SUMNER, Wash. — Put on something from Five12 Apparel and you might be wearing fishnets - plastic bottles - windshields - even coffee grounds.
"Five12 is a planet-friendly highly technical activewear brand,” said Brooklyn Gould-Bradbury, Five12’s co-founder.
Everything this Sumner clothing company makes is garbage.
In a good way.
“So this is made from recycled coffee grounds and plastic water bottles,” said Director of Operations Allison Wood, referencing the jacket she’s wearing.
“We've moved into also utilizing recycled ghost fishing nets from the Pacific garbage patch, as well as ocean plastics and garbage,” added Brooklyn, explaining that thread made from melted down plastics and waste is used in the athletic gear they design and develop.
These friends share a love of the environment - and fussiness about fitness gear.
“So we were both actually collegiate athletes, we both played volleyball we've been pals for a long time, and we were very very particular about our activewear – what we wore, how it fit,” said Brooklyn.
In 2016, they started designing the activewear they wanted to wear and launched Five12 Apparel. The recycled materials in these clothes aren't just feel-good marketing - they give the fabrics special properties. Jackets made from plastic shrug off water. T-shirts made of 75 percent coffee thread are 100 percent nonstinky.
“Coffee grounds are a natural odor blocker so when you melt those down, and we add those it helps just fight any kind of athletic odors or sweat,” explained Brooklyn.
The company name - Five12 - is also a highway that runs between Tacoma and Puyallup - a shout out to pride of place.
"So a lot of people when we go do events out of the area, they're like oh your from Seattle and we're like no, we're from the South Sound!” said Allison.
And these South Sound friends - and soon-to-be sportswear moguls - want to get everyone to reuse, recycle and rethink when it comes to buying clothes.
"Making clothing out of the garbage and things that we consume every single day has been so cool and such a learning experience,” said Brooklyn. Allison added, “And it’s really cool to do it with your friend.”
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