Author:Jourdan AshUpdated:Dec 17, 2019Original:Dec 17, 2019In 2019, a whole slew of brands that had never demonstrated much prior interest in sustainability suddenly launched campaigns aimed at convincing customers that they were the most eco-friendly choice out there. Executives who had previously focused solely on their bottom line gave quotes to reporters about zero-waste ambitions and fast fashion brands claimed that sustainability was at the heart of their company vision.
In Babenzien's mind, fixing fashion's ills has less to do with shutting the whole industry down than it does with changing the paradigm of how businesses are run. Babenzien: My boss from back then was just so ahead of the curve. He'd send emails to Quicksilver and all these surf brands saying, 'What are you guys doing? These are terrible choices. And as surfers, guys who care about the environment, you should know this.'
What people call 'streetwear' — I don't really think of it like that because I came in prior to that term ever existing. With the early days of Supreme, nobody ever used the word. It was just clothes and a skate shop. Once the term "streetwear" came into play, that's when I turned off. It went against the entire ethos of youth. The youth were supposed to be rebellious and the ones calling out things about consumerism and what's wrong with the world.
Babenzien: We do get lumped into this conversation about streetwear and it's incredibly limiting. We have friends who are farmers, fishermen, surfers and runners and they like to wear Noah. So we wanted to show people it's not really "fashion." We want people to have a broader scope.