Textile Insight

TRENDSETTERS 44 • Textile Insight ~ Spring 2023 textileinsight.com the company was sold, the former assets of Coated Sales became Brookwood Companies, where she served as president and CEO. In the following 30+ years, Brookman managed the company's five marketing di- vision groups, and manufacturing groups as a leading supplier of nylon products to the United States military and a major textile force in the outdoor sector. Not bad for someone who prior to her career in textiles thought nylon came from sheep! Here, a few takeaways from a recent in-per- son conversation with Brookman: Early Days: "I remember when I met the people in the outdoor industry. It was my first assignment selling yarn for the back- pack market to Jansport and Wilderness Experience and others. These were not businessmen in suits working in struc- tured, hierarchical companies. ey were an entrepreneurial-spirited bunch who cared about what they were doing and the people doing it. I found people like me and I loved them. I also fell in love with the role of the converter, which like outdoor had an entrepreneurial culture, based on a casual first-name type approach to business, that was very different from the culture of the mills at that time. e outdoor community and converter business were well suited to each other." Fashion Focus: "My fashion background helped my success in textiles by seeing a wider perspective. I could envision new ideas that I had about 'outdoor fashion,' which nobody was doing 40 years ago. I always saw outdoor as a lifestyle, with parkas worn as streetwear and fleece vests as everyday wear. I would do presentations that showed looks from Paris collections and talked about color and trends and outdoor brands were very receptive to it. I was doing trend reports on a regular basis as early as 1985. I believe that now outdoor has to look at fashion to engage with today's younger consumers — like what snowboard did for ski." Made In America: "Military, which accounts for the majority of Brookwood business, was built little by little. I saw the writing on the wall when the U.S. textile industry began moving offshore. My strategy was to stay, strive and ultimately thrive domestically. We capitalized on industry liquidation, replacing key equip- ment along with implementing state of the art technology, hired talented people, focused on fabric development and continued growth. Military helped put Brookwood on the map financially. Aer outdoor, if you asked me my favorite market, it would be military." en & Now: "Right now there are dynamics in motion that are creating change. Outdoor has stayed in its lane, products are technically different, but stylistically the same. A parka is a parka. You can't innovate in isolation; design- ers working independently is a big loss. We need to assemble. Innovation needs creative collaboration and community. Outdoor has to look at what fashion is doing, in terms of new looks, but not what it's doing in terms of disposable clothing. I call it garbage bag clothing. We need an infrastructure to meet this new system of sustainability. e whole chain of distribution has to be repurposed. If we really believe in sustainability and the envi- ronment and the outdoor industry position in it, then we need a structure where everyone can participate without costing a fortune. I think OR should be reinvented with the idea that the small guy matters. at was the strength and the beauty of it in the beginning. Now we need for people to feel they want to be part of this sustainability movement that brings together the new innovators. Today is about keeping a healthy attitude about the world and at the same time growing the business. It's a matter of vision. is isn't easy, if it were easy somebody would have done it!" n Amber Brookman, left, with Skip Yowell, a JanSport founder, middle, and Laura Evans, outdoor designer during a JanSport-sponsored Mt. Rainier climb 40 years ago.

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