Ace Gold Green Brings Circular Touch to the Classic Tee
Adriano Goldschmied and Beau Lawrence have kept busy during the COVID-19 lockdown with a new denim-adjacent endeavor.
Leveraging their combined 70 years in the denim business, Adriano and Beau are making over the classic T-shirt with the Type One Tee, a concept rooted in circularity. Made out of a blend of hemp and TENCEL™ Lyocell, the shirt is designed to be more durable and lower impact than a typical tee.
Other sustainable touches include TENCEL™ Lyocell sewing thread from Crafil and Officina +39’s Recycrom™ dye, which is made from textile waste. The shirt is also being manufactured in Los Angeles and will ship in compostable mailers, further limiting the tee’s carbon footprint.
Adriano stressed that one of the things that separates this project is the collaboration with all of the suppliers. “We have a kind of partnership that is the only way in my opinion to bring innovation and to do better,” he said. “And so this one is a very important lesson for the future, and it’s very different from the way we’ve been working in the past.”
Along with building sustainability into its tee, Ace Gold Green has signed on with 1% for the Planet to give at least 1 percent of its annual sales to environmental nonprofits.
“We’ve certainly been talking as an industry about the importance of misused words like sustainability. But doing the right thing with the right types of fibers and the right types of finishing and process, so we’ve been lucky to couple all of that into this Type One Tee,” said Beau. “And in addition to that, looking at the consumers that have physically come into my store, that I see now on the weekends, and talking to them about product and what they’re inspired by, it’s incredible to understand the level of interest that the individual consumer has on the importance of doing right for the planet.”
Adriano and Beau are no strangers to launching brands. Known as the “Godfather of Denim,” Adriano estimates that this is his 56th brand launch in his five decades in the business. He previously created labels including Diesel, Replay, Gap 1969, Goldsign, AG Jeans and A Golde.
Meanwhile, Beau started his own label Ace Rivington in 2013 via Kickstarter after working in the business for brands including Guess.
This launch, however, was different due to the unusual circumstances surrounding the pandemic. The idea for the concept was developed on a phone call, and the two co-founders didn’t see each other in person during the development process.
“We live in an era where we are not able to see each other to work together, but we are positive, and we do everything we need in a digital way,” said Adriano. “And this is a demonstration that we can do that.”
Furthering the brand’s digital push, on July 17, Carved in Blue hosted a virtual party to celebrate the Kickstarter campaign for Ace Gold Green. While it was unfortunate that we weren’t able to get together in person, it gave us the chance to connect with and hear from friends around the globe.
“While we prefer to gather in person, it was a wonderful opportunity to celebrate the ideas, innovation and collaboration of Adriano and Beau for Ace Gold Green’s Type One Tee. Our guests joined from around the globe to commemorate this launch,” said Tricia Carey, Director of Global Business Development at Lenzing.
Watch the full launch party below.
The duo is well on their way to their $10,000 fundraising goal, with the money raised going toward their first production run. To learn more and to pledge, visit their Kickstarter page.