GARNET HILL CELEBRATES 50 YEARS OF SUSTAINABILITY AND INNOVATION

For the brand Garnet Hill, sustainability goes beyond the fashion industry. Its work with eco-friendly materials spans its 50-year history. Environmental responsibility is woven into the brand’s fibre, and it’s sustainable pieces include clothing, swimwear, shoes, and home linens. Essentially, Garnet Hill makes sure sustainability is in mind in every aspect of everyday life. 

Pegge Kirschner and her husband, Grant Dowse, founded the brand in 1976 after a trip to Europe three years earlier, from which they brought home a dreamy, cozy pair of cotton flannel sheets. They soon realized that they couldn’t find that kind of quality in textiles in the United States, and set out on a mission to change that. 

Credit: Garnet Hill

Back in their New Hampshire home, they began to collaborate with nearby artisans and found their natural fibre groove. Things were going so well, in fact, that they decided to keep the ball rolling, expanding to offer flannel sleepwear, wool sweaters, cashmere scarves, and more.

Tragically, Kirschner and Dowse passed away in a 1985 plane crash, but their legacy lives on in the form of Garnet Hill, which has since expanded even further. But before the tragedy, they’d established a legacy to build on, from the iconic wrap to being a sustainable brand years before it came into public consciousness. The Hamblin family eventually purchased Garnet Hill, maintaining its status as a family-run company for another decade, and carrying on the sustainable values of the brand while growing to use other eco-conscious textiles like TENCEL. Under the Hamblin family’s direction, Garnet Hill became the biggest employer in the Bethlehem, New Hampshire, area, but it also became a model for sustainability in the United States. 

Credit: Garnet Hill

Garnet Hill’s state-of-the-art factory became a model for sustainability in the United States, offering what was, at the time, progressive cross-training. The company also became the largest purveyor of organic cotton in the United States through a partnership with Green Cotton Group, a Danish company. 

The brand also joined the Textile Exchange in 2018, furthering its commitment to sustainability through the non-profit initiative that drives positive action on climate change in the fashion and textile industries. 

To celebrate 50 years of forward thinking and sustainable innovation, Garnet Hill unveiled a series of collections that pay homage to the history of the brand, including an archival collection, a collection with a limited-edition print called Franconia, which celebrates the brand’s hometown, and a drop of its most iconic designs. 

In those 50 years, Garnet Hill’s innovation went beyond fashion, establishing partnerships with companies in global environments like Peru to develop sustainable textiles that exist beyond fashion, expanding its concept of sustainability to include bedding and home textiles that have been celebrated by outlets like the New York Times. The modern concept of sustainability didn’t exist in 1976, but Garnet Hill blazed the trail for many eco-conscious brands with a bright future of textiles that honour the environment and are responsibly crafted through every step of the process, in many ways creating a more sustainable future in fashion.