Our Year in Review: 2019
As we are getting ready for 2020, we are looking back and reflecting on everything we have been in 2019. From being part of the IMPAQTO Lab Accelerator program to launching our new image and product line at B8ta’a new concept store in LA, Forum; it has been a wild ride. Throughout 2019 we have really grown as a company as we strive to get better at what we do. Here’s a little bit of what 2019 looked like for us.
We began the year with the launch of our online store, where we made our first sales outside of Kickstarter. Around April we received the invitation to join IMPAQTO Lab, an accelerator program for startups with an economic, environmental or social impact in Ecuador. During our six months in the program, we learned how to correctly measure our impact and improved our business model and operations.
The program led us to question ourselves if we were living up to our sustainability goals and if there was something we could do better. Towards the middle of the program everything changed for us, we realized there was a lot we could still improve so we decided to go back to the drawing board and give our brand a new image and improve our initial product with tougher sustainability goals in mind.
As you know by now Remu Apparel went through a rebranding process during the year. This change was triggered when we decided to establish tougher sustainability goals for our company as we felt we needed to take responsibility and stand behind our real purpose. We also felt as if our logo no longer represented our company, it was more representative of the initial idea of the company which is not a reality anymore. We partnered up with Luna Lunares, an independent design studio in Ecuador. After around 5 months of intense work and collaboration, we had a new image for Remu Apparel.
While we were working on our new image we simultaneously began to develop our latest line of products, the same concept that was behind our original collection but using more sustainable & organic materials. We worked together with other Ecuadorian companies such as Andes Materials, Hilana & Kun Eco Fibers. The collection launched on November 15th at Forum concept store in LA and went live on our website. Late in December, we were invited to be part of a small Forum pop-up at b8ta’s Palo Alto store.
We’re staying true to our commitment to ethical and sustainable manufacturing. It is just fair for you to know exactly where your Remu Apparel garments are coming from and who is manufacturing them, that is why we are constantly working to keep our supply chain as transparent as possible. Transparency for us is essential for accountability.
2019 Recap
Since we launched Remu Apparel we have:
- Economically empowered 5 Ecuadorian families.
- Participated in the IMPAQTO Lab Accelerator program.
- Partnered with b8ta to launch their new pop-up concept store in LA, Forum.
- Sold our products in over 37 countries!
- Given a new life to 2,033 send hand jeans
- Repurposed 1,514 pounds of textiles saving them from landfills.
- Avoided the waste of about 3,360,000 gallons of water.
- Launched a successful Kickstarter campaign with over 400% of our goal raised!
