Got a catalogue through the post from Howies the other day, although the only thing I have ever bought was a t-shirt in the sale about 4 years ago. The prices! For chinese made clothes which don't look anything special. And the spiel is just vomit-inducing. How do they get away with it? I like nice clothes as much as the next man, but this lot are just taking the p*ss! The T-shirt is performing well as a rag in the garage now. The 'organic' cotton when soaked with parrafin cleans a motorbike chain beautifully.

Liked the write up on the cool/lazy skateboarding surf team coach that had been with them since the beginning,sounds as though he was not not toeing the corparate line and has left!

Clever pic of the girl surfing under the bush, wonder if they had the clippers out for that one.

Only buy stuff in the sale which is good as I do come up a model 😉 large.

No idea. I used to buy their kit, then I bought some where the sizing had changed considerably, with no notice in the catalogue etc. Which I thought was particularly thick for a mail order clothing company.

Now they seem to be heading almost down the route of being a casual / scruffy Rapha. I've never seen the point of spending a lot of money to look scruffy (see also: Fat Face), but a lot of people seem to like it.

TBH I didn't mind the slightly left wing slogans on shirts back in the day, but once you've completed your exit strategy and sold up to Timberland? It's about as convincing as Tesco claiming not to be run by Lizardmen who are out to get every penny out of your pocket.

Oops – paraffin, not parrafin. IGMC

Like some of the clothes – I just wait for the sales 🙂

Was good, until David sold out to the man, is now same old SHITE as else where and the ethical banter just props up the expensive goods.

I like Howies, yeah they have Timberland funding them but most businesses have to get some capital from somewhere to grow. Shame David has gone but their roots are still their roots.

I'm wearing a pair of their jeans now that were a birthday present and they are awesome. I've also got an old pair I wear for riding which have lasted years. Overall I like their stuff and think that while you pay slightly more it lasts longer than other items I've bought.

Great trousers.

I like Howies, yeah they have Timberland funding them but most businesses have to get some capital from somewhere to grow.

Most businesses don't rely heavily on an anti-business narrative. Howies do, and the Timberland deal blows a big hole in what is franky, a ropey starting point. A business selling t-shirts with an anti-business message? It's certainly a testament to their marketing skills.

The jeans look really nice, but I'm a Levi's loyalist…that said, I do like Volcom denim too, especially the shorts.

I didn't think I owned any Howies, but I noticed that my Rough Trade tee shirt was made by Howies the other day.

Made in Turkey 'in a really nice factory', apparently.

They must give the textile workers a basket of cup cakes on their birthdays or something.

Bushwacked – Member
I like Howies, yeah they have Timberland funding them but most businesses have to get some capital from somewhere to grow. Shame David has gone but their roots are still their roots.

Even when said owner stated that he sold up for profit and the business ethos went out of the window when he did so? It's now just timberland clothing with "howies" written on it. Howies themselves are now just the distributor in the UK, although I think they still print their own shirt slogans on the imported timberland howies Ts…

I liked their stuff a couple of years ago and I didn't really mind the ethical waffle, or even the 'selling out' to Timberland- I appreciate money needs to come in from somewhere and I don't think Timberland were such a bad choice really. Easier to sit on here and talk about selling out to The Man than it is to actually try and run a business along ethical lines I expect.

Anyway, that said I've found less and less of interest in the last couple of catalogues and the prices do seem to be coming uncoupled even from the 'ethical tax' you might expect and be prepared to pay. I very rarely buy clothes and then I wear them till they're in bits so I don't mind paying more for something that's going to last but there is a limit.

Given their prices always thought their ad slogan "time not money" was particularly ironic

Oh the ever raging debate of those who love Howies and think their stuff is great and good quality versus those that think it's expensive and gash!

LOL!! You lot…

How can a business be anti business??? LOL!

I see two sides to Howies, the first is selling clothes, the second is providing an alternative view on life.

I buy some clothes from them not because of the message they convey but because I happen to like wearing clothes and like to choose things that I like and some clothes from Howies I like (some I don't).

On the second front I am willing to have an open mind and when i read their messages / slogans I appreciate the message they are getting across in some but not others. Like life, I make my own mind up about what I like and what I don't and if I can learn from something then I will even if it is only 5% of what is being said.

I agree with Mr Salmon, I don't think Timberland were that bad a choice considering the other options they had.

Got a catalogue through the post from Howies the other day, although the only thing I have ever bought was a t-shirt in the sale about 4 years ago.

so ask them to stop sending them, they will.

BTW – I think "Time not money" is a great slogan and has guided me through my life in recent years when I've had bugger all spare money.

How can a business be anti business???

Well, I think selling T-shirts with slogans like "There's no business like no business", "Corporate ****" (that's one from back of the day) is providing a fairly anti-business narrative.

Then they go on about wanting to make the world a better place etc. If they really were that bothered, why not run as a non-profit?

I don't see that running a profit-making business and having some sort of ethical stance have to be as mutually exclusive as some people here seem to think. That's the same sort of thinking that says you can't have any environmental stance if you have electricity in your house.

The middle ground is more likley to make more people spend their £££ in a more ethical way than a bunch of uncompromising hippys that nobody except other uncompromising hippys can identify with.

(Obviously I'm using 'ethical' in a very broad way here.)

See I see the "There's no business like no business" as being one about not being at work, like Time not money – being about having more time to do things like ride a bike rather than money not time – how many people on here have loads of / one bling bikes but not enough time to ride them???

Perhaps I'm just an optimist and look on the positive side of things too much.

It was a company started by people who previously worked in marketing. Does any of the above REALLY suprise people?

They chose an image that would sell to people with enough money to buy their stuff (who liked to pretend that they were a bit out there – generalisation since clearly some people just bought it because it was nicely made but I'll bet that's not what sold volume), backed it up with just enough ethics stuff so that they could justify it, built up the brand and then sold it for a nice profit when it made sense (though to be fair, a quick google suggests that Timberland's ethical stance isn't bad). Good business with marketing that worked.

I don't see that running a profit-making business and having some sort of ethical stance have to be as mutually exclusive as some people here seem to think.

(Obviously I'm using 'ethical' in a very broad way here.)

My view is that Howies has a fairly anti business message on occasion, and it's completely impossible to square that with running a business.

I've no problem with people aspiring to strong business ethics. I do have a problem with hypocrisy and cynical marketing techniques.

i agree with pretty much all that bushwacked has said in this thread.
i'm in the process of selling a lot of my howies stuff, mostly because it's too big for me now that i lost quite a lot of weight, but tbh i doubt i'll replace it with their newer stuff cos i just don't really like much of it (aesthetically rather than ethically).
i'll still wear their jeans though, as i like the fit of them.

So, a company that:

1. Is based in Wales (where there's no shortage of sheep and a seriously struggling hill-farming sector);

2. Preaches ad nauseum about carbon footprinting/ Drive less/ Shop locally/ Do the right thing/ Save the whatever…

They currently have a lambswool cardigan in their "collection";
That's made in China, rather than Cardigan;
And costs £95!

Total bunch of scheisters!
And I speak as someone who bought a lot of their stuff a few years ago – And liked it – until both the clothes and the Howies myth fell apart.
Never again.

Why do they do that though? What's the capacity in Cardigan to make a large number of lambswool cardies of decent quality at a cost that means the sticker price wouldn't be ridiculous? I mean, even more ridiculous than £95.

Jesus – its only clothes at the end of the day!

If we really worried about ethics and hypocrisy we'd never fill our cars with fuel!!

It's a business.

The ethical bit is well copy written marketing.

We can manufacture in China, bigger impact on environment, worse working conditions but it will increase our P&L or we can make it locally at a higher cost. hmmmmmmmmm.

Come 'on kids 😆

or we can make it locally at a higher cost.

Can they though? Cynicism about these things is very healthy but I'm not sure that making clothes like that in the UK and expecting to sell any is really an option. I'm sure Orange would love to be able to make all their bikes in the UK, so why don't they?

It's funny how Howies often gets a thrashing on here for being a business and having stated ethical stances, but all the other businesses we buy from that don't even bother having ethical stances are free to continue uncriticized.

We ride bikes, and lots of people on here buy lots of new kit. Do you think that tyre companies like Continental, reliant as they are on the petrochemical industries, are pushing the ethical envelope? Are they f***.

I'd rather a company shouted lots about being "ethical" and achieved a little, than one which says nothing but does nothing. In this case, hypocrisy has its advantages.

What's wrong with Timberland anyway?

A good company that makes stylish functional waterproof footwear (and accompanying branded apparel) that hundreds of thousands of people in a vast array of outdoorsy jobs rely on in addition to the millions more who buy them because they admire the aesthetics.

All large companies started as small companies, Timberland is no different. Companies that hit on a winning formula and are able to capitalise upon it deserve success, why begrudge them for it?

Timberland are probably a good fit for Howies, who at any rate, are not a charity and never were.

I quite like Howies clothes, but their recent catalogues have made me say "HOW MUCH?!" too frequently. Probably won't even bother checking the sale out next time, even at half-price it'd be a bit spendy. Their quality has dropped too, in my experience. I have a merino base layer of theirs from 2004 that's still going strong and is dead comfy, whereas more recent iterations of the same thing have died after a couple of years tops.

And their quirky little soundbites can get a bit annoying after a while. I have some Howies trousers from a few years back that have the following slogan printed inside the waistband: "Wood doesn't grow on trees." What? Yes it does, that's precisely where it grows, shut up you dolts.

functional waterproof footwear (and accompanying branded apparel) that hundreds of thousands of people in a vast array of outdoorsy jobs rely on

if you work outside you would be waring proper boots, not a fashion shoe.
evan their proper work ware is crap, i've killed a pair of boots in 3 month, never again!

I'd rather a company shouted lots about being "ethical" and achieved a little, than one which says nothing but does nothing.

There is a company that shouts a little about being ethical and achieves a lot: Finisterre. Take Howies' Made in China cardigan for example: Finisterre are breeding their own flock of sheep (in Cornwall) for homegrown merino. It is possible for businesses to be sustainable and ethical – it's just that the margins aren't quite up to £95 Chinese cardy proportions.

+1 on Finisterre.

I own a Matanuska M65 jacket and the Arcus zip hoody.

Great kit.

Great trousers.

Have several pairs of Howies trousers, great for work and seem to fit me really well. Only bought in sales, admittedly.

+1 on Finisterre.

I own a Matanuska M65 jacket

Fantastic jacket; assume you bought it at the current half-price!

househusband – Member

I own a Matanuska M65 jacket

Fantastic jacket; assume you bought it at the current half-price!

Certainly did!

Bought the hoody at full price which was a bit of an eye watering moment, but what's the point in working overtime if you can't spend it? 😛

bought loads of their stuff in TK Maxx dirt cheap, think a few t-shirts were red label reduced as well.

ourmaninthenorth – Member
It's funny how Howies often gets a thrashing on here for being a business and having stated ethical stances, but all the other businesses we buy from that don't even bother having ethical stances are free to continue uncriticized.

We ride bikes, and lots of people on here buy lots of new kit. Do you think that tyre companies like Continental, reliant as they are on the petrochemical industries, are pushing the ethical envelope? Are they f***.

I'd rather a company shouted lots about being "ethical" and achieved a little, than one which says nothing but does nothing. In this case, hypocrisy has its advantages.

+1

I'm not buying from Howies because they aren't as ethical as they say, i'm off to buy completely unethical stuff instead – that will show them.

Aren't they former ad execs? What do folk expect? I reckon good luck to them, fleecing suckers with more money than sense.

I bought the T-shirt, have owned various pieces over the years and would buy more. I'd rather wear Howies than Old Navy.