Thread x Timberland Partnership: A collaboration without compromise

The beauty of a boot or bag is found in its fundamental elements. How does it look? And what can it do? No one answer is more important than the other. Form or function? The trail or pavement? You want it all.

The power of a successful new partnership lies in the idea that to compromise is to sell yourself short. This spring, we are proud to unveil a line of products developed with Thread’s Ground to Good™ fabric, harvested from plastic bottles littering the streets and landfills of Haiti. Thread is a group of self-proclaimed “responsibili-geeks” who have set out to make the most responsible fabric on the planet. A fabric that not only contributes to a cleaner planet, but also creates thousands of jobs in developing nations.

The Thread x Timberland collection uses a canvas fabric that Thread has developed that meets or exceeds all of Timberland’s stringent durability and performance standards. And the result is a line of bags and boots as strong as they are good. It was collaboration without compromise. 

“When you touch this material, you know it’s a premium canvas,” says Margaret Morey-Reuner, Director of Strategic Partnerships at Timberland. “The boots and bags are soft, yet durable. They sit proudly and beautifully.”

In a world where the bottom line and a better world seem in competition, Timberland and Thread are grounded in a different idea: That doing good business and doing good in the world are not mutually exclusive.

“When you put materials like ours into products like Timberland's, it's a perfect example,” says Thread founder, Ian Rosenberger. “It doesn't require delusion. It’s not green-washing. By simply buying a boot or a bag, you're contributing to somebody else's life getting better.”

The new line will be the first opportunity to tell the compelling story of Thread’s completely transparent supply chain, and will feature bags and men’s and women’s boots. From bottle collection to fabric production, the company tracks the collectors, the sorting facilities and the impact on Haiti’s economy and environment every step of the way. The stakeholders are accounted for as much as the shareholders.

On a recent trip to Haiti, we brought along some of the shoes and gathered the collectors to reveal the result of their efforts. “They were in disbelief,” says Kelsey Halling, Director of Impact for Thread.

“There is a desire to do work that matters,” she says, “to be involved in something bigger than yourself.”

The feeling is mutual. 

 At Timberland, we work hard to make our products responsibly, protect the outdoors and serve our communities around the globe. Check out a few easy ways you can go green.