Interview with Sustainability Innovator: In Play Showroom

PARKLAND | REPRESENTED BY IN PLAY SHOWROOM

In Play Showroom is a wholesale fashion agency, notable for partnering with innovative brands and retailers. Originally founded in 1989, and now led by Sandra Martinez Roe & Hilary Beck, In Play is well-known in the industry as a leader and active supporter of small business, sustainability, community, eco-consciousness, and ethical business practices.

In honor of Earth Day, we proudly recognize In Play Showroom as a longstanding CMC showroom and have asked Sandra to talk about the important role of sustainability within their business and the brands they work with.

how has your showroom incorporated sustainability practices?

In Play Showroom has been on a sustainable mission for quite some time now. It’s allowed us to organically grow, practice and progresses daily. We are so grateful that our reps are on the same page as it really brings us together as a team and inspires us to think outside the box, open the conversation with our peers and move towards progress.

Our first major initiative was when we vowed to eliminate the use of excess paper and ultimately move away from our bulky file cabinets, which seemed impossible at the time. I mean, “order forms” were the way of the rep but we eventually went digital, got rid of three filing cabinets and have never looked back. We insist on using glass, coffee cups, and reusable cutlery and have a refillable water station in our showroom to avoid excess waste. If we order out, we insist on bringing our own bags for pick up and kindly decline cutlery and our local restaurants now know this without us asking which to me indicates change. It’s certainly not saving the world, but it saves the small businesses some cash and puts a tiny bit less in the landfill which is a step nonetheless.

WHAT ARE SOME OF the innovations your brands are implementing?

The importance of sustainability, its purpose, and accountability have become an ongoing conversation with our brands. Parkland leads the way in sustainability by using repurposed materials such as recycled water bottles, being PETA approved, and moving towards becoming a B Corp. They are truly an inspiration. Herschel is also digging into sustainable options for their brand, inspired by Parkland which is cool. Tiny Whales produces in Los Angeles and supports our local economy in many ways. Appaman has also started introducing sustainable fabrics to the collection and recently launched Appaman Adaptive which is a collection of extra easy wear pieces for children in need of a little extra support.

All of our brands are family owned, practice ethical production, and practice pre-booking to cut what is ordered, versus ordering blindly and possibly over-ordering. We truly appreciate the customers that honor these deadlines and work with us to get orders in on time based on what they feel they need for their consumers.

Can you share any NEW sustainability-focused COLLABS YOur brands on working on?

I am truly excited about a major collaboration coming up for Parkland. Unfortunately, the project is on pause for now as it was literally getting signed off right before Covid19. Stay tuned for updates.

Are you seeing any new industry trends or innovations in sustainability?

I think it’s all innovative to us because it is people coming together to address a major change in the industry. Every little bit helps and since it’s a new concept to some people, it is still growing and it’s fun to see the awareness spread. We love that other companies are starting to speak and address sustainability. The consumer is demanding ethical manufacturing and transparency which should be the norm. We’re humans. We need to look out for each other. As people rethink consumption, the fashion industry will have to rethink our contribution and I know we can take that challenge on.