Today's Guests: Cathy Montgomery of Rooted to Nature in Williamsburg, MI
and Keith Anderson of IBEX Clothing Today's Host: Zach Matheson
November 2007
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ANNOUNCER: Welcome to Rooted to Nature Radio. Today's program is a discussion on Merino wool and the changes in attitudes towards and the applications of wool, a natural fiber clothing. Today's wool is a far cry from the scratchy, itchy material of your grandparents' day. Wool is now soft, machine washable, perfect for all weather applications, naturally antimicrobial and completely environmental friendly. We now join VTalk Radio's, Zach Matheson, and Kathy Montgomery of Rooted to Nature in an open discussion on the exciting aspects of the easily sustainable natural fiber, with Keith Anderson of Ibex Clothing.
ZACH: This is Zach Matheson. I'm on Rooted to Nature Radio. Today we have with us in the studio Keith Anderson from Ibex Clothing and Kathy Montgomery of Rootedtonature.com and the Rooted to Nature store in Elk Rapids, Michigan. Thank you both for coming. It's great to have you here.
KEITH: Thanks.
KATHY: It's good to be here.
ZACH: Great. We're going to get started right away. Keith, could you tell me, tell us about your company, Ibex, and how did Ibex get started?
KEITH: Ibex it's a pretty cool little story. It was actually started by two guys here in Vermont. John Fransell and Peter Halmatag, and the two of them had different paths. John was a commodities trader and Peter was landscape architect by trade, and the one thing that they had in common was they both really liked wool. During the late 80s into the 90s there really wasn't anything that you could find in the outdoor industry that wasn't flees or cortex or some type of synthetic. And they just got fed up with it and they just started playing around with some patterns, some fabrics, and got a couple of things together. I don't know if you'd call them really functional outdoor clothing, what they invented at the time, but you know they were on this tract to develop really wonderful outdoor clothing made of primarily Merino wool, but using other types of wools and developing it for outdoor pursuits without looking like you were just about to go tackle Everest or something like that. So when John and Peter both got together, that was in 1998, just about somewhere right around there. And, like I said, they started playing with just a couple of patterns and a couple of different garments, and today we have well over 100 different garments that we make and we use wools from New Zealand and Australia, to Austria and Italy. We have a really wide variety of products literally that that first garment that they started almost 10 years ago.
ZACH: Fantastic. And I know that John and Peter then saw wool probably as one of the types of fibers that is historically known and used in natural clothing. So, what are some of the differences that people would notice about today's Ibex wool as compared to the wool that they used initially?
KEITH: The wools today and the wools that we use specifically here at Ibex, the thing that's going to make people that remember wool from 20 - 30 years ago is that we're using a really high grade of Merino wool that is none itchy and is machine washable. Those are the two things that really put people off on wool in the first place was that it was heavy and itchy. And then you think about those sweaters that grandma used throw on you during the coldest days of the winter and bad recollections of that type of wool or the old Navy Surplus stuff you'd get and you obviously couldn't machine wash that. But the wools that we use and the wools that are available today out there are soft like cashmere and can be cared for as easily as a cotton t-shirt would be. So I think those are the two biggest differences in what's available today versus what was available in the past.
ZACH: Right, ok, so then is it safe to say then that the Ibex Merino wool is becoming one of the performance fibers of choice for many people who would like to wear these wools as base layers and technical wear like the Ibex jerseys. So, how would you describe the difference in wearing the natural active wear to those who are used to wearing these synthetics?
KEITH: Comparison, we have this saying here is that you're never really gonna get it until you wear it and you put it on. And, once you wear it in an athletic pursuit, or something aerobic, you're going to notice pretty immediately the different in the comfort range that you'll get from Merino wool versus synthetic and the biggest one that most people see right off the bat is they have a greater comfort range with wearing less clothing. Wool has this amazing comfort range that can take you from the cold starts and stops of any athletic pursuit to, you know, the peak performances where you're super sweaty and just, you know, you're clinging on just to get that last mile out. And the ability for wool to keep you comfortable in the entire training session that you're out there for that day or whether you are out for a hike or a bike ride whatever it may be, wool has this huge range of comfort. and the other things that athletes primarily recognize right away and anyone who's traveling or just out there wearing clothes day after day is that Merino wool is naturally antimicrobial. What that means is that you can literally wear your Ibex tshirt for five days straight, you can work out in it, run in it, travel in it and you know, throw it over your chair at the end of the day every day and the next morning pick it up and it's going to smell fresh. It's not going to hold any of those body odors that you typically would with a synthetic. And everyone out there that I know of that's ever worn polypropylene one day after wearing it, it stinks, and it's hard to get that stink out and typically after you know 5, 10, 20 minutes of running that stink comes back. It's just awful. So that's one of the biggest things is the naturally antimicrobial, it's not holding onto human odor, that b.o. And the fact that you have this huge comfort range. It is such a dynamic fabric and lends itself perfectly to activewear or travel wear.
ZACH: Awesome. So that I guess answers the question of why wool makes a great base layer, because basically wool doesn't stink, right?
KEITH: Wool doesn't stink and it keeps moisture off your body. That, there is so many amazing things about wool and properties of wool that I could literally take up this half hour time slot talking just about the benefits of wool, but the reason why wool is so comfortable next to skin is because it keeps the moisture off your skin. If you think about, let's say summertime in Michigan, where you know it's 95 degrees and it's humid. It's like you're swimming through the air, it's so humid out. When you think about 85 degrees and you're in Arizona where you don't have humidity, it's still hot, but you're a lot more comfortable because there is no moisture against your skin. You don't have that humidity in the air. The same way when you're working out. If you're cold and wet, you're going to be even colder. But if you're cold and dry, your body is not fighting as hard trying to keep you warm. I tell people, you know, let's say you are cycling or even running or hiking, and you're going up a big mountain and you're sweating hard, and you get to the top of that peak and the wind kicks up, the sun goes behind a cloud, all of a sudden you're just frigid because you get that chill affect on your skin when the air whips up and starts evaporating that water on your skin. Well, that's a cooling affect and you're getting cold. With wool you don't have that, because you never have a wet layer next to your skin. The wool fiber is always trying keep your body nice and dry next to skin. So that is the biggest reason why wool is so comfortable is that it's creating like this micro-climate around your body and that's the important thing to remember is that wool really does create this micro-climate.
ZACH: Awesome. Well thanks, I'd like to take this time to announce that you're listening to Rooted to Nature Radio sponsored by Rootedtonature.com. We're interviewing today, Keith Anderson, of Ibex, and we also have in the studio, Kathy Montgomery. Alright, Kathy, in the store and online, you're selling the Ibex clothing. What do Rooted to Nature customers like about Merino wool?
KATHY: It's really fun to be in this store and to see the whole range of customers that we have some of whom are just wool addicts. They come in and say, they want to wear wool year around. They're just coming in to find out what's new and to get the latest gear and then we've got the other end of the spectrum where the folks come in and then they're shocked when they pick up a say and Echo T from Ibex and you tell them it's made out of wool, and they can't believe it. Because it's so soft and it's so lightweight and just really an attractive garment. It's not like they have to wear some strange outfit in order to be environmentally friendly or have natural fiber against their skin. These clothes look great and Ibex is one of the companies who just has really hight performance fashion forward, you know, great looking clothing.
ZACH: Yeah, I love the Ibex tshirt. I noticed it's antimicrobial properties for sure.
KATHY: As has your wife for sure.
ZACH: As has your wife, yes. And I think it's fantastic. I also was amazed because I used to do a lot of backpacking when I was a kid, and my mom bought me some wool socks. They were so itchy that although they had those wicking properties, I avoided them. Now, to be going to your store and seeing these items that look great, feel great, and then to know they're made out of wool, it almost throws me a little bit, because they aren't itchy, and they aren't scratchy. And they work great. I mean it's fashion, function, the whole thing.
ZACH: So, that being said, are you seeing people like myself come in? Do you think this is a trend? Is it a fad? Wool's been around for a long time. It's being manufactured different. Where is wool going from here? Keith you can take that if you want.
KEITH: Where is wool going these days?
ZACH: Yeah.
KEITH: I think wools been around for a really long time, so I don't look at it as an emerging trend. I look at it kind of as a re-emerging trend if you will, because it has been around. People have been wearing it forever. And I think the reason resurgence is really people wanting to wear natural fibers and getting back into natural clothing. And, obviously, there's reasons why Rooted to Nature are popping up, because there is a demand for it, and people are very educated and very conscious about what they're putting on their bodies and putting next to their bodies. So where is wool going next? I think we're going to see more, we're always pushing the limits here on what we can do with it, and whether it's hybrids or different cuts or mixing it with different fibers. You know, we're going to keep doing that. Right now things that we're working on are seamless underwear for women. That should be a first. Well it is a first in the wool industry. Noone else has done that before. And we're going to continue to push things such as wool tshirts in the summertime. It's a crazy thought, but people are getting there and people understand it and it is comfortable. I think that's what you're going to see from us is really a refinement of styles and colors and we're always going to continue to experiment with maybe some wool blends whether it's wool and hemp, or wool and coconut or bamboo, or whatever it is. You know we're out there looking for new fabrics and we're looking to make new fabrics all the time.
ZACH: Ok, great, and then I'm going to do a follow-up with Kathy, here. So, Kathy knowing all those things about what Keith just said about where wools going and manufacturing and stuff, where are your clients buying? What do you see in your clients that come to the store? What do they like?
KATHY: We have a full range of different kinds of folks who come into the store I'd say one thing that a lot of people have as a foundation for living in the great north Michigan lake country is the love for the environment. So they like the idea of wearing clothes that are in tune with their environmental values and getting away from fossil fuel based polyester for health reasons, for environmental reasons. It just makes for a real coherence in the way they think about things, and right now, we're finding a lot of folks coming in and looking for eco friendly gifts for the holidays.
ZACH: I know that up north in Michigan, here, we just had the iceman bike tour. And I know that some of them wore popular items, especially that I see in Rooted to Nature's store are the Ibex bike jerseys. I think those look great, and I'm wondering from Ibex then, from you Keith, I know that you're a Vermont based company, are your products most often made in Vermont in the U.S.A., talk to me a little bit about that.
KEITH: No. We used to, back when we first started out, we had a few products made here, and there really has never been a large garment industry in Vermont, but our production numbers got too big where we could hold onto the factory that we were working with here. So for us, we work with factories that we have good relationships with, and we have factories all around the country. We are very lucky to have about 70% of our production still made here in the United States and primarily it's around the bay area. Oakland, San Francisco to name a couple of cities specifically and we have some in southern California, up in Washington. But for us it's a great luxury and gives us great flexibility being a small company to have production based here in the United States, and we do have some stuff made over seas. For us the important thing is the factories are clean, good working conditions, that they're treating their employees well. You know, we're not working with factories that have questionable paths. We are working with very highly regarded factories. Whether they are hear in the United States or over seas, the fact is we're working with quality companies and that's the important thing for us.
ZACH: Great, Keith, I just have one last question for you, and I'll follow it up with a question for Kathy. If there was a couple of things you could say about Ibex's eco friendly stance, and their sustainable stance when it comes to their wool products, just touch on a couple of points you would like people to know about if they're thinking about when they look at an Ibex jersey as opposed to a polyester jersey or one of these spandex ones. When you look at them, what's the eco friendliness and sustainability of the wool product as opposed to, maybe some of your competitors' products?
KEITH: Well, I don't want to say anything bad about my competitors, because they produce some really nice products out there as well, but to speak specifically about wool and the eco friendliness of wool is something I love talking about. Wool is well it's a natural resource literally. It's grown and harvested every year like corn or vegetables or apples. It is a natural produced fiber and the farms we work with down in New Zealand, there's just wonderful sheep stations down there and we have direct contracts with the farmers and the ranchers down there that are growing these sheep for us, and these contracts are in place, not only to give price stability to us and to the farmers, but also it sets out certain growing requirements that we want, and that is, obviously we're getting consistent, beautiful fiber year after year, but also that they're making sure that they're taking care of the animals and when I'm talking animals, it's not only the sheep that we're concerned about, but also the working dogs, because these are large ranches, you know, 40000 - 60000 acres or more that these, the dogs and the sheep are running all over the place and they have to get them from the high grounds down to the low grounds. So the things we put in place are animal welfare, price stability such as long term contracts for price so they can plan their years. These farmers and ranchers, they are unbelievable stewards of the land, and they have well maintained machinery, not only their work trucks, but the clippers, everything down in the yard. So, these contracts that we put in place and we work with an outside agency that verifies all this called ZQue, and they set the standards and they make sure these growers are abiding by them. So for us, wool is a wonderful natural resource because it has the beautiful, romantic story. You think about New Zealand and you don't think of this urban poluted wasteland industrial sprawl. You think of loard of the rings and gorgious lush green coutry side where it's raised. Wool is naturally biodegradable. When you're done with it, you can throw it in the land fill and it will biodegrade just like human hair would, because they are eseentially the same thing. They are made out of protein and karotin. And we're always striving to do better. Whether it's making sure that we have less of a footprint on the energy we consume and make in these in these textitles, or by looking at better ways that we can improve the efficiency of manufacturing.
ZACH: That's great. You know I guess I hadn't thought about that. The idea that you have to think about the working dogs too on the wool farm is sort of any interesting idea to think about. Ok, the last question will go to Kathy, here, and the question I want to ask you, Kathy, is is that if there was one thing that you would want your clients to know or maybe a couple of things that you would want your clients to know when they come in to the Rooted to Nature store or they step into Rooted to Nature's online exerience and they're looking amoung all of your other vendors as well, what can they expect from the Rooted to Nature experience? I mean, we've talked about IBexs today, but IBex is one of many vendors, and I think the ideas that IBex brings or the ideas that you want to have your customers realize when they come into your property, just touch on what Rooted to Nature means and you know what a customer can expect when they start to do business with you.
KATHY: Well, we have almost 30 vendors that we're buying products from. Ibex is definitely one of our really high quality wool vendors, but we have all sorts of products, and I think what distinguishes our store is that when you walk into the store, you don't have to read the labels. Most of our customers are label reading people. They're probably the same people who go into the grocery store and read the labels on the grocery store, but they can trust that what we have are natural products if they're looking to wear nature next to them on their skin. And to do good things for the environment whether it's their own personal environment or for the good of the planet, that they can trust that when they come into our store they'll find a variety of products and whether its organic cotten, wool, bamboo, hemp, whatever, silk that they can trust that whatever we're selling is something that will fit their criteria.
ZACH: Great, so trust ecofriendliness, sustainability, and organic. Keith Anderson from Ibex, thank you so much for your time today.
KEITH: Thank you, it was a pleasure.
ZACH: Kathy Montgomery from Rootedtonature.com thank you so much for your time today.
KATHY: You're welcome.
ZACH: We appreciate you all for listening and tune in to Rooted to Nature Radio, thank you so much and have a great day.
ANNOUNCER: This program was sponsored by Rooted to Nature . Committed to providing natural and organic fiber clothing apparel for sustainable lifestyle. Visit them on the web at www.rootedtonature.com. And also by the fine folks of Ibex Clothing www.ibex.com. Thanks for joining us on Rooted to Nature Radio.
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