A rag-tag rebellion in the rag trade
Words: Carolyn Enting
Photography:
Thread Project are in the business of T-shirts and giving the power back to the people. Not in Robin Hood style. It's more of a David and Goliath scenario, where the little guy is taking on the big boys, and one that had bankers and lawyers doing a whole lot of head-scratching as they worked out the details.
Because, usually, the founders of a profitable company get to hold onto the biggest chunk of the profits, whereas as Thread Project grows, the majority of profits go back to the printers and embroiderers branding your uniforms and merch, and doing the mahi.
However, it isn't as madcap as it sounds. The new business model that they have developed is fairer and better for everyone, including the end consumer who, at the end of the day, gets a better product. Thread Project intend to go global with their wholesale operation of blank T-shirts, hoodies and bags from their warehouse in Eden Terrace.
Founders Scott Kington, Mike Mossman, Josh Page and David Haythornthwaite call it "a rag-tag rebellion in the rag-trade" and it came together around a conversation about umbrellas. Scott was one of the original co-founders of BLUNT, Josh was BLUNT's global brand manager and Mike from Colour Evolution still prints BLUNT umbrellas in Eden Terrace. Scott had been approached with a new umbrella prototype. Did they want to go there? No, but Mike had another idea... Discussion turned to the challenges and frustrations that decorators had when working with substandard products, the risks associated and low returns for the decorators - screen printing and embroidering for brands who buy their T-shirts from wholesalers. "Realistically, the decorators are the ones doing the work, taking the most risk and missing out on the better profits that are in the wholesale side of the business," says Scott.
As one of New Zealand's leading decorators, Mike knows this intimately. Before meeting up with the guys at Thread Project, he gives me a tour of Colour Evolution next door where they screenprint T-shirts, hats, tote bags, umbrellas, sweatshirts, sports gear, wooden wine boxes and merch. They can watermark on fabric, etch into fleece, reverse appliqué, embroider, badge, digital transfer and heat press. In the short time that I'm there, I watch a textile laser burn a pattern into a towel, see the circular umbrella machine get set up for a run, and marvel at the embroidery of a beautiful NZ designer brand T-shirt. Each tee has 34,000 stitches and must be hooped before being embroidered, then trimmed and steamed. Mike's right. "People don't realise how much labour and time goes into making a T-shirt."
Around the country, decorators have been struggling to perform work on often substandard stock. Common issues include impractical cuts, poor quality fabrics that overly stretch, shrink, dye migration, fading or getting holes. When things go wrong the onus is on the decorator to fix it, which didn't seem fair. "It always falls on the decorator, yet they're the ones with the tightest margins. We thought we could change the business model and make better garments because we are all at the bleeding edge even with the leading so- called brands," says Mike. "It's about less waste, less frustration and way more quality."
Fit and cut is also important. "You don't want the front so low that you're printing on the gut," says Mike. "We have decades of experience and customer feedback to fit and comfort, longevity and practicality, and printers understand the fabric finish is critical to award-winning printing and quality, so we are creating garments that are designed by decorators for decorating."
This is why Thread Project is set up as a semi co-op styled company, where certified decorators can also invest as share- holders, and even if not a shareholder, they will still share in 40 percent of the profits back in the form of rebates.
"It's a really unique business model, which is much fairer," says Scott. "It hasn't really been done before, so it's hard for people to get their head around. Our whole DNA is: we are a collective group of smaller players, even to the point where our shareholding doesn't let any one person take any control.
"Even a one-man band operator can invest at a small level and get a percentage of the profits based on their investment, and that makes a big difference for these small companies."
Thread Project has created a range of versatile classics - T-shirts, singlets and hoodies, and tote bags. Decorator-friendly improvements they've introduced include: T-shirts with higher thread counts, stronger tensile strength yarns, improved colour fastness, fusing in collars to hold their shape, reinforced box stitching on bag handles, products with optimised print surfaces, double-sided labels that make sizing easier to sort, removable labels that won't scratch your neck, and sizing that goes up to a 9XL. They've also introduced a more modest woman's V-neck and longer sleeves, as opposed to cap sleeves. "We are building this for everybody," says Mike. "We're not copying anyone; we've actually improved it and are making it better and selling for the same price."
Thread Project travels to and audits the factories directly, including a top-tier factory in Bangladesh that produces its T-shirts and hoodies. Its eco Earthbags are produced by a six-star, gold-rated factory in India whose social policies include pay equity, and are made from locally-grown jute and recycled cotton, and some premium cottons that provide a much finer weave and better printable surface. But the hero aspect is the sewing strength, and every bag is built stronger in the handles.
Clients wearing Thread Project now include many leading brands. At this year's Pride In Print Awards more than half the entries were on Thread Project garments and half of the gold medals won in textile printing were Thread Project. So far, no company has switched to Thread Project and then switched back, so if you think you are a T-shirt aficionado, drop in and see them and compare and feel the fabric side-by-side against any shirt. That's Thread Project's challenge to all in the neighbourhood, and around the country. At the time this went to press, Thread Project already had 100 decorators onboard throughout Aotearoa. People can also buy direct online as a consumer, and there are volume discounts.
The company has gone for a scale that most startups wouldn't go for from day one, but because Thread Project's shareholders are also its customers, everyone is invested in making it happen.
Because, usually, the founders of a profitable company get to hold onto the biggest chunk of the profits, whereas as Thread Project grows, the majority of profits go back to the printers and embroiderers branding your uniforms and merch, and doing the mahi.
However, it isn't as madcap as it sounds. The new business model that they have developed is fairer and better for everyone, including the end consumer who, at the end of the day, gets a better product. Thread Project intend to go global with their wholesale operation of blank T-shirts, hoodies and bags from their warehouse in Eden Terrace.
Founders Scott Kington, Mike Mossman, Josh Page and David Haythornthwaite call it "a rag-tag rebellion in the rag-trade" and it came together around a conversation about umbrellas. Scott was one of the original co-founders of BLUNT, Josh was BLUNT's global brand manager and Mike from Colour Evolution still prints BLUNT umbrellas in Eden Terrace. Scott had been approached with a new umbrella prototype. Did they want to go there? No, but Mike had another idea... Discussion turned to the challenges and frustrations that decorators had when working with substandard products, the risks associated and low returns for the decorators - screen printing and embroidering for brands who buy their T-shirts from wholesalers. "Realistically, the decorators are the ones doing the work, taking the most risk and missing out on the better profits that are in the wholesale side of the business," says Scott.
As one of New Zealand's leading decorators, Mike knows this intimately. Before meeting up with the guys at Thread Project, he gives me a tour of Colour Evolution next door where they screenprint T-shirts, hats, tote bags, umbrellas, sweatshirts, sports gear, wooden wine boxes and merch. They can watermark on fabric, etch into fleece, reverse appliqué, embroider, badge, digital transfer and heat press. In the short time that I'm there, I watch a textile laser burn a pattern into a towel, see the circular umbrella machine get set up for a run, and marvel at the embroidery of a beautiful NZ designer brand T-shirt. Each tee has 34,000 stitches and must be hooped before being embroidered, then trimmed and steamed. Mike's right. "People don't realise how much labour and time goes into making a T-shirt."
Around the country, decorators have been struggling to perform work on often substandard stock. Common issues include impractical cuts, poor quality fabrics that overly stretch, shrink, dye migration, fading or getting holes. When things go wrong the onus is on the decorator to fix it, which didn't seem fair. "It always falls on the decorator, yet they're the ones with the tightest margins. We thought we could change the business model and make better garments because we are all at the bleeding edge even with the leading so- called brands," says Mike. "It's about less waste, less frustration and way more quality."
Fit and cut is also important. "You don't want the front so low that you're printing on the gut," says Mike. "We have decades of experience and customer feedback to fit and comfort, longevity and practicality, and printers understand the fabric finish is critical to award-winning printing and quality, so we are creating garments that are designed by decorators for decorating."
This is why Thread Project is set up as a semi co-op styled company, where certified decorators can also invest as share- holders, and even if not a shareholder, they will still share in 40 percent of the profits back in the form of rebates.
"It's a really unique business model, which is much fairer," says Scott. "It hasn't really been done before, so it's hard for people to get their head around. Our whole DNA is: we are a collective group of smaller players, even to the point where our shareholding doesn't let any one person take any control.
"Even a one-man band operator can invest at a small level and get a percentage of the profits based on their investment, and that makes a big difference for these small companies."
Thread Project has created a range of versatile classics - T-shirts, singlets and hoodies, and tote bags. Decorator-friendly improvements they've introduced include: T-shirts with higher thread counts, stronger tensile strength yarns, improved colour fastness, fusing in collars to hold their shape, reinforced box stitching on bag handles, products with optimised print surfaces, double-sided labels that make sizing easier to sort, removable labels that won't scratch your neck, and sizing that goes up to a 9XL. They've also introduced a more modest woman's V-neck and longer sleeves, as opposed to cap sleeves. "We are building this for everybody," says Mike. "We're not copying anyone; we've actually improved it and are making it better and selling for the same price."
Thread Project travels to and audits the factories directly, including a top-tier factory in Bangladesh that produces its T-shirts and hoodies. Its eco Earthbags are produced by a six-star, gold-rated factory in India whose social policies include pay equity, and are made from locally-grown jute and recycled cotton, and some premium cottons that provide a much finer weave and better printable surface. But the hero aspect is the sewing strength, and every bag is built stronger in the handles.
Clients wearing Thread Project now include many leading brands. At this year's Pride In Print Awards more than half the entries were on Thread Project garments and half of the gold medals won in textile printing were Thread Project. So far, no company has switched to Thread Project and then switched back, so if you think you are a T-shirt aficionado, drop in and see them and compare and feel the fabric side-by-side against any shirt. That's Thread Project's challenge to all in the neighbourhood, and around the country. At the time this went to press, Thread Project already had 100 decorators onboard throughout Aotearoa. People can also buy direct online as a consumer, and there are volume discounts.
The company has gone for a scale that most startups wouldn't go for from day one, but because Thread Project's shareholders are also its customers, everyone is invested in making it happen.