Get SUST!

As the world moves toward a greener lifestyle SUST will meet you there to hook you up with ultra-cool and modern Eco-Basics. SUST is more than just brand claiming to do good they work with local manufactures and the highest quality of U.S. grown organic cotton. This reduces the impact of their production process and lessens their carbon footprint. SUST encourages sustainable farming practices for the health of all ecological systems benefiting communities, our children and the world we live in... That's what's up!

Photo #2: SUST Creator Tristan Gribbin and Creative Director Marion McKee

Here is a lil' eco-chat I had Tristan Gribbin the Creator of the SUST Brand;

Eco Hustler: How did SUST come to life?

Tristan Gribbin: In January 2000 I did a nine day spiritual meditation retreat which was very powerful. One thing I got from it was the name and the concept for SUST which came to me in a lightning bolt revelation. The name SUST is short for "sustainable" and a play on the British slang word "sussed" which means, according to the Oxford English dictionary: well-informed, street-wise, in the know, "cool".
My partner Marion McKee and I were told back then that the world wasn't ready for organic clothing so the idea went on the back burner. In 2007, however, the magazines were all going nuts over Green, Eco fashion and there were still only a very few pioneering companies supplying organic apparel. We decided to jump in, since it was still early days in the great scheme of things. Our friends Scott Leonard, CEO of Indigenous Designs www.indigenousdesigns.com and his partner Matt Reynolds had already created an innovative business model for an organic+fair trade clothing company fourteen years ago, way ahead of the pack. Scott signed on from day one as our mentor. Scott, Marion, Matt and I had all been friends since junior high school days in Palo Alto. We joined forces with another Palo Altan, Kevin Baum a 20 year veteran in the apparel company, our new CEO. Now we have an amazing team to take SUST into the future, with deep roots in the sustainability space.

EH: With a background as an actress do you find people not taking you serious as a designer and environmentalist, as if you are just following trends?

TG: Sustainability is not a trend to me. I've been aware of the movement for organic food since I was a child - I grew up in walking distance from California's first health food store in Palo Alto, California. My Dad was a radical hippie who worked on the Rainbow Warrior, helped make radiation detectors and solar panels on The Farm, and was a serious anti-nuclear activist. This movement is in my blood, and I have a lifelong passion for it. I also had the good fortune to work with Paul Hawken at the Natural Capital Institute. Developing SUST has brought me deeper into this movement in a powerful way.

EH: What can the fashion industry learn from new eco-conscious brands like Sust?

TG: That choosing organic fabrics is a choice that can be made for the greater good, and also for the good of your own brand's image.

EH: What advice would have to offer a non-green person?

TG: Get SUST!