Nau Now Part of Horny Toad

The assets and brand name of Nau Inc. (Portland, Ore.), the sustainable clothing company that announced in May it was going out of business, have been acquired by Horny Toad Activewear Inc. (Santa Barbara, Calif.), which makes active lifestyle apparel.

The new Nau will re-open on Aug. 1, 2008, with around 60 of its original employees although it will no longer sell through its retail outlets, but instead via wholesale with selected, like-minded retail partners.

“We're still committed to being a catalyst for positive change and bringing distinctive product to our customers,” said former Nau executive Mark Galbraith, who will remain with the new company as head of product design. “We plan to re-open with a new fall/holiday 2008 collection that continues to reflect the design philosophy Nau's customers have come to know and love — a balance of beauty, performance and sustainability.” As in the past, Nau said it will source materials and produce garments in an environmentally sensitive manner.

Nau had developed a cult-like following but was forced to close its doors when it failed to secure further financing. All five of its retail outlets were closed.

Founded in 2005, Nau sold sustainable outdoor clothing made from organic cotton, recycled polyester and ethically sourced merino wool. It also gave a percentage of its sales to charities selected by individual consumers. And company bylaws prohibited any Nau executive from earning more than 12 times what the lowest-paid U.S. worker earned. The clothing also had no logo.

But some said the business model was flawed. Analysts agreed that Nau brought fresh ideas and a sense of social responsibility and green awareness to its business, but said getting customers to order at in-store self-serve kiosks with touch screens – qualifying them to a get a 10 percent discount – and then shipping the item home for the customer by FedEx free of charge did not make good business sense.

“We‘ve been fans of the concept from afar and were very sad to hear the news it closed,” said Horny Toad ceo Gordon Seabury. “While it was virtually impossible for Nau to scale back in its current big idea form as the economy changed, we are able to treat it more as a start-up and scale it back.” Horny Toad will also retain former Nau executives Hal Arneson as creative director and Ian Yolles as head of marketing.

“We‘re so pleased to have a second chance to make the Nau concept work,” said Arneson. “It seemed like such a shame to lose a brand that had harnessed so much enthusiasm and passion and talent and had resonated with so many in such a short amount of time.”