Soft isn't always kind
It’s not about being perfect — it’s about being thoughtful. Nature already gave us wool, hemp and cotton. Warmth without the waste.
THE PROBLEM ISN’T WARMTH — IT’S WHAT IT’S MADE OF.
Most fleece jackets start with good intentions. Comfort, warmth and ease but nearly all of them are spun from plastic. Every wash releases microfibres into our oceans, every wear sheds more into the air. What feels soft on skin ends up rough on the planet.
Natural warmth doesn’t need plastic. Wool, hemp and organic cotton keep you warm without leaving a trace. They breathe, they last and when their time’s up, they return to the earth not into the sea.
''What feels soft on skin ends up rough on the planet''
Article #2
Read time 2 minutes
Fleece looks harmless. Soft, light and warm. The kind of layer you throw on for a walk, a surf check or a cold morning by the coast. But look closer and it tells a different story, one that doesn’t sit right with us. Because fleece for all its comfort is plastic.
Almost every fleece on the market is made from polyester, a material derived from crude oil. Every wash, every wear, every gust of wind that rubs those fibres together sheds tiny plastic particles into the world around us. They’re called microplastics, and once they’re released, they don’t go away. They end up in rivers, lakes, oceans and increasingly, in us.
A single fleece jacket can shed hundreds of thousands of these fibres in one wash. They’re too small to be filtered out, so they flow straight through wastewater systems and out to sea, where they’re eaten by plankton, fish and birds. They move through the food chain and eventually, into our own bodies.
And it’s not just in the wash. Synthetic fabrics also off-gas over time, releasing volatile compounds into the air. It’s slow and invisible but it happens. We breathe it in and the cycle continues.
That’s why we’ve chosen not to make fleece jackets. It would be easy to. They’re cheap to produce, quick to sell and everywhere. But everywhere is the problem.
You’ll often see fleece advertised as “Made from recycled plastic bottles.” On the surface, that sounds like a good idea and it’s certainly better than using virgin oil-based plastic but it’s still a dead end. Once those bottles are turned into fabric, they can’t be recycled again. The process changes the plastic permanently, locking it out of the recycling loop. What sounds circular is actually the end of the recycling cycle — one final use before it becomes waste.
We believe clothes should live in harmony with the places that inspire them. The coastline, the forests and the sea they all deserve better than another plastic jacket.
That’s why you won’t find fleece in our collection. We’re taking the slower route, choosing natural fibres and sustainable that work with nature, not against it. Because real comfort shouldn’t come at the planet’s expense.
— Damian
The Long View
Avoiding fleece isn’t about being perfect, it’s about being honest. Every choice matters, and choosing natural fibres over plastic is a quiet act of respect for the planet. - Thank you for rolling slow with us.
