InsideOutdoor Magazine

Inside Outdoor | SUMMER 2018 77 Promoting the line at the Outdoor Retailer Show in Denver, Chaco will credit e-dye’s contributions in creating unique vibrant colors and demonstrably reducing pollution. “We’ll be commu- nicating the story through packaging materials, through marketing content, and in the retail environment,” says Josh Weichhand, creative director, Chaco. “We see the water savings and sustainability angle as key to Chaco’s differentiation in the market and a huge competitive advantage. It’s also an incredible opportunity to demonstrate Chaco’s love for water and commitment to becoming a more sustainable brand.” Vibrant colors and intricate patterns also play an important role in Chaco’s brand identity. e-dye’s Waterless Color System allows brand managers to cus- tomize colors through a mathematical formula that can be duplicated season after season. “Our brand loves color and pattern, and e.dye’ s ability to create math- ematical color formulas allows for us to achieve a very precious color match batch after batch and season after season,” says Ashcroft. “Beyond that, the fiber’s colorfastness performance is also enhanced. These colors will never fade or bleed. It improves upon appear- ance, consistency and performance.” Indeed, in addition to the environ- mental benefits, Ashcroft is impressed by the performance aspects of e-dye’s process. “The vibrancy and saturation of color that you can achieve with e-dye is pretty impressive. Not only do you get a great clean, true color aesthetic, you get colors that won’t fade or bleed on your foot.” The collaboration between Chaco, e-dye Waterless Color System and Gold Lion resulted in a collection of products that celebrates the brand’s heritage and reduces the impact on the water that’s so important to outdoor enthusiasts. “ e.dye has been a great partner. The communication and collaboration have been very positive. They are passionate about their mission and well equipped to share that vision,” says Ashcroft. “Our relationship with e-dye is like an integrated partner,” says Law. “e.dye focuses mainly on color management and the marketing part, while Gold Lion concentrates on webbing development. Partnering together with e.dye, we are more confident in material quality as well as color consistency when present- ing webbings to the customer.” Turning grand visions into reality requires meeting tight deadlines, ad- dressing precise manufacturing specifi- cations and nurturing relationships. “My favorite part of this project was working with a team that understood and valued the water saving aspect of e.dye and were confident that they could market this to their customer. Chaco sees the value of turning their industrial processes around to being able to utilize e.dye solu- tion dyed yarns, because they see the busi- ness value of sustainability,” says Murphy. “Our supply partner, Gold Lion was just as committed, they were a key element. They had to change so many things in their pro- cess to accommodate everyone’s needs. That was really amazing.” m Ingredients Chaco’s finished sandals featuring e-Dye