Who are we and who are we for?

Utility Thread is a private clothing label brand for Target that sits beneath the Universal Thread brand. We offer a capsule collection of gender neutral and size inclusive circularly designed utilitarian wear that is both for the modern workers of today, tomorrow, and the next day.

Why Utility Clothing?

These days, it is no longer sufficient for our clothes to merely look good, they need to do something as well. It will always be stylish to be functional. While fashion has previously overlooked the blue-collar crowd, it is now appreciating the long lasting quality and inclusive style of the clothing that this lifestyle produces. Customers with multi-faceted lives are looking for clothing that will fit their hard working lifestyle, no matter what that work consists of, and they want to be able to go to their trusted Target stores to find it. The grind never stops, neither do you, and neither is the future of utility clothing.

Why is this for me?

The demands of labor and the tasks we complete each day are not exclusive to any one type of person-we need breathability, flexibility, and comfort in our clothes. Utility clothing provides this through its loose fitting and workable silhouettes, no matter what gender or size you may be. Universal thread prides itself on being Target's most size inclusive brand. We pride ourselves on building on that to include an even wider customer base. Also, by designing more neutral clothing, we can cut back on the amount of clothing designed for individual men's and women's brands. Let's share great style people, we all have stuff to get done.

Why Circularity?

A recent study by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation found that one garbage truck of textiles is wasted every second. Designing and creating fashion in a circular manner is a priority for Target and the focus of our brand. By keeping our clothing in use for longer, even if it takes a different shape, that is one less thing on the garbage truck. We also view circularity as a chance to engage with our stakeholders at each step of the product development process, and see it as an opportunity to highlight people who are already working towards a circular and sustainable future for fashion.

Meet our customers...

Molly Sanford, is the UMN College of Design Fabrication Shop Director at Ralph Rapson Hall. She is a go-getter and a maker. Molly is looking to find the alternative to thrift store clothing in her daily workwear that is durable (anything she wears to work could potentially get burn holes from welding or glue on it!). Utility Thread meets her wants of clothes that are accessible and fashionable but that she can wear to build things. She prefers garments made from natural fibers, as sparks fly in her metal shop. Utility Thread is 100% cotton to meet her needs. Molly values sustainable clothing that lasts through her toughest tasks and that won't go out of style. As a lover of fashion when she isn’t working, Molly enjoys that she can dress her favorite jumpsuit up or down and pair it with her go-to glasses (or her industrial noise-cancelling headphones when in the shop)!

Johnne Law and Molly May McMahan, are the husband and wife duo behind local Twin Cities brand, Nice Nice Ceramics. Both of the McMahans are artistically inclined, as Johnne is a potter by trade and Molly is a UX/UI designer. They are passionate about all types of design and are interested in becoming more educated about circular design and the Utility Thread products. Nice Nice Ceramics unites the worlds of digital mark making and handmade wares; Johnne throws all the clay and Molly goes in and adds carvings into them. Aside from Nice Nice, Molly May has her own body positive podcast and is a woman about town in the Twin Cities. Some days she will go right from work, to drinks out with friends, and then to the studio to work. Her wardrobe fits the needs of the creative worker of today. Whereas Johnne Law might need more rugged clothing for the pottery studio, but nice enough that he can wear it out to one of the couple’s pop up shop events. Also, the McMahans love supporting another husband and wife duo: the Williams who own Huston Textile Co., and produce fabric for Utility Thread. As a US produced company themselves, they are attracted to the local aspect of the brand, and the long lasting lifespan of our clothing and patching products.

What our Research said...

Our design team conducted a survey among our personal contacts to gather information about the type of customer our brand would attract.
More than 50% of respondents were aged 25 to 39, putting our guest right in the millennial age group. A majority of the respondents identified as women/female. However there was male, trans, and non-binary representation. This led us to realize our brand cannot cater to just one gender expression and that it must contain gender neutral styles. Also, the majority of respondents wear sizes XL to 4XL (14-28), which qualifies them as plus-sized. This is why we concluded that a circular design approach isn’t successful unless it is being inclusive, and having a wide range of sizes represented in the survey results helped us build the best brand that we can.
We looked into U.S. cotton production and learned that the U.S. is the number three exporter of cotton which provided a great opportunity for our new circular brand. With a growing number of manufacturers in the U.S. it provides a great opportunity for Target and our new brand to set new standards for the other Target brands.
A popular trend that we decided to lean into for our brand is HomeSpun. This trend is to promote timeless and classic hand crafts, with the concept of sustainability as the core. It advocates people make less and make better, use natural sources rather than manufactured materials, simplify the structure of the clothes, and focus more on the utility because of popularity of utility themes shows no sign of slowing, as consumers continue to value function and form in equal measure.