Soul Economy

Soul Economy had the pleasure of asking soulful entrepreneur, Kelli, from Pure Pod about their organic and sustainable clothing range. After 20 years in the clothing industry, she followed her passion for the environment and nature and integrated this with her design experience.

1. What inspired you to start Pure Pod? What were you doing before this?
I have always been environmentally aware and loved nature. I studied Fashion design in Canberra in the late 80’s and have always wanted to make an eco range but the time was not right back then. I always had an inner struggle between fashion and nature. The industry did not have the quality of textiles there are available today. With consumer demand and designers, like ourselves questioning the way products are made and how they are manufactured , we have increased the different kinds of textiles we can purchase. The industry is still new and evolving, so consumer demand and knowledge will make it grow even more and give us all a better understanding of where our garments are made and how the fibres are grown. Manufacturers are still developing better ways to grow and make their products, it does not happen over night and will not change unless people want it and want to pay for it.

I have worked in the clothing industry for nearly 20 years, makes me sound old but wiser. I worked in the mass production side of the industry designing for the big department stores in OZ and NZ. I designed mostly kids wear through my career. I then started my own design studio which I ran for about 6 – 7 years in Melbourne. In this studio we designed whole ranges for clients from the initial product through to a finished garment for production. We designed textile art, embroidery designs, story boards etc all with computer aided design packages. In our studio we were able to design for every area of the industry from women’s, to sports, mens, babies, kids etc. It was a fast and very demanding job. I became very burnt out and started looking for a new way of expressing myself creatively and for my health. I found yoga.

My partner and I moved to the Northern Rivers area near Byron Bay and lived on a macadamia farm. I studied to become a yoga and pilates teacher. It was fantastic and I un-knotted my tired fashion body Living up here gave me room to breath and inspire my creative passions again. I taught yoga and started to think of what I could do with the rest of my time. I needed other work and got a job at the local hospital as a tea lady. This gave me a realisation that I had to return to my roots and where my passion lay. I was awakened with a new lease on life by watching very sick people in hospital and I realised I did not want to regret not doing what I had always wanted to do.

I found a fabric company who sold ethical and organic fabrics – bamboo, soya bean, organic cotton, hemp etc. They sounded so good you could eat them. I spent almost the last of my savings on the fabric and started to design. I was so petrified when I first picked up a pencil to draw I couldn’t think of anything. I had designed so easily and under such a huge demand for people in Melbourne, it seemed ridiculous that I could not design for myself. It meant so much to me that I just froze.

So Pure Pod began. We have been growing ever since with a fantastic response to our collection. It is still a huge learning curve for us and for any manufacturer involved in this new part of the industry.

2. What is the philosophy behind the company? Tell us about the Pure Pod product range.
Pure Pod collection is a Life Style range. We do not follow fast fashion as this causes more wastage and pollution. We design our ranges to minimise the amount of clothing a person needs by being able to buy another product to go with their existing products they have in their wardrobe and they do not have to change their whole wardrobe each season. We also encourage people to buy retro and second hand clothing to be worn with our gear. This stops more pollution caused from our industry.

We manufacture our products with a very high quality using Aussie factories. Some of our fabrics – organic cotton is made in Australia. The rest of our fabrics are either organic or sustainable.

Our range is relaxing to wear, soft, comfortable and easy. No fuss! Pieces are designed to be worn in lots of layers. We don’t design big ranges for each season.

3. What have been your greatest challenges in setting up Pure Pod?
Our greatest challenges have been sourcing the fabric, cash flow and making sure our products are as eco friendly as we can commercially do. We can always do better with this and we are always looking for other suppliers and manufacturers who are on the same path as us. We have placed ourselves in a middle market, not too extreme eco organic but not fast fashion either. We try to minimise as much wastage as we can in our whole process – from the fabrics we use, to recycling our fabric scraps, green power, paper and packaging, printing, to riding our bikes to work or walking, to constantly finding companies who are striving for less pollution in manufacturing and growing their fibres.

We constantly have questions from people about how our products are made, grown and produced. We can only use what is available in the industry and what is commercially viable. If we were doing a normal range without sustainable textiles it would be much easier as we would not be as scrutinised as we are now. We are proud to say we are part of the small amount of pioneers in OZ starting to create a demand by educating the consumer about our industry. We can say we have helped change the way we run our business and manufacturing by at least 60% to be more ethical and eco friendly, more than you can say about normal main stream fashion. The most important thing for us is not the bottom dollar but the earth. Of course we have to run our business and make it viable which is hard in a small market but we are dedicated and passionate about what we are doing and there is no regrets. We can only keep questioning our manufacturers too.

We are just about to get our Sweat Shop free label. We like happy manufacturers, makes our clothing even better.

4. What have been your greatest successes?
Our greatest successes are starting Pure Pod, putting all the fear behind us and just doing it. There has been many a baked beans and home grown veggie night for dinner. We have sacrificed a lot for Pure Pod in our personal life but it is all worth it. We love it. When we receive word back from our stockists or the public of encouragement and thanks it makes all the hard work feel fantastic and that we are not alone in this idea to create a healthier life and earth. It is not an easy road to manufacture in Australia or to make an eco range, there is always something we can do better, greener and more ethical.

5. It is great that you offer ethical clothing for the design loving conscious consumer, how do you ensure that the fabrics you select are “really” eco-friendly and sustainable?
We only use certified fabrics or sustainable fabrics which have less of a foot print on the earth. This is such a new industry in textile manufacturing. With education to the public and demand the manufacturers will put more money into developing greener textiles and production. We could use non-dyed fabric but chose to use they dyed fabrics as it is more economically viable and we attract a bigger audience. Pure Pod is worn by people who are very eco conscious and people who normally wouldn’t even consider the environment when they purchase goods. In this way we are helping to create an awareness and education of buying products in any area.

We are always looking at new fabric suppliers and the quality is getting more green and better. If people choose to be greener they can wear second hand clothing or garments which haven’t been dyed. The choice is now available for all kinds of consumers.

We try to minimise our trims on the garments. Most trims are made from plastics. This is an area I have tried to get more info but it has not impacted the manufacturers yet. I’m sure my trims supplier thinks I’m crazy but every part of a garment causes pollution with wastage, dying etc. We have a lot of coconut and rubber on our products.

6. Where can your clothing range be purchased?
Our clothing range can be purchased for stockists all around the country. Please visit our web site. We will send details of your closet stockist. Some sell on line or you can visit our studio in 38 Gordon St Mullumbimby NSW.

Now we here at Soul Economy like to get to know our soulful entrepreneurs a little better, so on a more personal note we have 5 quick questions:

1. What is your favourite food?
My favourite food would have to be vegetables and fruit. Watermelon was my latest favourite. I also change my favourite foods. Another one of my favourite at the moment would be this great seeded gluten free bread with honey. Can’t get enough!

2. Who would be your dream real-life neighbour?
My dream neighbour would be David Suzuki. He would be amazing to live next door to.

3. If you customised your own license plate, what would it say and why?
I’m not into license plates but if I had to it would be Pure Pod maybe??

4. What do you do to relax?
To relax I lie in the sun on the back porch and read, go bush walking or on the beach, yoga and hanging out with my partner and friends.

5. What single issue would you change to make the world a better place?
Less plastic manufacturing on packaging, no plastic bags, anything to do with plastic really. Make people more aware of what they are buying with plastic and packaging and what happens to it when it leaves your homes and work. It is a huge issue for marine life and polluting our environment. We need to change our ways of purchasing too much STUFF that we just don’t need !!!!!

Our earth is not ours to keep but it is borrowed from the next generation. I want to know my kids will have a clean world to live in without the fear of pollution and loss of habitat and species.

Pure Pod
38 Gordon Street
Mullumbimby NSW 2482 Australia
P: (02) 6684 4450
M: +61 (0)410 407 458
E: kellie@podproductions.com.au
W: www.purepod.com.au

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