Outerknown

Outerknown was co-founded by Kelly Slater, the eleven-time World Surf League champion, and designer John Moore in 2015, with a stated commitment that the brand would pursue better environmental and labor standards than the conventional clothing industry operates on. The result is a brand that carries Fair Trade Certified production, organic cotton, and a fabric called Econyl, made from regenerated nylon sourced from fishing nets, plastic bottles, and other ocean-bound waste. The Georgetown store at 1240 Wisconsin Avenue NW carries the brand’s collections for men and women, organized around the surf lifestyle aesthetic that Slater’s career has been identified with since the early 1990s.

Fair Trade certification is the specific labor standard the brand has committed to, which means the factories where Outerknown production happens have been audited by the Fair Trade USA organization and meet the worker welfare and wage standards the certification requires. For the customer who considers labor conditions in their purchasing decisions, the certification is a verified standard rather than a brand claim that cannot be independently assessed.

The organic cotton that most of Outerknown’s cotton products use eliminates the pesticide inputs that conventional cotton farming requires, which is one of the more significant environmental impacts in the conventional fashion supply chain. The Econyl nylon, which regenerates material that would otherwise remain in marine environments, is the fabric in the swimwear and the outerwear categories where nylon is the appropriate material for performance.

The aesthetic is surf lifestyle at the quality end of the market. Board shorts, swim trunks, and the beach-to-town pieces that the core surf clothing category produces, alongside the denim and casual pieces that extend the wardrobe into non-beach contexts. The clothing is designed to perform in salt water and hot sun and to still look right at dinner when the day ends. The colors, silhouettes, and fabrics reflect the California and Hawaii surf culture that defines the brand’s visual references.

The Wisconsin Avenue location at 1240 is on the upper boutique corridor, adjacent to Clare V and near MZ Wallace. The surrounding retailers are in the quality lifestyle category that the upper Wisconsin walk addresses for the Georgetown customer who wants alternatives to the M Street chain stores.

Hours run from 10am Monday through Saturday and 11am Sunday, with Friday and Saturday closing at 7pm. The Econyl nylon, which the brand uses in its swimwear and some of its outerwear, is produced by the Italian company Aquafil from regenerated nylon sourced from fishing nets, fabric scraps, and industrial plastic waste. The same material is used by a number of premium sustainable fashion brands, and Outerknown’s application of it to the surf and swim category makes particular sense: ocean-sourced material for products used in and around the ocean. For Georgetown customers planning coastal travel who want the values alignment their everyday purchasing reflects to extend to their beach wardrobe, the Outerknown swimwear is the practical choice.