PODCAST #4 – Wilde: Opt for an eco-responsible polo shirt

When you see a study trailed on Facebook about golf apparel, you respond to it. Mainly because the results can help and we are united, but also because there is a good chance that it will never see the light of day. With more than 500 responses, thanks to the Facebook group les Golfitteurs as well as several months of research, Pierre Valette ended up releasing an eco-responsible brand; Wilde.The first garment is available. 1 polo shirt available in 3 colors and made from eucalyptus fibre. But Pierre is not satisfied with little and sees bigger. He explains his journey, why he created this eco-responsible brand, and also why he needs you.

Besides, if you want to consume differently, you have to listen to the podcast now.

What do Wilde Golf polo shirts look like?

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Transcript of podcast #4:

Nicolas: Change our mode of consumption and be more concerned about the environment and therefore responsible. This could be the key phrase of my conversation with the founder of Wild with Pierre Valette. But that's not all. Welcome to BogeyMag's #4 podcast. Today Pierre Valette, founder of Wilde explains to us his journey but also what motivated him to create this new brand of eco-responsible golf clothing. This sports assistant at the golf course in Grasse fell into golf very very dearly. I have been a golfer since very young.

Pierre: I have been a golfer since I was very young. I started when I was 5 years old. I discovered with the school. I immediately fell into it in the United States for 5 years and came back last year wondering what I wanted to do. I wanted to work in a golf course. I also started looking for a parallel project still related to golf. What can I change in golf? I went around a bit of everything that was being done in clothing today, with big leaders like Nike, Adidas, and Golfino, which is also innovating at the top of the range, and I said to myself: But golf is is a sport where you are in nature, where you respect the environment, I see it like that. For me, it's really a gift from nature in the open air all the time and I said to myself it's a shame that there aren't any brands that are in this line, a bit eco-responsible because that with brands like Nike Adidas all sell a lot.

But hey, it's when you look at where it's made, how it's not very ethical. I thought to myself, what can you do to improve this? I started looking for several eco materials that do not pollute and after several months of research I came across a material called Tencel Lyocell. I know it's a fabric that is made with Eucalyptus fibers from eco-responsible crops in Austria. What you need to know about eucalyptus is a tree that requires very little water compared to cotton for example. There is no watering that is done on these forests. It really is rainwater. That's more than enough to make it grow and grow. It is also a tree that regenerates very quickly, which grows very quickly. Today, finally for this collection it is the material that I chose because for me it is really an environmental impact. It's really very interesting to combine them with certified ecological cotton so it consumes much less traditional cotton.

Nicolas: We're going to say Ok I see you coming, you're going to tell me another brand of clothes. But it's not just a brand and Pierre will explain why.

Peter: Why Wilde? Because I wanted to return to this wild spirit, this nature spirit. Why an "e" at the end? Quite simply to make it a little more French, as it is a French brand, which also signifies the ecological impact that I wanted to bring to this brand. (The logo) differs from person to person. Which is funny. People see different animals. I heard foxes, cats at the base it was a wolf it's the silhouette of a wolf with clubs for eyes. Because for me it is really the animal that represents the wild state and the state of nature par excellence. That's why we made that choice. The development project for Wilde is to launch this first collection this year in 2020. With polo shirts only in three colors so as not to overproduce either and above all to see how this brand takes on the general public. The peculiarity of polo shirts is that they are Mao collars. I find that for me much more elegant there are the purists who don't like it. Some golfers like to have collars to turn them around in the summer. For us, it was also a choice to change the classic codes of golf polo shirts a little.

Nicolas: What we really want to know is where the clothes will be available and if the brand is really eco-responsible from A to Z.

Pierre: The future would be to develop a full range of ready-to-wear with vegetable material for the winter. For example there is a material called lenpur. It is also a vegetal cashmere which is really close to Cashmere but the same which is very little polluting. It will be more for the winter collections. I'm trying to see what can also be done with lotus flowers for waterproof rainwear to keep this vegetal side because it's starting to develop quite a bit too.

You should know that for any order or any purchase in a future Polo we will plant eucalyptus so that we have a lower impact, sorry zero. You should know that to make a Wide polo shirt, it is a eucalyptus tree so it will be replanted for any purchase of the polo shirt made. For the collection, there will be women's pieces and men's pieces but which will be in the same colors, in mixed colors. We will be on three very simple colors blue white and red; dark blue, flashy red and classic white. It is a French brand and it is the bias for three colors. It really is a launch pad. I don't like to say first collection because that would mean imperatively having to produce every year, twice a year for the collections. I hope these will be polo shirts that will remain classics and that we will renew with new colors, perhaps new designs. I am not at all in this perspective of producing a lot, a lot of stock every year. And then in the end sell it off at the end of the season because it didn't sell. I really want it to be a timeless item of clothing and for it to really be the approach behind it and the comfort, above all because it's true that beyond all the good ecological aspects time presents that of the great aspects techniques.

I tried playing golf this summer several times etc. And it is true that it is a material that dries very quickly. We don't have that unpleasant smell that you can have in other materials like polyester, things like that too, it's super soft. It's comparable to silk and it's really quite a technical job. Casually which was really designed for the comfort of the player of course first and secondly for this ecological approach that I mentioned

Also the shipping boxes for Wilde are made from recycled grass to keep it that way, which is super original. It's a kind of kraft paper but really made with more than 80% recycled grass that has been cut biodegradable non-polluting. We try to use only one color to allow us to use less polluting inks as well.

Nicolas: Now to recap. Wilde is an eco-responsible brand from A to Z, from the manufacture of the garment to the packaging Now what we want to say is where we will be able to find them.

Pierre: When the brand was launched, I wanted to use the Internet channel mainly. But after reflection, I tell myself that clothing is something you touch. It's a slightly different approach because people like to try, to touch. On the Internet, it's quite simply complicated to do this except for brands like Lacoste. With them, we know what we know the feel of a Lacoste polo shirt, we know its size, etc. We're going to order it on the Internet because we know what it is. But I am initially canvassing eco-responsible golf proshops in France. We have about ten. What they mean by eco-responsible is that they make large closed water circuits that save a lot of water. There are others it's non-chemical pesticides that are used so zero chemical pesticides on the course. So I was aiming for these points there mainly always to be linked to this brand.

It's a relatively small stock in the first year so I can't block 10 or 15 pieces per proshop either. Because in the end, after me, I also need to keep some stock for the Internet platform, target a few golf courses all over France to make people discover it and also a lot of communication on the networks for this brand we are targeting more an amateur public: we will say from 20 years old to 40-50 years old because you have to know the selling price of this polo shirt 69 euros including tax.

We're as expensive as an Adidas polo or whatever. But with properties that are much more interesting to me. Of course, priority is France and Europe and in a few years I hope to be able to open the market to Europe within a few years if the launch goes well.

I am very transparent with this brand. I have 900 pieces in total. My goal is to sell 300, so a third for everything. To cover business and start-up costs that have been incurred to date. If I sell more, I would be delighted. If I sell 300, I would also be delighted because the goal will be reached and I hope to be able to reach it I will do everything possible for it. And then we'll see above all. I think there's a certain demand for products like that which are eco-responsible. It's all about making yourself known.

For me it's the most complicated thing in this project is to have visibility and to make yourself known what you need to know is that on this project I'm all alone. I work with other people, for example this person who does all the graphics (Camille Minguet). She did part of the website as well as the logo. But it's true that I'm on my own so what I miss today I think is going to be partners. Unfortunately I just can't afford it because it's still a business creation. It is quite expensive. For the moment I would say that these are partners who are lacking in terms of funding. I also want to have some financing via traditional banks which follow me in this project which I am doing for this year. I will try to support some young people who are promising in Golf and sponsor, offer them clothes etc. So there are already a lot of people who are interested on the networks.

I've had quite a bit of feedback that people represent the brand and people who have the same mindset. What I ask players who contact me who contact me not just because they need a sponsor but because they contact me. But it's true there are many who contact me just because they hope that you will write them a check for €10,000 and give them 3 – 4 polo shirts for the season.

Nicolas: Practically alone apart from his friend Florent Alès or his graphic designer Camille Minguet, Pierre explores absolutely all the possibilities of financing and even that of crowdfunding.

Pierre: Before the launch, at the end of the year after Christmas, at the beginning of January, I really want to launch a campaign on a Kickstarter-style platform, Ulule, to present the project and raise funds to help me with the launch. Of course it will be expensive, you have to do marketing and marketing is relatively expensive. You have to make tags the little labels that are attached to your clothes in stores. You also have to think about lots of small details and in addition to communication which today is relatively expensive. If you want to be a minimum present then it is extremely expensive to create a clothing brand and to make it known it is very expensive.

It is true that it intrigues and that it interests a lot of people. As soon as I talk about it a little bit in depth because it's true that when you just see it on the networks as you say, I think it's perceived a bit like a brand. This is a new brand of clothing.

Nicolas: before closing this episode. I wanted to thank Pierre who during this interview was very open about both his approach and his objectives. In the meantime, don't hesitate to visit the Facebook page and the site, I'll put the links in the description. See you soon. Chao.