howies

No I have not spelt it wrong, they guys at howies use a lower case "h" as well.

Founded in 1995 by Claire and David Heiatt the name howies was derived from Claire's maiden name Howells. The company was originally base in London but relocated to Cardigan Bay, Wales in 2001 under the control of managing director Mark Simmons. This was also the same year they produced their first mail order catalogue which so many howies customers are familiar with.

The company has not been without its ups and downs, the first incident was with Levi Strauss who had an issue regarding where howies had placed a logo upon their organic jeans. Levi had an issue with the placement of the howies label on the right hand pocket, which Levi had a patent on. In order to help solve the issue and have a little fun at the same time, howies put a removable blue label on the jeans. As the Levi tab was red no confusion could occur. Retailers were also sent 2 cards, a red and a blue one. You could only buy the howies jeans if you could tell which was which. Tongue firmly in cheak this seemed like a good solution.

Then back in 2006 howies was acquired by Timberland which itself was then purchased by VF Corporation in 2011. howies state that they had a difficult time being a small part of a big company like Timberland and believed this would be multiplied as they were incorporated into VF. However VF sold howies back to howies and it became an independent company again. howies released this information on their blog by stating "We thank VF for giving us the opportunity to be small again. This could be big"

The core rational that lies at the very heart of howies has never changed and as a company seeks to produce clothing which limits the impact on the world around it. howies clothing from their T-shirts, jumpers and their denim are made to the highest quality in order that they last longer. If they last longer you buy less and this in turn has a lesser impact upon the environment. howies sweatshirts, t - shirts and denims are also made from 100% organic cotton further reducing the adverse impacts upon the environment.

It is not just the adverse impact on the environment that is howies concern, but also the wearer of the product. howies claim that a 100% cotton t-shirt might contain as little as 73% cotton. How on earth does this work I hear you ask? Well the other 27% is made up if chemicals that are sprayed on the cotton crop to help it grow. Cotton crops can be sprayed up to 10 times before harvested, each time absorbing harmful chemicals. These chemicals adversely impact the local water table, forna and flora and in a lot of cases the farmers as well. howies point out that if you wear a t-shirt next to your body that contains these chemicals it is likley to have an adverse impact upon you as well. So going organic might cost a couple more quid but the benefits can be felt all round.

There is a men's and women's range that focus upon clothing for sporting activities such as biking, running and the great outdoors plus ensuring you have some jeans and a nice jumper for everyday wear. The t-shirts range from blank tees with no logo and the classic howies t-shirt logo in a whole load of colours, to an ever changing range of new designs.

The jacket range covers waterproof shells, insulating mid layers that will keep you warm and dry no matter where you find yourself. They also make the more fashionable pieces that might be no good up in the fells, but will be just the ticket down the pub. They manufacture a whole load of men's and women's organic jeans from skinny, baggy and somewhere in between. Jumpers, sweatshirts, hoodies (everyone need a Sunday hangover hoody) shirts and polos. They have all the bases covered for your organic clothing and it seems the environment as well.

There is only one value that howies hold true that I do not belief myself. They state that you should always make tea in a pot, but I make mine in a cup and it taste just great!

Tom Bowden
Working Class Heroes.