Eco clothing company Nau based out of eco-trendy Portland, Oregon is working hard to break into the outdoor clothing market–in a different way.  This “haute-nature” start-up opened for business in 2007…got some great reviews for its high-end outdoor look and deep dedication to sustainability, but then ran out of money.

But wait…they’re back! Nau has re-opened for business.   Santa Barbara, CA based Horny Toad purchased Nau after they announced they we’re unable to secure further financing five months ago.

I really like Nau as they beautifully fuse sustainability and design…they seem to put a huge amount of effort into ensuring that their clothes are recyclable whenever possible.  And, they give 2% of every sale to a charity of your choice (their partners for GOOD are Ashoka, Ecotrust, Mercy Corps, Breakthrough Institute, & Kiva).  Note:  Before the financial difficulties, Nau sought to donate 5% of revenue to their partners.   The Nau website is also pretty engaging (though I think they could do more here) and they have an integrated blog on their site.

Interestingly, Nau clothing is also “logo-free”.

So, with the emergence of edgy, eco-trendy companies like Nau…will we find that fashion brands lead the way when it comes to mass adoption of eco?  This question is explored a bit more in depth in Rob Walker’s Buying In, which I recently discussed in this post.  Only time will tell…but it is great to see Nau pushing the envelope as one of the few companies out there really trying to take a stand.

Nau, we should all be interested in supporting this cool start-up…shouldn’t we?

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