BLOG
Introducing the Lost Horizons 2022 Collection
It’s that time of year once again, and we’re thrilled to announce Lost Horizons’ latest collection of sweaters and hand-knitted accessories is officially here! View the new collection here. This season, we’re proud to present more than 20 new designs and fresh colorways for women and men. Characterized by deep natural hues and complex patterns, this collection references Native American wool blankets and Turkish kilim rugs, and draws inspiration from the landscapes of the American West. We’ve also called on some familiar motifs you’ve come to know and love from Lost Horizons, including Fair Isle knit patterning and florals inspired by Eastern European folk art and embroidery. “This year I am especially excited by all shades of natural gray, charcoal and ecru accented with plums, coral, teal, jade and berry pinks and Adriatic blues,” Lost Horizons Designer, Julie Powell, says of this year’s colorways. As always, this range has been hand-crafted in Nepal and spotlights the artisanal skills of our talented knitting team. You’ll find specialized knitting techniques such as intarsia and fine hand-embroidery across the collection, plus a use of bobbles and three-dimensional stitches for texture and body. Other designs in the range are more subtle, such as the Akari and Midori accessories that both use Japanese Sashiko-style embroidery in dual tones, the Everly with its colored cables, and the crochet-adorned Celine. “It’s hard to pick a favorite, but I love the men’s Mateo Sweater because of its rich color palettes and authentic geometrics,” Julie says. “I also love the women’s Willow Accessories because of their gorgeous hand-knit cabling.” What is your favorite item from the new collection? We’d love to hear your feedback! Shop the latest Lost Horizons collection here.
Learn more
Meet the Retailer: Villages Calgary
Founded as a place for producers from marginalized communities around the globe to offer their wares to Canadian shoppers, Villages Calgary is one of the longest-running and most esteemed fair trade retailers in the country. The store’s history goes all the way back to 1984, when founder Erna Klippenstein offered up her family’s two-story tool shop on Crowchild Trail to start trading artisan goods. Today, the shop has a new name, but the ethos and mission is much the same as the day it all started – as is the location inside the Klippenstein’s old store. As a valued Lost Horizons retailer, Villages Calgary plays an essential role in creating sustainable employment opportunities for our artisan partners in Nepal. In October 2020, they joined us as a fully verified member of the Fair Trade Federation! We spoke to Villages Calgary Manager, Laura Drapeau, about what it’s like to run a retail business in 2020, and why fair trade is more important than ever. What is the philosophy behind Villages Calgary? At Villages Calgary, we believe that every producer should be able to have a sustainable livelihood and be treated with respect and dignity. Our role in that is to provide a market where producers can sell their fair trade goods to customers in Canada. As a not-for-profit, we are able to ensure a sustainable trade relationship with the producer groups that we work with and can share their stories with our customers. How did you first get involved with fair trade, and why is it so important to you? When the first group of volunteers founded our store in 1984, we were established with fair trade values at our root. Fair trade is important to us because it means that everyone involved in our supply chain is able to have access to food, clean water, shelter, income, education, medical aid and much more! Do you think the events of 2020 have changed consumers’ attitudes towards fair trade? We have spoken with several customers who have expressed how they have realized the importance of fair trade and shopping local in light of recent events. The importance of community and working together has really been highlighted during the pandemic. Locally, we are seeing hardship, which can lead us to feel empathy with marginalized communities who are experiencing similar hardships. Could you highlight a couple of items or any trends that are popular with your customers right now? Our Annual Rug Event was a huge success this year and we noticed similar patterns with some of our customers. Many had travel plans that have been cancelled and were looking for something exciting to make the winter feel less bleak. People are also spending more time in their homes this year than is typical. A new rug, tablecloth, basket, mittens or accessory is a great way to spruce things up. We are also seeing people begin their holiday shopping early so they can avoid going at the busier times of year! What motivates you to stock Lost Horizons? Do you have a favorite item in the collection? We love that the items are all hand-knit by artisans in Nepal, and knowing that the producers can carve out a livelihood for themselves in a community where jobs are scarce is great motivation. The fact that these items are also beautiful and well-made means they are popular among our customers and we’re able to sell even more of them. Our team at Villages Calgary loves the glittens! They are warm, stylish and allow for texting during the cold winter months. Shop Lost Horizons on the Villages Calgary website or in store at 220 Crowchild Trail NW, Calgary. For more, follow Villages Calgary on Facebook.
Learn more
Our Winter 2020 Collection is Here!
As the countdown to winter officially begins, we’re thrilled to present the latest Laundromat collection – our biggest and best yet! Earlier this month, we dropped the first Lost Horizons range of knitted accessories for women. This week, we’re proud to be adding a fresh line of Laundromat sweaters and accessories for men and women to the online store. The Winter 2020 Collection is Laundromat’s most extensive to date, with more designs and color combinations than ever before. We’ve added new sweater styles to our men’s and women’s ranges, a fresh line of hats, mittens and socks, plus a few additions to home décor. This season is all about mixing and matching styles and colorways to build a sustainable winter wardrobe. You’ll notice we’ve added a number of contemporary design features, including mock collars, vests, and bomber-style cuts to compliment our traditional pullover and zip-down sweaters. In Accessories, we’ve focused on adding more textural elements to our basic knits: Chunky ribbed knits, faux fur and luxurious merino wool all make an appearance. We’re also offering more of the comfy cotton-lined sweaters we know you love in a mix of single and double-ply knits. These are perfect for layering and are extremely versatile for wear across different climates and through the seasons. There’s more of the good stuff, too! We’re breathing new life into some of our best-selling designs by offering fresh color combinations in the styles you love most. The events of 2020 have presented significant challenges to the way Laundromat does business. We’re proud to have doubled down on our commitment to Fair Trade and sustainability this year. As with previous collections, all items have been designed in Canada and hand-knitted by our team of Fair Trade artisans in Nepal. Every purchase you make has an impact, especially now as our partners in the Kathmandu Valley fight to keep some sense of stability through a second wave of full lockdown in the capital. Paired with our vibrant Lost Horizons by Laundromat accessories, we hope this new collection brings a splash of color and a sense of joy to your winter. Shop the full Laundromat range. Shop our Lost Horizons women’s accessories.
Learn more
Introducing Lost Horizons – New Handknitted Accessories for Women
Winter is almost upon us, and we’ve been working on something exciting in the lead up to the 2020/21 season. It’s with great excitement that we can finally announce a new member of the Laundromat family, and a new collection! Introducing our sister company, Lost Horizons. The name might be new to you, but Lost Horizons is an established brand with a long and celebrated history. The company was founded in 1985 to create meaningful employment and artisan-level training opportunities for women in Nepal. Like Laundromat, Lost Horizons is a Member of the Fair Trade Federation. After working in parallel for many years, we had an opportunity to bring Lost Horizons into the Laundromat fold. We are committed to upholding their reputation for beautiful, high-quality Fair Trade knitwear and excited to be extending Lost Horizons’ impact by making the full collection available to buy online for the first time in the brand’s history. The first Lost Horizons collection is a range of knitted accessories made exclusively for women. Designed in the US and knitted in Nepal, we have 30 brand new designs characterized by intricate embroidery, artisan techniques and rich color palettes. These styles are totally unique and pair perfectly with Laundromat’s offerings to bring more diversity to your winter wardrobe. We hope you will agree that the addition of Lost Horizons is the perfect complement to our already growing collection of sweaters and accessories. Shop the Lost Horizons collection.
Learn more
Meet the Retailer: The Better Good
When Laura and Corey Neufeld launched their retail store The Better Good, they had one goal in mind: To become Saskatoon's one stop shop for ethical goods. A decade later, the pair have well and truly established themselves as a leading retailer of planet and people-friendly products, helping countless members of the local community to lead a more sustainable lifestyle. We chatted to Corey and Laura about their retail philosophy and why they choose to stock Laundromat. Could you tell us a little bit about the history of The Better Good and how you first got started? We opened in 2009 on Broadway Avenue in Saskatoon. We stayed in that location for five years, then had the opportunity to buy our own building a block away. It's been wonderful to have our own space because we've been able to do things like go fully solar powered! We wanted to run a local bricks-and-mortar business to support the needs of our city. Ten years ago, it was quite difficult to find environmentally and socially sustainable products in person in Saskatoon, let alone all combined under the one roof. We wanted to provide options for people who felt overwhelmed with having to research and source the products they needed and wanted to live more sustainably. What does ‘sustainable living’ mean to you, and why is it important? Sustainable means living in a way that the world can support. It's important because we all live on into the future for forever – both in the mark we make on people and the planet during our lives, but also through our children. Every bit of ourselves will become something new, over and over endlessly. We believe it is important to take good care of it all, now and for the future. What are your top 3 tips for someone who wants to live more sustainably but might not know where to start? Need little, want less. Forget the rules. Be untroubled. – Lao Tzu, translated by Ursula K Le Guin from The Tao Te Ching The Better Good invests 10% of earnings back into the local community. What have you been able to achieve thus far? It's common to give 10% to support one's spiritual community, and our spiritual community is our whole city. We have a focus on environmental and social justice, and so far have supported more than 60 projects with donations ranging from $1000-$15,000. Every contribution is intended to have a direct impact on people, planet, plants and animals. What motivates you to stock Laundromat’s range? Is there something particular about our brand that you love? It's Fair Trade! And it's beautifully cozy!
Learn more
Threads of Hope
The past few months have been extremely challenging for everyone. Amidst the chaos of having our business turned upside down – and the heartache of seeing our partners in Nepal and bricks-and-mortar retailers in Canada and the US face unprecedented insecurity – there are still threads of hope keeping us optimistic about the future of Laundromat. The lockdown continues in Nepal While here in Canada things are gradually getting back to ‘normal’, Nepal, where all Laundromat Fair Trade knitwear is produced, remains under full lockdown. The date for reopening keeps getting pushed further and further back. With each new extension, the situation becomes murkier. COVID-19 remains a serious problem in Nepal, and there are fears that the coming monsoon season will only make things worse. Every year, large parts of the country succumb to flood waters, forcing the temporary evacuation of small villages. More than half of Nepal’s emergency evacuation sites don’t have hand-washing facilities, and less than a quarter have the capacity to quarantine the sick. The pandemic continues to put immense strain on an already fragile healthcare system. The tourist economy, which accounts for almost 10% of Nepal’s GDP, has come to a standstill. On top of that, Nepal normally relies on trade with neighboring countries to obtain essentials like food and fuel. An estimated 60% of communities in Nepal are now facing food scarcity as the country’s borders remain sealed. Necessary as it may be to protecting the health of the most vulnerable, Nepal’s shutdown continues to have a devastating impact on local workers and small companies that do business in Nepal (including Laundromat). Strict lockdown measures mean that majority of the people responsible for making our sweaters haven’t yet been able to return to work. An embargo on exports and air traffic has disrupted our usual annual calendar. But it’s our artisan partners – the women from rural villages who rely on knitting to support themselves and their families – who have been suffering most. Hope springs from chaos Throughout the crisis, we’ve been in close contact with our Nepali partners, doing whatever we can to help them through. It was during one of these phone conversations that we discovered our long-term supplier in Kathmandu had come up with a rather brilliant (and bold!) way to keep artisans employed. Many of the women who knit Laundromat woolens work from their home villages. Normally this is a good thing as it limits their expenses and allows them to stay close to family and care for their children. But when they can’t get into the city to access the materials they need to fulfill orders, it becomes a barrier. With movement in and out of Kathmandu limited to essential services, our partners needed a way to reach the knitters who live outside the city. So, in the middle of the night, they loaded a small truck with wool, which they then concealed with vegetables to avoid suspicion at the highway checkpoints. Thanks to their daring ingenuity, our largest group of artisans received the supplies they needed to start knitting again. They also got some much-needed food for their families. We have it on good authority that more ‘vegetable deliveries’ are planned for the coming weeks. We’re also encouraged by the recent news that some spinning and dyeing facilities on the outskirts of Kathmandu have been able to re-open at a decreased capacity. We’re so inspired by the resourcefulness and dedication of our Nepali partners who are constantly making the most out of difficult situations. What all this means for our customers We are more determined than ever to keep things running smoothly for Laundromat customers and retailers. Thanks to a bit of forward-planning, we already have stock of your favorite sweaters – including our best-sellers – made and waiting in Nepal. As soon as air transport resumes (now predicted for June 30), we’ll be operating at full inventory again. We are continuing to ship orders to our customers in Canada and the US as normal (although it may take a little longer than usual for your items to arrive – thanks for your patience!). Rest assured that all orders placed through our online store will be dispatched as soon as possible. We will continue to do whatever we can to help our partners in Nepal get back on their feet. We’re also determined to support small brick-and-mortar stores here in Canada and the US who have had it tough lately. Behind the scenes, we’re working on ways to make our brand more resilient by amplifying our online presence and developing new solutions for customers and retailers. More news on that to come! Thank you as always for your support – it means more now than ever.
Learn more
Coronavirus in Canada & Nepal: An Important Update From Laundromat
First and foremost, we hope you are safe and in good health. In this time of unprecedented uncertainty, we thought we would share a quick update from our teams in Canada and Nepal. Like you, we are still adjusting to our ‘new normal’. The health and well-being of our staff, partners and retailers is at the forefront of our minds, and we are investing our energy into supporting our families and communities through this crisis. Recent events have prompted some big changes here at Laundromat – as with all businesses globally. In Quebec, we are under a full shutdown, with all non-essential businesses closed for at least three weeks. Our staff are working from home, but our online store remains open. For our Canadian customers, we are currently still able to ship all online orders. For our customers in the USA, our fulfillment partner is closed until April 15, 2020, so there will be a delay in shipping. Thank you for your patience and understanding as we navigate this unknown territory. We will keep you updated via Facebook should the situation change. Coronavirus in Nepal As a Fair Trade, people-focused company, our chief concern is the safety and welfare of our staff. Laundromat partners with a team of artisans in Nepal’s Kathmandu Valley, a part of the world that has been seriously impacted by the pandemic. As it stands, Nepal only has 3 confirmed cases of COVID-19, but this could reflect a lack of testing. ‘Stay at home’ is the resounding message in Nepal, with schools, businesses and public venues closed, flights grounded, and limits put on ground transportation. Public gatherings are capped at 25 people, including at temples. The streets of Kathmandu, usually buzzing with energy and activity, are now eerily quiet. As are our partner’s workshops and packing facilities, which will remain shuttered until further notice. In the short-term, we are seriously concerned about the availability of testing and adequate medical care in Nepal. In addition, there are mounting concerns over fuel and food shortages that could potentially arise. Nepal relies on India and China for gas, cooking oil and other essentials. With land borders sealed for the foreseeable future, the potential long-term consequences could be dire. Just as the country was starting to find its feet again after the 2015 earthquake, this is yet another major setback for Nepal’s economy. Now more than ever, Nepal needs our support and solidarity to get through this crisis. We are monitoring the situation closely and coordinating with our partners on the ground in Kathmandu to ensure we can support them any way we can. How you can help small businesses survive COVID-19 Small businesses like Laundromat, our production partners and many of our independent retailers in Canada and the USA are facing unprecedented challenges. While health and safety are the number one priority right now, we’re also thinking ahead to the future. We have no doubt that we will overcome this trial by coming together as a community and rallying behind those most vulnerable. Rest assured that all online orders made through the Laundromat store will be fulfilled as soon as possible. When the time is right and when it’s safe to do so, we also encourage you to get out and support local businesses in your area – stores like Ernie’s Sports Experts and Fair Trade Winds. Thank you for your ongoing support at this difficult time. To receive future updates, please make sure you’re following us on Facebook and are subscribed to our email newsletter. Safe wishes, and stay healthy! Francis & The Laundromat Team
Learn more
Meet the Retailer: Snowbasin Resort
You've seen us in urban retail stores – but did you know that Laundromat is also stocked at winter resorts across Canada and the US? The beautiful Snowbasin Resort in Huntsville, Utah, is one of our longest-running retail partners. The Grizzly Center Retail Shop at Snowbasin offers skiers all the sportswear, outerwear and accessories they need for a great day out on the slopes. That includes a selection of our fleece-lined sweaters and accessories. We caught up with Cindy, Snowbasin's Retail Manager, to get her take on this year's ski season and why Laundromat sweaters are the perfect winter sports accessory. What is the history of Snowbasin? Snowbasin Resort is one of the oldest continuously operating ski areas in the nation. We officially opened in 1940 as Ogden’s Winter Playground when two rope tows were installed to pull skiers up Becker Hill. Snowbasin hosted its first ski race in December 1940, attracting 75 racers. Sverre and Corey Engen opened Snowbasin’s first ski school in 1941. Over the years, the resort has hosted NCAA National Ski Championships, the 2001 Disabled World Cup, and the Utah Winter Games. In 2002, we hosted the Men’s and Women’s Olympic Winter Games Downhill, Super G, Combined, and Paralympic events. Can you tell us a bit about The Grizzly Center Shop and the kind of products you sell? The Grizzly Retail Shop is the only retail space at Snowbasin Resort. It's an elegant space that highlights unique products. The shop is filled with ski and snowboard apparel, as well as all the items you need to stay warm and dry while on the mountain. We also carry sportswear products, such as Laundromat, that are wonderful cold-weather items. It's our continual goal to offer our customers a wide variety of styles. What motivates you to stock Laundromat apparel? We've always loved that Laundromat is committed to Fair trade practices. In fact, we were one of the very first US retailers to start stocking Laundromat. We’ve had steady sales since we first brought the sweaters into our shop many years ago! What are some of your favorite items in the store at the moment? It never hurts to look good while you're having fun. There are lots of quality products in the Grizzly Retail Shop to keep skiers/snowboarders warm and dry, and looking good at the same time. If you have a favorite ski run, you can stop off in the shop and purchase a trail sign. Do your customers have a favorite Laundromat design? We have a wide variety of customers and that translates into differing tastes. Every season, different Laundromat products come to the forefront.
Learn more
Meet the Retailer: Fair Trade Winds
From church fairs to four stores across the US, this family run business is a fair trade pioneer.
Learn more
