My New Year’s resolution is to be more optimistic. But as someone who’s been in the outdoor industry for four decades, maintaining a positive outlook is getting tougher each year. A few weeks ago, I was walking around Outdoor Retailer, and amidst the relatively small crowds, I couldn’t help but feel something wasn’t clicking. One question kept creeping into my head-where is this industry headed?
I asked myself this because I’m worried we’re losing that vibrant spirit of collaboration that helped this industry mature into the giant it’s become. Every day I speak to C-suite execs, product designers, and mill operators, and they sense divides within their own organizations. Even colleagues working in the same department aren’t opened to talking with one other.
A reason I love attending OR, and all the other global trade events, is these shows are forums for cooperation and camaraderie. To be clear, I’m not advocating for any particular show, or even for more shows. My point is these shows are rallying points for suppliers, manufacturers, designers, apparel brands, and anyone else with a passion for engineering better outdoor experiences. They’re where we all congregate to explore new ideas, debate opinions, and pinpoint common goals.
While Covid certainly played a role in minimizing the impact these shows could have on our industry, changing retail landscapes and political ideologies are also affecting companies’ willingness to exhibit. As major brands pull out, we become less inclined to travel, and in turn, we lose our desire to interact, further minimizing the collaboration that built this industry. As exhibition halls become more hallowed, the more we retreat into our silos.
While I celebrate individualism, the rampant unilateralism taking place in our industry today cannot bode well for long-term success. As we become accustomed to remote work, we become isolated from our colleagues, vendors, and partners. But this is a tactile industry. We must be present with each other, to touch, to speak, to innovate. For instance, this need to work in concert is glaringly obvious when it comes to sustainability.
PFAS, PFCs, and climate change are real concerns at all points in the value chain. However, if we’re no longer willing to collaborate on approaching these issues as a unified industry, everyone will resort to disparate plans of attack. How effective can that be? This is an industry where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. We need to recognize common concerns. We need to share ideas. We need to hold each other accountable. Otherwise, “sustainability” is just a cheap buzzword open to interpretation.
With all this said, I’m still hopeful we’ll stop isolating ourselves. I hope our common love of nature will allow us all to collaborate once again. If not, we’ll weather the storms alone, yet we’ll all drown, together.
About the author: Chris Parkes is president of Concept III and a contributing writer for Textile Insight. Throughout his extensive career developing and sourcing performance textiles, he’s collaborated with the world’s leading mills and apparel brands. He lives in Berthoud, Colorado with his family.