Joe is a leader who embraces change — and mistakes.
“The biggest mistakes I count as our biggest blessings,” he explained. “When you’re in the mode of ‘things are going well,’ that’s the most dangerous because that means you’re not taking any chances.”
That mindset has been helpful over the last few years as his business, and the larger textile recovery sector, experienced the effects of global conflicts and disruption to supply chains.
Apparel Impact has evolved from simply collecting textiles to sorting, grading, upcycling, and serving as an intermediary in the movement of textiles across the U.S.
“We’re trying to branch out and do many different things within the realm of reuse and recycling to secure us — but also to help us grow in different areas,” Joe said.
The company recently gained attention for its new brands in the upcycling space: The Alpine Collection and Inherit Vintage.
Apparel Impact partnered with The Drift Collective, a Portsmouth, N.H.-based upcycling brand that repairs, recreates, and sells secondhand clothing, to reclaim outdoor clothing from ski resorts and create durable new gear. Loon Mountain debuted sling bags made from discarded ski team jackets in its store this winter.
Joe hopes to add upcycling partnerships with other businesses and organizations in the future.
If discarded textiles are common in dumpsters, vintage clothing (clothing more than 20 years old) is at the opposite end of the scale.
Vintage clothing represents 1% of all used clothing in the country, according to Joe. But not at Apparel Impact.
“We have about 9,000 pieces of vintage, and once we actually go through them and list them, it'll make us one of the largest vintage brands in the country,” Joe said.
Despite his success, Joe has never forgotten the “no’s” he encountered 10 years ago. Now, he uses the memories as motivation.
“That’s what allows us to continue growing and for me to prove them wrong,” he said.