SEA CHANGE

FROM BACKPACKS MADE FROM UPCYCLED YACHT SAILS TO DUFFELS WOVEN FROM RECYCLED MATERIALS, MIKE SCHLEBACH AND JASPER EALES ARE CHANGING THE GROUND RULES FOR “GREEN” FASHION. HERE’S HOW THEY TURNED THEIR PASSION FOR THE OUTDOORS AND PROTECTING THE ENVIRONMENT INTO A CREATIVE BUSINESS WITH GLOBAL APPEAL.

- Kieran Legg

It’s 2012, and Mike Schlebach is running a store in Hout Bay. He has a novel concept: stylish bags and accessories made from old yacht sails.

Intrigued, Jasper Eales’ father stops to browse through some of the products. He’s impressed; but more importantly, he thinks his son – an award-winning design graduate living in the area – will be interested in what Mike is doing.

Three weeks later Jasper walks through the door. It will be a few years before they launch a business together, but the two gel immediately; they’re both avid surfers who spend every free moment outdoors.

Just a chance encounter. They shake hands, and promise to stay in touch.

Over the next seven years, that encounter swells to become Sealand; a stylish but-functional fashion brand, with an unflinching focus on the environment – and customers across the world.

SHIFTING TIDES

In the US (and many other places), companies produce more than 16 million tons of new textiles every year. The average person will toss out around 35kg of clothing every 365 days. It’s an industry that produces copious waste – fashion is the second-most polluting industry, according to the Lenzing group – which is why “sustainable fashion” has become a hot topic among the world’s biggest brands.

adidas has its 100% recycled shoe. Even watchmakers are making straps from plastic scooped up from the ocean. And new brands crop up every month with their own more sustainable models.

But for Jasper, “sustainability” is a bit of a misnomer: “It doesn’t really mean anything, or it means everything,” he says. “It’s too broad a term. That’s why we talk about ‘environmentally responsible’ or ‘socially responsible’.”