selling t-shirts, according to its founders. It’s trying to raise awareness about a huge issue that rarely crosses the minds of consumers.

“We’re a blip on radar as far as this problem,” says Scott Hamlin, a founding partner of Looptworks.

Hamlin and his partners Gary Peck and Jim Stutts, long-time apparel industry veterans, have seen firsthand the impact of the fashion industry on developing nations’ water supplies, air quality and traditions.

“Every week, one factory disposes of about 60,000 pounds of textile waste,” Hamlin says. Sometimes that waste is trucked to landfills; other times it’s incinerated; and sometimes it’s dropped off in villages, impacting people’s long-standing textile traditions, according to Hamlin.

He’s quick to point out that the materials Looptworks is recovering from textile factories are high-quality and include organic cotton, wool, recycled polyester and more. “A lot of companies are in true good form pushing organic cotton and wool, but even those materials have a huge resource requirement.” He notes that it takes 400 gallons of water to make one organic t-shirt.

Trying to run a business only using what already exists is a difficult take and one that’s difficult to live up to, he says. Right now, the privately funded company is working with about five factories to make a limited supply of jackets, hoodies, skirts, shirts and t-shirts that are currently sold only through its Web-based store. Each gets a hand-stitched tag that denotes its unique batch.

How is the company taking responsibility for the end of life of its products? “First of all, we build things to last. We double- or triple-needle stitch them,” Hamlin says. The company is working to institute a return program in which “mindful consumers” get credit toward new products when they return worn garments. Textile waste could go to create carpets, insulation and other products. “Lots of things can be done from a down-cycling perspective,” he says.