Snowboarding is a passion, a life’s work, a calling and at the same time a great love. So thought three friends from the French town of Clermont-Ferrand, creating in 2008 the sportswear brand Picture Organic. Jeremy, Julien and Vincent have been friends since childhood, riding skateboards through the streets of the city and snowboarding together, getting out into the mountains. Jeremy was an architect who designed for the family business, but he dreamed of his own business related to sustainability and the environment. Vincent had just graduated from the School of Management and was preparing for his work schedule in the office. Julian worked in Paris in the marketing of Coca-Cola. The three of them were united by a love of street culture – they watched movies, followed the athletes who inspired the creation of a clothing line. The main principle unanimously chosen was environmental friendliness and work with sustainable materials. This formed the basis not only for the creation of clothing models, but for the entire business as a whole.
The guys opened their first “headquarters” in the car service building. It didn’t take long to come up with a name: in 2008, a film about snowboarding was released «Picture This». They took Picture from it, added the key idea of Organic – and the adventure began! The concept of production was clear: the guys chose the best possible environmentally friendly materials, created their own unique design, which stood out with unusual colors and good quality. The apparel range has been progressively expanded, with all products made from 100% recycled, organic or responsibly sourced materials. The logic was simple: we ride in the mountains, we love and appreciate nature, we thank it for its wealth, so we do not want to disturb its balance and harm the Earth’s ecosystem.
In 2009, the creators of Picture Organic traveled around Europe with the first collection. In France and Switzerland, the brand’s products and values were enthusiastic. That year, Picture launched the first collection of recycled polyester outerwear. By the end of the year, the guys were already delivering their clothes to 70 stores in France and Switzerland. In 2010, the brand was already sold in Russia. Picture Organic has been constantly looking for innovations to produce the most environmentally friendly and at the same time really cool equipment.
In 2011, at the stage of the third winter collection, it became clear how much surplus fabric actually remains after production. The company decided to use these trimmings and make linings for snowboard jackets from them. The program was called “Factory Rescue”. By the end of 2013, Picture Organic was selling sustainable winter wear in 10 countries through 400 retailers.
Picture soon formed a partnership with Agence Innovation Responsable, a French organization that creates comprehensive growth strategies for sustainable companies. AIR has over the years helped Picture Organic reduce its carbon footprint, implement eco-design and create its own recycling program. For example, every Picture Organic customer can find out on the brand’s website what kind of eco-footprint it leavesbuying one thing or another.
Local production significantly reduces the impact on the environment. Since 2012, some of Picture’s products have been produced in Annecy, France, together with Jonathan & Fletcher’s research and development studio, which has been creating clothing prototypes. Picture’s environmental initiative was rated at the highest level. Fully recyclable jacket wins two gold awards in 2013 “Environmental Excellence” at the world’s largest sports exhibition ISPO.
For four years Picture team has grown to 20 people. They all worked in Annecy and Clermont-Ferrand in France, interacting daily with a development team that was scattered around the world. In 2014, the company held an intensive Picture Innovation Camp, where it invited its customers. Together with tourists and travelers, the founders of the company built a brand development strategy, discussed what could be improved and added to the assortment.
In the year of the brand’s seventh anniversary, Jeremy’s father, an architect and artist, created prints for an exclusive clothing collection. In the same year, after two years of development and research, Picture Organic released a completely eco-friendly helmet. The exterior was made from a corn-based polylactide polymer, while the lining and neckband were made from recycled polyester.
By 2016, the brand was already selling its clothes in 30 countries. Picture Organic’s collaboration with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has become a landmark. In support of the WWF Arctic Program, which is dedicated to the conservation of Arctic habitats, Picture Organic released a joint collaboration collection of clothes with the recognizable panda badge.
Today, Picture Organic makes sustainable, eco-friendly clothing for surfing, hiking, snowboarding, backpacks, ski and snowboard bags and more. The brand is developing a new generation of clothing that will not harm nature. All Picture Organic clothing is certified by the Global Organic Textile Standard and Organic Content Standard. 95% of the cotton from which the brand’s products are made is organic, the remaining 5% is recycled recycled cotton. Organic cotton comes from the Turkish production of Seyfeli, which is located in Izmir. The company uses recycled plastic to make jackets. One jacket is made from 50 recycled plastic bottles – they are turned into threads using special technologies and woven into clothes. The company transports its products predominantly by water: the carbon footprint of 10 kilometers on water equals 000 kilometers of car movement on the road.
In Russia, Picture Organic clothes can be bought in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Volgograd, Samara, Ufa, Yekaterinburg, Perm, Novosibirsk and other cities.