About Us - NAADAM The more unnecessary overhead that businesses are carrying, the harder it will be to adapt to changing circumstances. The demand for our product is high, but if we havent planned for it we cant sustain it. We've donated hundreds of thousands of dollars by this point. There're local markets. This blend is for those who love buttery-soft cashmere but prefer to keep things lighter and more breathable. WARNING: It doesnt get any softer than this. Matt Scanlan is the CEO & Co-Founder of Naadam, a direct-to-consumer Mongolian cashmere company. What this means is, no matter which brand he's working on, he'll be thinking about the same set of considerations: "If you know a lot about who that customer is and you have intuition on what they want to wear, how they want to wear it, how much they want to pay for it, where they want to buy it and how they want to buy it all of those things can be passed along, regardless of whether you're selling a sweater, jeans or a ruffled top.". Scanlan is a General Partner at Magic Hour Ventures, a seed stage venture fund focused on sustainable consumer investments. By keeping our goats happy and healthy, we promote financial security and sustainability while preserving culture. Their mission statement is We are on a mission to democratize cashmere by translating transparency into real sustainability, better prices and better quality for our customers at every possible turn"[7]. They never source wood from primeval forests, the Amazon region, or the endangered rainforests. And integrity. googletag.enableServices(); By submitting this form, you agree to receive recurring automated promotional and personalized marketing text messages (e.g. We arrivedatGobi Desert and meta goat herderwhoproduces cashmereeachspring. Pilling is a natural occurrence in cashmere and is usually caused by friction. These softies live waaaay out there in Mongolia's Gobi Desert (we're talking 400 miles off-road from the nearest city within 500k square miles of desert). Naadam was founded by co-founders Matthew Scanlan and Diederik Reijsmus in 2013.[1]. The better we do as Naadam, the more support we can give the herding communities. I'm in trouble. NAADAM responsibly sources & produces luxury knitwear while preserving nomadic lifestyle in Mongolia. We make some sweaters that are just excessive from a cashmere standpoint, knowing it was kind of ridiculous when we made it, but we tryto sell it at a reasonable price. Scanlan has taken the opposite tack with Naadam, the direct-to-consumer cashmere label he co-founded and launched in 2015. I was prettysick of what I was doing so I quit. Many of Thakoon's contemporaries celebrated designers like Zac Posen, Doo-Ri Chung and Derek Lam have either closed up shop or pivoted away from luxury. It's the further reaches of Bayanhongor region of Mongolia. Naadam Text size Naadam 's venture as a company began with a 25-hour trip with strangers to the middle of the Gobi desert. Of the customer he's designing for today,Panichgulsays: "They still want great design, but they don't want the fuss anymore. cart reminders) from NAADAM at the cell number used when signing up. For Part Two of this interview, please click here. A NAADAM cashmere sweater pills only once (think of it like shedding a layer of skin). We're spending three weeks here. Those are our guiding principles. The process begins with combing Mongolian goats and shearing Merino sheep to extract the finest, softest fibers. Since the fibers we use are longer, it will never happen again after you clean the sweater. Reply HELP for help and STOP to cancel. If everyone is not able to partake, regardless of socio-economic circumstances, in the effort to change how human beings need to relate to our environment, then we are in trouble. After hand-brushing our goats in Mongolia, we grab the remaining raw cashmere fibers and spin 'em together to create yarn strong enough to knit. Fortunately, most of them are back online. Yeah, we told you so. No electricity, no running water. To survive, they grow long, fine fibers to protect themselves, which our herders hand comb! New employees come in loving either Naadam or Thakoon or Something Navy, "and there are some people that have an interest in jumping from thing to thing and like that flexibility. By cutting out these middlemen, they realized they could pay their herder friends more while selling premium-quality clothes for less. Father's Day Gift Guide: The Best Quiet Luxury Looks For Dad If you picked the navy, black, and gray palette, youd get one each month,but we dont tell you what order theyll arrive in! We are going to build a fully vertical supply chain to realize the cost savings and benefit the herder, and then pass those savings all the way back to the customer. NAADAM was founded in 2013 by Matthew Scanlan and Diederik Rijsemus. Scanlan: So, we wake up the next morning, we look around, and we are in the middle of nowhere. Matt Scanlan, co-founder and CEO of Naadam Cashmere, takes us on his wild journey from an unemployed tourist sitting in dive bar to the head honcho of a multimillion-dollar company. I am going to do whatever it takes to fulfill my mission and to share my message. Thank you! Overgrazing is an environmental problem, so we've fenced off an area the size of Manhattan to prevent grasslands desertification. The result? I am fortunate to have investors who have allowed me to take the risks that I needed to take in order for the business to be successful. We partner with other brands, supply them with material. This means that the fiber is actually very good for blending with other materials. Naadam has committed to investing upwards of 10% of all profits to strategically minded non-profit work[3]. Naadams cashmere is the only yarn that is Cradle to Cradle certified, meaning the production process meets environmental and basic human rights criteria[7], To meet the increasing demand for cashmere, herders have had to increase the size of their herds. He is the Co-Founder of Naadam Bogd Fund, a Mongolia based NGO focused on supporting nomadic herding communities throughout Mongolia. By cutting out these middlemen, Matt and Diederik realized they could pay their herder friends more while selling premium-quality clothes for less. Finer and longer than typical cashmere, 16 gauge cashmere requires best-in-class machinery and extreme human supervision. "But in the end, it doesn't work, because there are so many compromises that they add up." Dont believe us? It also applies to their customer base. Aziz: Like you would, yeah. Don't. I have this huge revelation and I decide I gotta do something to help. Close your eyes, take a deep breath and imagine youre cuddling with a baby goat. Reply HELP for help and STOP to cancel. I know what's happening. The elder Chou's venture capital firm, Torch Capital, is an investor in Naadam, participating in the former's $16 million series A in 2018 and his firm Vanterra Capital invested in Something Navy's $10 million funding round last August. We drove out to this region. When you're happy, you smile, right? In the stores, customers can use a virtual reality headset to experience not only where the materials are made but the people who made them. It's well known that cashmere should not be put in the washing machine. Cashmere is a very wearable product, as long as you know what to do with it. Our customers are single moms, stay at home moms, and dads.. Since their inception, NAADAM has been rooted insustainabilitywith a mission to source and produce the worlds finest fibers while simultaneously preserving the values and lives of their native herders. Your browser seems to be out of date. The brand is known for its affordably-priced, sustainably-minded knitwear. Related Stories:The Next Category of Fashion Being Disrupted? Back then, Panichgul had already checked most of the boxes on the '00s American fashion bucket list: dressing Michelle Obama, appearing on the pages of Anna Wintour's Vogue, collaborating with Target and Gap. Sign up for our daily newsletter and get us directly in your inbox. Ultimate destination for sweater weather? Msg frequency varies. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Scanlan: But now it's the middle of the night, freezing cold, and the car breaks down. Brand awareness is also important because it provides a bigger platform to tell our story. Focusing on transparent ethical practices, founders Matthew Scanlan and Diederik Rijsemus partner with local Mongolian herders who use traditional hand-brushing techniques that yield exceptionally soft yet durable yarn. Reply HELP for help and STOP to cancel. Scanlan, the then-26-year-old co-founder and CEO of Naadam Cashmere, was headed to Bayankhongor province, one of the most remote regions in the world, located deep in the Outer Mongolian Gobi. But those things have just become stronger. Whats the pricepoint of Naadam? Quality's a byproduct of doing the right thing, in our case, and we want that message to be shared with as many people as we possibly can. Our thesis behind sustainability which is in effect doing the right thing and creating equitable relationships and building a stakeholder driven supply chain was to make the process accessible to more people. But my time in Mongolia was transformative and for the first time in my life I recognized how seamless the human experience is across geographical and cultural differences that we share the universalities of the human condition. Cashmere fineness starts from 14 microns and goes up to 19 microns. Msg frequency varies. And it's how we work with these communities to continually get stronger so that we both get stronger together. Remember, longer fibers = stronger cashmere. While this may not paint the most romantic picture of a modern fashion brand, it does reflect the current state of the industry. The Prince Street location in SoHo is a single-SKU store it has one sweater in 10 colors only and every sweater costs $75 and is 100 percent cashmere. A host of things. In light of the pandemic, were already positioned to benefit from the residual effects of larger trends in consumer preferences such as sustainability and health & wellness, explains Scanlan. I felt, ultimately, I was only going to be successful if I was passionate about what I was doing. "It's just better that way. The thesis was to have a diversified distribution mix to reduce our risk. googletag.cmd = googletag.cmd || []; We focus on core styles that never go out of style that you want in every color. Naadam Founder Matt Scanlan's Quest to Redefine Cashmere Theres nothing better. Naadam delivers wallet-friendly luxury the essential $75 sweater is available for men and women in nearly a dozen colors while its $320 blanket is made with a kilo of cashmere. We are obviously sold online. Her team can draw from Nordstrom sales, day-to-day feedback from fans on Instagram and engagement and revenue data from years of brand partnerships and affiliate programs resources that might take another brand years to build. Matt Scanlan, Founder at Naadam - The Proof '", "I think when you're in the [fashion] industry for too long, you can start to lose your discipline and objectivity," says Siegel. How This SERHANT. What mistakes has he made that they can avoid? (Think -40 degrees in the winter.) High-tech machinery processes this pulp into fiber then spins it into super soft fabric. Free Ground Shipping within the Continental US on order of $150 or more! By submitting this form, you agree to receive recurring automated promotional and personalized marketing text messages (e.g. This article "Naadam (company)" is from Wikipedia. Instagram: @sydneysadick. Modal production starts with wood that gets turned into pulp. This process makes a luxuriously soft and lightweight garment you never want to take off. For women, we played on something thats even more traditional:styles that relate to the Mongolian coat they use thats meant to be wrapped and worn and repurposed. Its a versatile collection that can be worn around the house but can easily convertinto something more formal. Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, NAADAM. To dry, the trick is to lay out your sweater on a bath towel and gently roll the sweater in the towel, absorbing all the water in a cashmere sushi roll of sorts. It has provided care to over 1,000,000 goats in the forms vaccinations, livestock insurance, and breeding development[12]. Making the best wool cashmere begins by combing Mongolian goats and shearing the highest-quality sheep wool. We bring jobs. And they invite us on a trip the next day to go to the countryside, which is the equivalent of, you know, being in New York City and people saying, "Hey, let's go upstate," like we're going to go hiking. Scanlan and Reijsmus realized this issue, and after leaving Mongolia were committed to finding a way to fairly pay breeders and support their livelihoods. In retrospect, I think I did have it, but did not recognize it. This is the ultimate, buttery soft cashmere thats quite literally, out of this world. But we really focus on equitable business partnerships across multiple levels. This is not another bullshit fabric blend. And let me deconstruct that a little. Shop cashmere clothing for men, women & children. We always try and reverse that scenario. Then two years ago we introduced retail.While retail has taken a hit with the brands stores in New York City for obvious reasons, it hasnt affected the rest of NAADAMs channels and they still have plans for a 4thquarter push for new locations. They bought low and sold high to brokers who traded the material as a commodity to mills and manufacturers in Italy and China. NAADAM has even seen an uptick across the board, with the biggest increase coming through e-commerce. They're more trustworthy. Her reporting has appeared inAdWeekandDDI Magazine, among others. Whats your favorite sweater in your mens collection right now? Because the herders are remote, brokers and traders arrived once a year to purchase large amounts of cashmere for under market value, and resell it to consolidators who sell it to the mills[3]. We sent it to Italy where it wasspun into a yarn, whichwere selling on its own in addition to producing our own knitwear collections. But, we have been running out of inventory. The other is transparency. View Terms & Privacy. Those are universalities of the human condition, and it just broke down all these barriers for me. By submitting this form, you agree to receive recurring automated promotional and personalized marketing text messages (e.g. In this case, these are goats, and these goats produce cashmere wool, and they sell them to middlemen who arrive in these remote areas and who only pay very low prices. In our Bleecker Street location, the centerpiece is a giant cashmere cloud that you can stick your head into and use the virtual reality headset inside it to transport you into the Gobi Desert, where you are introduced to the family we stayed with there. We also recognized the best way to profit from this transaction was to produce yarns ourselves, sell the yarns to manufacturer partners and then sell the finished product under a brand name that could share our value system with customers all over the world. We convinced a private lender to give us about two and a half million dollars. There are three sweaters, and you get one a month. Naadam Bogd Fund is a Mongolian based NGO founded by Naadam and our local sourcing partners KhanBogd to support Nomadic herding communities. How did Naadam get started? We've shifted to more sustainable packaging solutions from 100% pre-consumer Forest Stewardship Council- certified recycled paper for inserts and hangtags to 100% recycled plastic with non-toxic chemicals that biodegrade faster for our mailers and bags. We use finer, longer cashmere fibers that create high quality products. We didn't invent cashmere, but we may as well have. I am buying lounge pants, hoodies, blue light glasses, and I am even on a skincare routine, which is pretty out of character for me., The pandemic also has created other shifts in consumer behavior. It was not until we released the product, a $75 cashmere sweater, which is our trademark item, that the value proposition became clear to us. Naadam, Best Known for Its Affordable Cashmere, Is A stitch here, a stitch there and bada-bing-bada-boomenter the soft, sustainably-made, cashmere we sell to you. But that's the real fun part. We don't expect backlash from it at this point and believe strongly in the relationships and partnerships we have developed globally to produce quality product at accessible prices.. We use a small amount of spandex to give this material some added stretch. cart reminders) from NAADAM at the cell number used when signing up. It redefines the expectations for cashmere. Subscribe to our newsletter to get 10% off your first full-price order. So, humility, transparency, and integrity is the way we do things. I care very deeply for digital. Made from sustainable modal blended with cashmere and lycra, NAADAM Movement maintains its shape no matter what the situation, so you're free to go ahead and get moving. It keeps people more focused," Scanlan says, cautioning that, like most things at a startup, this idea could change tomorrow. It doesnt need to be more complicated; it just needs to be real. The store [was] ultimately an abstraction of Mongolia - and [allowed] us to represent our origins in an elevated, luxury setting, said founder Matt Scanlan[8]. What Matt Scanlan really wants is to make things people want to buy. Check your email or text message for your 10% off promo code! We were in wholesale from the beginning, Scanlan tells me. Plans for a spring/summer collection? We leave the car, go deeper into the Gobi Desert. Get the daily habits that founders swear by. We use email and targeted online advertising to send you product and services updates, promotional offers and other marketing communications based on the information we collect about you, such as your email address, general location, and purchase and website browsing history. We are in the fortunate position that our products have matched consumer demand for low-cost, high-quality loungewear.. NAADAM is able through these transparent and I would argue unparalleled supply chain practices to go out to these remote areas of Mongolia and source hundreds of tons of cashmere and say to the herder that we are going to buy everything from them so they do not have to sell to anyone else. That way, we can be totally sure that our silk is 100% organic when making this silky-soft fabric. It's a moving target, so what I really need to focus on is staying close to the community to understand what they are telling me, not what I think. Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. I had this moment where I was like, "Oh, I need to stop thinking about all the ways I'm different and just realize that we're all people," and that was so profound for me. It took me awhile to really understand the socio-implications of animal husbandry on a macro-industry scale. Itook $3million in cash out of a bank, put it in plastic bags, and madethat 20 hour tripto buy cashmere from theherders. At the time, I'm scared to death, basically in shock and frozen to a point that, I can't do anything. One of our co-founders,Hadas Saar. So, we saw that, and we said, okay, we gotta fix this. By working directly with our herders, we are able to pay them substantially more and you pay less for the world's best cashmere. Its represented through a color palette thats inherently naturalthink sands, stones, indigos, and olives. There's a market in the spring every year. How are you able to offer a high-quality product at a price point that is accessible and affordable to many people? How Naadam Created A $100 Million+ Sustainable Luxury Cashmere gads.async = true; Where do you see growth opportunities for NAADAM? We care about curating an experience, and you need to be in a place where you can unload that story. They left with 60 tons, which they then brought to a factory in Italy to be spun into yarn. She originally launched Something Navy with Nordstrom in September 2018, crashing the retailer's website on the first day and reportedly generating millions of dollars in sales within the first 24 hours. We wanted the Naadam label to stand for something else. From there I began working for a nonprofit that made investments into the sustainable value development of the herding communities that is to say, livestock insurance and veterinary care along with breeding and grazing programs. Step Out In Style, And More! Tell us about your cashmere club! Bergdorf Reopens Lindas, The Flower Shop Ftes A Fashionable Feast! I mean, I grew up in Westport, Connecticut, was a bit of a mama's boy. This change in behavior has positioned some products for success and others for major difficulties. cart reminders) from NAADAM at the cell number used when signing up. Click here to download a PDF of An Interview with Matt Scanlan. NAADAM (naadam.co) was founded in 2013 by Matthew Scanlan and Diederik Rijsemus. The through line in its portfolio, according to Scanlan, is that each brand reflects some aspect of the current shifts in consumer behavior, whether that's conversations around sustainability, social media or lifestyle and product. I literally have 32 plastic shopping bags filled to the brim with bundles of money. Sustainable and ethical business practices have been a part of NAADAM since day 1. Matt Scanlan is the CEO and Co-Founder of NAADAM, a lifestyle, fashion brand that utilizes sustainable sourcing practices to produce luxury cashmere. How important is it to build brand awareness for NAADAM? On the mens side, youll see things that represent a very traditional CPO/military-jacket thats updated. The college friends traveled to remote parts of the Mongolian Gobi Desert, became friends with the local herders and saw first-hand how traditional cashmere traders and brokers drive up prices and take the profits. Well be launching the collection direct-consumer-only for women while mens will be both direct-consumer and wholesale. Matt Scanlan is the CEO of not just the brand he co-founded in 2015, but also of Thakoon and the upcoming Something Navy line. Guaranteed to be softer than anything else you already own, this blend is for people who like being cozy and comfortable (so, basically everyone). Almost all cashmere sourced from Mongolia is organic, but not all cashmere is environmentally sustainable and that matters a lot. Nordstrom and Barneys are finding success in the burgeoning world of influencer brands for whom promotion and feedback are built-in. Cashmere, it's very funny. In all of these cases, the companies are able to share infrastructure on the backend in order to cut costs and scale more efficiently. NRF | Q&A: Naadam CEO and co-founder Matt Scanlan Now there's more goats. The best brands are not motivated by what product they make or how they make the product they are motivated by why they exist. We used a proprietary yarn-spinning process that injects air into our knits to make them inexplicably cozy. Brushed cashmere comes from herders who hand brush our goats in Mongolia. When I ask him if foresees any backlash from consumers who choose not to support brands with materials and manufacturing based in China, Scanlan tells me, 25% of the world's goods are manufactured in China and even more across all of Asia. 2023 Breaking Media, Inc. All rights reserved. A Fashionable Feast! The college friends traveled to remote parts of the Mongolian Gobi Desert, became friends with the local herders and saw first-hand how traditional cashmere traders and brokers drive up prices and take the profits. We are actively pursuing international expansion in places like Europe and Asia. They do pill a bit, but thats very normal, and we work to educate customers on how to care for the product. And can they continue to do it simultaneously? Scanlan: So, to do that, we had to figure out a way to buy it all. So, what happened next? Naadam has also set up a non profit called the Gobi Revival Fund which supports more than 1,000 nomadic herding family. Our ride wasnt leavingfor three weeks, so we were stuck there, and started to askquestions. I was back in Mongoliain June and bought 40 tons of cashmere. He bolstered its growth with diversified revenue streams in DTC e-commerce, wholesale, physical retail and private-labeling for department stores and other retailers. "At the end of the day, I think apparel is about product-market fit," he says. All Right Reserved. Each sweater costs $250, but its basically buy twoand get onefree. This led to the vision to make product that would be accessible, and to do that you have to be affordable to more people so that they can actually buy it and wear it. var gads = document.createElement('script'); One of the reasons Scanlan and Rijsemus feel their brand is fairing better than others is because it serves the economy of comfort consumers are seeking both in general and even more so with our new normal.