This Kellogg MBA Is Helping To Reduce Clothing Waste, 1 Pair Of Jeans At A Time
Kellogg MBA Marcus Schneider has launched a sustainable clothing brand, again&again. Courtesy photo
During Marcus Schneider’s time as senior supply chain analyst at Nike, he was shocked by the amount of clothing sitting in distribution centers after being returned. All were destined for the landfill.
Schneider’s concerned with the environmental impact of a brand known for its sustainability practices grew as he realized other apparel companies were probably much worse. “The problem with waste isn’t a Nike problem — it’s an industry problem,” he says.
The average American throws away approximately 80 pounds of clothing and textiles annually, occupying nearly 5% of landfill space. Fashion production makes up 10% of the world’s carbon emissions. Even washing clothes can impact the environment, as thousands of microplastics from synthetic materials are sent into the ocean.
Since Schneider’s exposure to one of the clothing industry’s dark realities, he was determined to help the industry change. An MBA was in his future.
“I knew there had to be a way to create clothes people could feel great in and great about,” he tells Poets&Quants. “This is the idea I brought with me into business school.”
THE PULL TO ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Marcus Schneider
Originally a material science engineering undergrad from Dartmouth College, Schneider worked at Deloitte Consulting after graduation before landing his gig at Nike.
As it does for many, working in corporate environments spurred him to explore entrepreneurship; he wanted to be a bigger part of a company’s decision-making process. Plus, after witnessing such exorbitant apparel waste, Schneider knew that he wanted to have the power to make changes.
Motivated to take action, he applied to the full-time MBA program at Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, and in 2018 began the journey that would eventually lead him to create a new sustainable clothing company, again&again.
STARTING A MOVEMENT, ONE PAIR OF JEANS AT A TIME
In his first month of studies in the entrepreneurship pathway at Kellogg, Schneider went to an Entrepreneurship & Venture Capital Club event to hear professor Paul Earle speak. It was an inspiring evening. Soon after, Schneider set up a coffee meeting with Earle and pitched his ideas on how he could help make Earle’s idea for a venture a reality.
Impressed by Schneider’s drive, Earle offered him a summer internship in generating concepts for new ventures. When Earle said that he wanted to create something in the apparel industry, Schneider responded, “I have just the idea for you.”
The idea was to create a sustainable, upcycled clothing company, and after some research, Earle and Schneider decided to tackle jeans, an everyday staple known for their environmental harm. The vision: Create a denim brand that is designed to never be thrown out. And again&again was born.
While there are a number of companies that are recycling polyester — including such major brands as Patagonia — Schneider explains that there aren’t many pushing forward with sustainable cotton.
“Since everyone wears jeans, there’s a lot of jeans in the world, and a lot of jeans then going to waste,” he says. “Plus, denim is made of cotton, which is water- and land-intensive. It takes upward of four thousand gallons of water to make a pair of jeans. Eventually, we will use more water than the world has in retail if the trends continue.”
Jeans from again&again can be returned to be recycled and made into another pair. It’s a way to reduce clothing waste, which founder Marcus Schneider learned about firsthand in working for a major international clothes maker. Courtesy photo
Seeking mentorship and networking opportunities at Northwestern Kellogg, Schneider joined the New Venture Track of the Zell Fellows program to hone his skills prior to the launch of his startup.
Armed with tools learned in this tight-knit community, he went on to compete in VentureCat, an annual Northwestern University student star-up competition, where he was a semi-finalist and was awarded nearly $20,000 to help start the business. With the intention to raise money from a Kickstarter campaign as well, Schneider is hopeful about the continued impact they can have with more resources.
“The professors are all also venture capitalists, so I now have six or seven connections to VC firms in Chicago,” Schneider says. “That’s not to say they’re going to immediately invest in me because they know me. But it’s certainly a better starting point.”
AGAIN&AGAIN PRODUCTION
Schneider’s material science engineering degree was an asset as he began to plan the production of again&again jeans. After connecting with a number of textile recycling mills, he sourced 300 denim samples from six countries.
“My apartment was filled with fabric,” he says, “and I invited friends over to test each sample until we selected the best one.”
The team — comprised of six members who have worked in streetwear design, denim merchandising, branding, marketing, operations, and retail for brands like Nike, Banana Republic, and Calvin Klein — decided to use 100% Tencel Lyocell fabric to create the jeans.
“Lyocell is actually cellulose-based, as is cotton, but it’s not found anywhere naturally in the world,” Schneider says. “It’s man-made, and the process is very similar to making paper. Originating from eucalyptus trees, this fabric uses just 5% of the water and 20% of the land required by cotton-based jeans.”
Each design decision was focused on sustainability, from the use of buttons and zippers to the fiber, including the rivet-less design, which facilitates upcycling. Upcycling is taking something that is no longer in use and giving it a second life. In Schneider’s vision, again&again products will have a third, a fourth, and even more lives.
Working with a company in Los Angeles to design and develop their first jeals, their production is now operating in Vietnam. Their first few jeans are examples of the end of the upcycling process — they’ll get more sustainable over time as their resources increase.
A VISION TO CHANGE THE IMPACT OF FASHION
“We want to be a part of changing how the apparel industry works and operates,” Schneider says, describing his ultimate goal with again&again. “My goal is less about being super successful from this, and more about making a change to reduce clothing waste. Right now, we are aiming to raise enough money to get our next iteration of jeans in the market. Hopefully, consumers love it.”
So far, the feedback has been positive.
“We’re pretty small, but we’ve still already gotten some letters from consumers that are excited and love the jeans. And that’s what’s really fun for me. Little by little, we want to continue fulfilling orders and see the impact of our sustainability efforts.”
Schneider couldn’t have created this company without the support from Kellogg, expressing that the professors are what made the program stand out.
“I’ve been blown away by the resources at Kellogg to make this happen.”
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