Guiding brands in the right direction
by folks, for folks
We live as we learn, not a distant brand but instead at the heart of reality. Rooted in Småland, we are a family where everyone belongs. Everything we do is for real, we are one with our consumers. Each seam in each garment is designed with experience, expertise and care, in Värnamo. Our inspiration comes from how folks actually do things, not from how we want them to do. We are driven by common sense, stubbornness, curiosity and a bit of Småland’s ingenuity. Proud to be local – in Småland, Sweden. Community is a strength. Pinewood is the result of determined collaboration. We know this. We love this.
Pinewood. At the heart of reality.
About Rainer
Many outdoor brands have incredible stories of how the founder summited peaks in distant countries, or crossed snow-covered mountain ranges with only home made gear. For us, his name is Rainer plain and simple.
And you could argue that he founded his brand somewhere along road 153 east of Ullared, in the fall of 1994. There he was in a rest area, sitting in a rusty Opel Ascona from ’83, and had just sold his first container of the future classics that would become synonymous with his company: large-checked Canada shirts. The smile filled the little green car. The shirts were the last of exactly 8016, that Rainer had brought home from his university friends in Beijing, in two slow containers over three oceans. But the first of what would become Pinewood.
If you want something done, you better do it yourself’ is a saying that fits the small entrepreneurial town of Gnosjö in southern Sweden, which played a part in Rainer’s youth. The big forest started only 50 meters from his house, and there also began exploring, hut building, scouting, and a life-long interest in hunting and the outdoors. In Gnosjö, life revolved around small business, and in his young years Rainer got to witness his farther starting up one leather company after another. But one day it all went away. The parents split up, and the 12 year old Rainer was shipped off alone to Taiwan, of all places, where he quickly had to learn to take care of himself in one of the multi-million city Taipei’s many student corridors. Without knowing a word of whatever they were speaking.
To be abandoned in a foreign country as a 12 year old may sound dramatic. At the same time, there are many examples of people that have managed remarkable things at a young age. Mozart wrote operas, Jean d’Arc led an army, Laura Dekker circumnavigated the earth and Nadia Comeneci won an Olympic gold. Rainer began to understand Chinese.
After the years in Taipei, a hunger for more opportunities woke up. At this point, nothing felt impossible, and Rainer eventually started to study Mandarin at the University in Beijing. This place was filled with interesting personalities, and a few of his closest friends came from textile families. So, one day the question came. Would he possibly be able to bring a couple of containers with lined flannel shirts to Sweden, and see if they could be sold there? He could. And he did.
It’s not that strange, that it ended up being a pine. Pine is a very common tree, strong by itself, but forms magnificent forests together. It grows from north to south and has been a resource for a thousand years. It also makes a great logo. Pinewood. Simple. International. Common. Like Rainer.
Today, Pinewood has developed into an international outdoor brand, from 2 containers of Canada shirts to a turnover of more than 10 million Euro. But while everything has changed, nothing has changed. The Canada shirt is still around. Rainers point of view is the same. The team spirit and belief in the group - which now amounts to 28 people in Värnamo. To exist at the heart of reality is still what inspires the most. Meeting people each day, who share experiences from the nature next door. How do you make a jacket so simple, yet thought-through, that it’s always the one that goes with you to the forest? It’s not more complicated than that.
People are mostly the same anywhere in the world. On good days, we’re driven by the joy of doing what we love. Getting outside should be easy. Out in nature, in the sun, or rain. Let the impulse guide, without clothes setting the limit. Somewhere in there, we find Rainer’s view on design. Well, on himself, others and life in general. We’re in this together. And for all those moments, there’s a brand from southern Sweden creating gear made to be used.
History
A lot changes in a quarter of a century. Countries disappear, and new ones are formed. We modernise our values and our technologies. Children grow up. Memories become clearer and yet strangely fade at the same time. But some things never change – our amazement at nature, for one.
The planet isn’t as impressed with us, though. We are living at the planet’s limits, and over the last 25 years, it’s become clear that mankind is the villain in this unfolding drama. Our constant quest for more, faster and better breeds instability and conflict, melts the icecaps, desolates the forests, wipes out fish populations, eradicates species and causes extreme weather events.
As a manufacturer of clothing, we are well aware of our role in all of this. Pinewood’s vision from the start has been to contribute to a healthier nature – by producing clothes that have as little effect on it as possible. Clothes that last so you don’t need to buy new ones. Timeless pieces that remain modern. Clothes that can be worn for anything, so you don’t need so many. Clothes without harmful chemicals. And above all, clothes made to be worn outdoors for a long time – that make us appreciate nature, and how we can protect it, even more.
It all began in 1994, with the now iconic Canada shirt. The all-purpose large-checked flannel garment that suits everyone. We could have probably settled for that, because with a Pinewood Canada shirt hanging on the porch, you’re ready for anything from hunting and fishing, to hiking, picking mushrooms, walking the dog, a work meeting, camping, bad weather, and naps in the hammock! But actually, this was just the beginning. In 1996, Pinewood was registered as a company and we were off. Then came Finnveden. Our classic pant that has become a treasured possession of over 100,000 nature lovers. We soon set up Nordic distribution, and Norway, Denmark and Finland have been onboard from day one. Our little company moves from mum’s basement to our first premises, at a whopping 35 m2.
For a few years we slowly upgrade, and in 2001, with 4 staff members, we move into a 95 m2 office. Turnover has by now snuck up to almost SEK 15 million, and we start our sales in Germany. In 2006, we inaugurate our very own 300 m2 offices and a 3200 m2 warehouse. Turnover doubles, as does the number of staff. Now it was time… for a website.
But it was also time to make sustainability an even larger part of Pinewood. So in 2008, we opened our own factory in China, with fair salaries and full control of the manufacturing process. A few years later, we joined amfori/BSCI, and in 2017, they carried out a successful inspection of our China factory. That same year, we stopped using perfluorocarbons (PFCs) in our garments. In 2019, our first t-shirt made from organic cotton was produced, and in the autumn of 2020, our first collection made from entirely recycled polyester was launched.
But it’s this year that the most is happening. 25 years after we started, we’re launching our first ever t-shirt made entirely from waste from other textile production. We’re bringing out jackets and vests in synthetic down, made from recycled PET bottles. And on the home front, we’re installing solar panels at our head offices and warehouse, with the aim of becoming self-sufficient on solar energy. But the greatest breakthrough has been decided for the future. From the autumn of 2022, we’re aiming for 50% of all new Pinewood products to be produced using sustainable materials.
And even if there are now 30 of us, and our little basement office has grown into a modern industry – a walk-n-talk in the forest will always be more inviting to us than a sit-down in a conference room. Pinewood can be found in thousands of Swedish homes and cabins – not least in our own, as every garment is made to meet our own interests. For every shirt, jacket or pant that we develop, there’s a piece of reality sewn in. A moment where the clothes right there and then are completely right.
Not least for nature.
