Seattle-based Merino wool firm launches plastic-free outside gear

An expensive pair of underwear is responsible for the birth of Seattle-based merino wool company Woolly, which was co-founded by three outdoor friends in 2013.

When avid skiers James Kelly and Mike Kudriavtseff each received a pair of merino wool underwear for Christmas for a year, they were instantly impressed with the fabric, but not so much with the $ 75 price tag.

At the time, Kelly was working in the third-party sales group for Amazon and was always looking for a side business, as is common with his colleagues.

When Kelly and Kudriavtseff received this fateful pair of underwear, he finally had his idea.

With a background in helping companies get Amazon up and running, Kelly had a deep understanding of product fulfillment and listing. He gathered Kudriavtseff and another friend, Chris LaPlante, to start the company.

The team just had to figure out how the clothing should actually be designed.

Woolly started with just one pair of men’s boxer shorts and has since grown into a line of merino clothing for men and women that is available at affordable prices.

How exactly does Woolly keep costs so low compared to other merino wool brands?

“It’s a super simple answer,” said Kelly. “The easiest thing you can do is cut out the manifold.”

By eliminating the distributor, the company can reduce costs by around 2.5 percent. Woolly is only available on its own website and on Amazon. There are no plans to open a store or sell in retail stores.

“Our whole ethos is to keep it small and slim,” said Kelly. “We’re growing at a modest rate that we’re happy with.”

The reluctant company, whose size has only recently doubled to a total of six employees, uses Kickstarter to finance new products. This allows them to keep costs down, which has enabled the team to invest in research and development for innovative products that use merino wool technology and minimize environmental impact.

The company is currently in the third Kickstarter campaign with the NatureDry LOFT puffy jacket, a light, weatherproof jacket with 100% Merino LOFT insulation, “the sustainable alternative to nylon, polyester and synthetic filling”.

The first Kickstarter-funded product was the men’s long haul chino-style trousers, which grossed $ 233,000 in 2018. In 2020, the team launched the NatureDry jacket, a natural all-weather coat that grossed over $ 400,000. The jacket is biodegradable, doesn’t pollute the plastic, and works just as well as any other performance brand without the chemicals.

The NatureDry LOFT Puffy campaign runs through May 9 and has raised nearly $ 300,000 to date. It was fully funded within 15 minutes of launch.

The founders recognized the versatility of merino wool and began to research different weaving processes to make more technical equipment like waterproof jackets.

“It’s actually better than plastic as a breathable layer,” said Kelly. “It’s not just a great technical layer, it’s better for everything. You can wear it on the way to work at the bar. We’re taking it to areas where it’s never been used to make technical products before. “

Woolly is committed to encouraging people to ditch synthetic outerwear made of plastic and instead go for high-performance, natural merino wool. The company is working on other groundbreaking merino wool ideas that go beyond clothing, including shoes, backpacks and luggage.

“There is awareness of single-use plastics in food, but there are also all those places that you don’t think about, like backpacks, shoes and coats,” said Kelly. “All of this stuff doesn’t have to be plastic, and your backpack doesn’t have to be one of them, so let’s do better.”

Woolly strives to be a zero waste business. Clothing that is not sold on Amazon is liquidated through creative actions. Anything else they can’t sell is donated through a nonprofit called Recovery Cafe to people struggling with homelessness, mental health issues, and addictions.

“Most clothing companies throw 15% of their products away. We want to run a business that really sells what it does, “said Kelly.” Whatever we can’t sell can benefit your community. There is always someone who can use it. “