Seven Questions: ISAORA

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ISAORA co-founders Ricky Hendy and Marc Daniels want to make active apparel better. In every way they can. That means better construction; their clothes are manufactured by top-tier facilities in the US, Europe and Asia. Better materials; they’re made using some of the most technically advanced fabrics on the market today. Better designs; the pieces are forward thinking yet totally wearable and great fitting. They’ve even made prices better by cutting out the middleman and selling direct to customers. Did I say “want to”? I meant are making active apparel better.

ISAORA co-founder Ricky recently took some time out to answer a few questions through email. Here’s what he had to say.

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Well Spent: Give us the ISAORA origin story.
Ricky Hendry: ISAORA was launched in NYC in 2009 by Marc Daniels and Ricky Hendry. We shared an appreciation of technical performance apparel but didn’t relate to the overtly outdoorsy aesthetic. We had a vision for a brand that combined the functional benefits of this type of product with a more progressive style. We wanted to create modern clothing for modern urban life.
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ISAORA is a hard label to pin down genre-wise. Is it activewear? Streetwear? How do you describe it?
In the simplest terms we think of what we do as performance / style. This is the DNA of ISAORA. We design products for a modern active lifestyle that combine premium performance and progressive style. We set out to define a new category of product because what we wanted didn’t really exist before, so if that makes us hard to pin down, I think we’re ok with that.
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The last three collections have been based around the idea of doing something better. In what ways do ISAORA’s clothes enhance the activities they’re designed for?
We strongly believe that through the use and application of advanced material technologies and manufacturing it is possible to create products that simply put, work better. Our approach to design is different than most fashion brands; we think about user experience, how these products will be used, and how we can improve that experience.
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So, what do you guys have against cotton?
Nothing at all, but the goal is to build performance into our products and cotton based fabrics don’t really fulfill this need. As much as we all love a good cotton t-shirt, we are more drawn to a fabric that combines the soft feel of your favorite cotton tee with the added benefit of anti-bacterial and wicking properties, this is just one fairly basic example of how material technology can improve user experience.

At the other end of the innovation scale this season we developed a specially treated down jacket that converts radiant body heat into infrared energy and has various health benefits for the wearer. It’s never about technology for the sake of it, there always has to be a reason and a benefit, and of course it still has to look and feel great!
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What led to the decision to go customer-direct?
We made the shift to direct to consumer direct earlier this year and its proving to be a very positive move. We had spent the last few years growing the brand and building awareness through the wholesale channel. The ISAORA brand was sold in almost 150 stores around the world when we made the decision to pull out, so it was not a decision we took lightly. However we’d got to the point where we had good traction and yet we didn’t feel the brand was being presented to the customer in the way we wanted. The stores were acting as a filter and presenting ISAORA in the way they wanted.

We set out to build a forward thinking company and when we really started to look at things we realized our distribution model was anything but forward thinking and there had to be a better way to reach and engage our customer, tell our story, and control our image. The direct channel allows us to present the full range of what we do, in the way we want. It also allows us to significantly reduce our prices and offer exceptional quality at incredible value. The truth is the wholesale model artificially inflates prices and is a terrible deal for brands and consumers. The traditional wholesale model looks pretty archaic in todays world and as with most major shifts technology is the disruptive force. We wanted to embrace that change.
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You produce ISAORA in NYC, Portugal, Italy and China. Why is your production so spread out? How do you decide what to produce where?
Its really a function of the type of product we’re making. The reality is you’re only as good as the factories who are making your product. We try to produce in NYC when possible but there are limitations to what is possible here, especially when it comes to more technical garments and more complex construction techniques, so we go where we need to go to ensure we’re making the best product possible. A lot of work goes into identifying the right manufacturing partners and we’re lucky enough to work with some of the best and most innovative factories in the world.
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What would you say to someone who’s still on the fence about buying from ISAORA?
Don’t settle for less. Demand more from you’re clothes.
For price and purchase info, visit ISAORA.