This Sweatshirt Will Last 30 Years! Guaranteed!

There is something particularly comfy about that old sweatshirt that you have loved and have also "lived-in" on the weekends, rainy nights, and cool summer evenings.  Years ago, sweatshirts lasted a long time.  They were made of quality materials, impeccably stitched, and they felt --- oh so good against your skin. Fast forward to today, when most sweatshirts are made of synthetic blends that have a poor texture against the skin, pill and fray easily.  There is no emphasis on quality during production so the stitching falls apart and the garment does not handle well in the wash. 


U.K. designer Tom Cridland felt something needed to be done to make a better sweatshirt.  "The 30 Year Sweatshirt is our bona fide sustainable fashion campaign. The reason why we chose a sweatshirt as the garment to guarantee for three decades is because we obviously had to consider what sort of clothing people would actually want to hang onto for that long. A sweatshirt is timeless and is the cornerstone of many people’s casual wardrobe,” Kirkland told Forbes Magazine.  His sustainable fashion company started with $9,000 in 2013 and in 2015 had over $1 million of sales. 





                             
                                             
                                              Tom Cridland, Sustainable Fashion Designer





Cridland's company is focused on high quality fabric and production.   The fabric for his sweatshirt is made with 360-grams-per-meter organic cotton blended with a small percentage of polyester to decrease the stiffness of cotton, increase comfort and reduce shrinkage. The sweatshirts, handmade, are double stitched to hold up to wear and tear. 




 
                              


                                                                   The 30 Year Sweatshirt




“I started with pants and chinos, which I wanted to be our signature to begin with, and then I launched The 30 Year Sweatshirt as our second product.” Cridland's emphasis on quality is why his line, which is worn by celebrities across the world, only has three products --- chinos, sweatshirts and tee shirts.  "I didn’t want to rush into creating a full collection. Instead, every single product, no matter how simple, should be developed as meticulously as a full collection normally would be. Importantly, we have always shipped all over the world, as I wanted Tom Cridland to be a truly international brand.”


Cridland want to challenge other fashion designers to help end the vicious cycle of consumption and waste in fashion.  "Many big fashion brands make their clothing knowing that it will fall apart, so that their customers will have to return to buy more. It’s called built-in obsolescence, and it creates a cycle of consumption and waste that’s become all too common these days," says Cridland.  "This status quo has to change. It's time to return to that bygone era where clothing was made so beautifully it could last a lifetime."


The sweatshirt comes in 9 different colors.  In addition, if the sweatshirt becomes damaged, the company will repair or replace it free.  The sweatshirt costs $95.  Cridland is based in the U.K. and recently launched in Los Angeles.