Innovation

BrownMill solves the UN SDGs 12 and 13 by using proprietary upcycling methods to create a significant portion of its products. The upcycling process involves sourcing discarded materials that the company can use to design and create new one-of-one garments. The innovation helps eliminate waste by repurposing salvaged materials to create new clothing. The idea of upcycled clothing isn’t entirely new, but BrownMill is one of the few companies in Newark that preaches the value of sustainability and reducing waste. Specifically, BrownMill aims to advocate for the efficient and responsible use of the planet’s finite resources. Through upcycling, the company believes that it can find innovative and ethical ways to create and consume fashion products.

CEO and creative director, Justis Pitt-Goodman, started the company in 2008 after teaching himself how to sew. Before he was aware of the clothing industry’s impact on the environment, Justis was already using sustainable methods to create his products. Some of the first products created by BrownMill were bowties that used materials that were sourced from his grandmother’s wardrobe. While in college, Justis had two roommates that operated a reforestation business. Through his roommates’ business, Justis developed a strong interest in sustainability and wanted to find ways to implement environmentally friendly practices into his own business. He soon realized that he could scale up the upcycling methods he used to make bowties to produce denim and other clothing that would positively impact the environment.

While Justis Pitt-Goodman was the primary creative force behind BrownMill’s innovation, he states that he has always worked with a team. Taha Shimou, the COO and head of design, joined BrownMill in Justis’s freshman year of high school. In addition, BrownMill’s CFO, Kwaku Agyemang, partnered with Justis during their sophomore year of high school.

The business communicated its innovation to internal and external stakeholders through its website, public events, and various marketing materials. Their website shows that they are all about sustainability and being able to use the finite resources the planet gives us efficiently and responsibly. They also participated in programs that do food drives etc, and they are either a partner in it or donate to help the cause. BrownMill also takes part in the community garden and used to play basketball with the community every Sunday to socialize and exercise, which they saw made a positive impact in the community. Justis personally, was always thinking about upcycling clothing as he used to take his grandmother’s old fabrics when he was in 8th grade. The way BrownMill secured resources was by donations and even Justis mentions that he hoarded his old clothing and uses those to upcycle. He also says they have a membership with a thrift store in Philadelphia where they can buy old clothing in bulk to use.

Inspiration

The innovation was inspired by Justis's passion for creativity and entrepreneurship, “I started the business when I was in 8th grade. I started off making bowties, ties, always had a knack for entrepreneurship. I also love style and fashion. I don’t know what triggered it but one day I was like 'I want to make some bowties' and taught myself how to do it. My tutor at the time lent me her sewing machine, it was through that that I started teaching myself how to sew”. From a young age, he showed an interest in fashion and had business intelligence. The innovation emerged when Justis wanted to create a brand while eliminating much of the waste that comes with creating new clothes. He was motivated to eliminate that waste so he decided to upcycle clothing to be a more sustainable company.

Justis talked about his college roommates and the business they started, which was dropping capsules from drones making a reforestation business, “Their aim was to have a reforestation business through dropping pellets through rockets and drones. And it was really cool. They ended up selling the company. And it inspired me to think about sustainability in a global way in my industry”. He was inspired by others around him and wanted to help make a positive impact on the environment. BrownMill’s innovation relates to a sense of a mission because the environment seems to be used for its resources, even though there is not an excessive amount. Justis wants to create sustainability and not waste resources if it’s not needed. His staff uses old clothes that are either donated or from the thrift store they have a membership with, they clean the clothes and use them to create their own clothes.

Overall impact

BrownMill’s innovative upcycling process has positively impacted its community and environment. But with the upcycling of clothing the company does, the overall impact it has is that they do not contribute to the polluting of the environment. This is a big impact, since there are many big companies that are responsible for the significant amount of annual pollution. As stated before, the innovation the company does is able to help the environment overall. This is because they reuse clothing that would usually be thrown out and end up in landfills. In all the fast fashion businesses we have now, a lot of the clothing ends up in landfills which is very unhealthy for the environment and animals that are having their habitats affected. With the community garden they co-sponsor, they end up helping Newark residents by providing them with fresh and organic vegetables. This impacts the people from the community in a positive way. BrownMill Company sews items and only has two tailors. This may seem small but the impact it has overall is great. Many clothing companies have big factories which spill a lot of smoke pollution. But this is not the case with BrownMill Company.

Although BrownMill is originally from Piscataway, NJ, the company decided Newark, NJ was the perfect place to open the business. With the company being based in Newark, it has made an impact in the community by helping in community gardens as well as sponsoring children’s events.

BrownMill Company gets their jeans mostly from donations people make and this has most likely made an overall impact on the environment because they don’t produce more fabrics to make their clothing and use old fabrics to make new clothing. They have been able to obtain the old fabric materials needed in different ways. One was by getting it from the founder himself. Justis says he is a big hoarder of clothing from many years ago, and he uses those materials from the clothing he has and upcycles them.

In BrownMill, there are only 10 employees, 2 of which are tailors. These two tailors take up to 3 hours to sew one pair of jeans. It may take a while, but they are dedicated to being sustainable and reusing materials to make something new out of it. With this innovation being done, there are both short-term and long-term effects. Short-term effects were that there isn’t much waste and expenses from the business. With most of the materials being donated and only using sewing machines, there aren’t many expenses associated with the company’s upcycled products. Because of this sustainability innovation they use, it has helped cut back expenses and prevents there from being a lot of waste. In the long-term, BrownMill Company hopes to have the majority of their productions be fashioned-forward and upcycled.

BrownMill’s mission to inspire sustainable lifestyles is at the core of the business. As a result, the company’s commitment to the environment and its community has inspired a communal company culture. Currently, the company operates with 10 employees. Operating with a lean staff allows the company to be more agile. Managers have been able to leverage this added flexibility to quickly adapt to sudden changes in their external and internal environments.

Business benefit

BrownMill Company's innovative upcycling method has directly reduced costs, added value to its products, and ultimately increased its profitability. A significant expense for businesses in the fashion industry is the cost of raw materials and other inputs. Through its upcycling method, BrownMill Company has significantly reduced these costs. More specifically, the main costs the company must control to achieve profitability are "labor costs and the cost of servicing of their machines" (Pitt-Goodson). According to CEO and Creative Director Justis Pitt-Goodson, the company's expanded upcycling model has allowed the business to become "a lean operation with high reward." In addition to reducing costs, the upcycling model makes each product unique. The one-of-one nature of BrownMill's upcycled products adds value to products and allows the company to price its products at a "high premium" (Pitt-Goodson). Pricing products at a premium and controlling costs has allowed BrownMill to increase its profitability and grow as a business.

BrownMill's upcycling model reinforces the company's values and creates a sense of shared purpose thought out the team. Since its inception, the company's mission has been to "reduce waste and inspire sustainable lifestyles" (BrownMill). The upcycling process allows the company's staff to contribute daily to this mission. BrownMill's company culture is "communal and family-oriented" (Pitt-Goodson). Alignment among team members is strong and has resulted in high levels of employee retention and well-being. Furthermore, BrownMill's daily commitment to its mission differentiates it from other companies in its industry. BrownMill Company's innovative method gives the business a sense of authenticity that ultimately increases the reputation and value of the brand.

Social and environmental benefit

According to an article from Columbia University, the fashion industry is responsible for 10 percent of human-caused greenhouse gas emissions. Clothing production also uses more energy than the aviation and shipping sectors combined (Cho). Each year clothing manufacturing and shipping creates 1.2 million metric tons of carbon dioxide and consumes 70 million tons of trees (Cho). The production of polyester each year requires roughly 70 million barrels of oil (Cho). In addition, the dyeing of textiles contributes to approximately 17 to 20 percent of global industrial water pollution (Cho).

BrownMill Company founder Justis Pitt-Goodson believes “it’s important for the world to think about how we can continue creating but at the same time not compromising our environment.” His solution to this quandary was to incorporate more innovative upcycling methods into designing BrownMill's products. Since implementing expanded upcycling processes, the company estimates that it has prevented over 1,000 pounds of materials from going into landfills or polluting the environment. From a production perspective, this has resulted in a significant reduction in the company’s carbon footprint. Furthermore, when BrownMill sells an upcycled product, the customer is able to reduce the amount of pollution and waste created by their clothing purchases. Thus, BrownMill’s innovation strengthens the company’s unique value proposition while making the company an ambassador for UN SDGs 12 (responsible production and consumption) and 13 (climate action). About 40 percent of BrownMill Company’s products are created using its innovative upcycling method. As the business grows and expands its production capacity, BrownMill’s environmental impact will continue to increase.

Interview

Justis Pitt-Goodson, CEO and Creative Director