PPB April 2020

A l lmade SOCIAL GOOD V ancouver, Washington- based supplier Allmade was founded by the leaders of nine screen-printing companies, who saw an opportunity to make a difference in the environment by using fewer resources and bettering the lives of people living and working in Haiti, one of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere. Together, Ryonet, Printed Threads, Mel Lay, Nothing Too Fancy, Superior Ink, Barrel Maker Printing, Maui Screen Printing, Rockford Art Deli and Synergy Media Ltd.—companies that purchase hundreds of thousands of t-shirts annually to sell to printers as blank canvases and to customers as customized, printed shirts—combined their industry knowledge to focus primarily on the human and environmental impacts of t-shirt manufacturing, while continuing to provide clients and end users with high-quality, fashion- forward tees. “This founding group, with the support of the rest of the screen-printing industry, has a unique opportunity to influence the apparel market by suggesting and offering socially and environmentally responsible alternatives to our customers, who are often unaware of the exploitative nature of t-shirt manufacturing and its environmental impact,” says Ryan Moor, CEO of Ryonet and co- founder and chief visionary officer of Allmade. It all started when leaders from these screen-printing companies traveled together to Haiti, though it was a vision long shared by the leaders individually. “Being in the apparel industry for 15 years as a decoration supplier, I always had an eye on getting into blank apparel. Better shirts equal better prints, equal more success and higher value in the industry, after all,” says Moor. He was approached by one of Ryonet’s customers, who runs the Global Orphan Project (GO Project), a nonprofit in Kansas City, to accompany them to The Impact Felt Around The World Supplier Allmade, founded by a group of screen- printing distributor companies, makes earth- conscious t-shirts that give new life to plastic bottles—and to families in Haiti. by Danielle Renda Dustin Burnett (in hat), a co-founder of Allmade and owner of print shop Nothing Too Fancy, visited Haiti, as have all the leaders of Allmade's co-founding companies, to see firsthand the work the organization supports and to meet the people who benefit from it. 62 | APRIL 2020 | THINK