Activewear brand makes clothes out of bottles

By

Kate Dingwall

Published
Jan 24, 2017

Girlfriend Collective, a new athleisure brand, is going after millennials with an unusual business strategy. Leveraging sustainable manufacturing and the power of social media to reach millennials, its target consumer, the label has developed an innovative fabric made of recycled water bottles.

The Seattle-based label, founded by Ellie and Quang Dinh, spent nine months formulating a fabric made of 25% recycled water bottles and 75% BPA-free recycled fabrics. The leggings were created with the help of a team of designers who cut their teeth at Acne Studios, Elizabeth and James, Amazon, H&M, and Lululemon.

Girlfriend Collective uses a SA8000 certified factory in Vietnam for all garment manufacturing and fabric production. All employees in all levels of the supply chain are paid fair wages and guaranteed safe working conditions.

Instead of catering the brand towards athletes, the athleisure looks are geared toward the woman who wears leggings outside of the gym as well as in it. To coincide with the brand's launch last May, Girlfriend Collective offered free leggings - save the price of shipping - to anyone who wanted them. This offer is still available to date.The brand figured that instead of spending money on advertising companies, their funds would be better used on spreading the word directly to people who will buy the product.

Each pair of the brand’s signature leggings starts at $58 and tops out at $68.