John Lofgren: Bootmaker / Ethical Maker / Vintage Seller / Yogi

@john_lofgren
@johnlofgrenbootmaker
johnlofgren.com

The scene:
We are in the private library of John’s friend Aris, surrounded by at least 5,000 books, in the Tower District of Fresno, CA on a sunny-cold winter day, bathing in the sunlight beaming in through the floor-to-ceiling windows. John has intentionally not listened to my other interviews, both of us wanting for each question to feel fresh and unrehearsed. We discover similar pasts in and ethical beliefs about fashion. Perseverance is a big takeaway. Join us in the speakeasy library for a value-driven conversation about dad-fashion and more important things.

Highlights:
+ Running a company in Japan (from the US)
+ Traveling for work and it feels like a vacation
+ Lived in Japan for 17 years
+ First went to Japan as a vintage buyer for a clothing co.
+ Yoga changed his life
+ We met through Keryn Nicholson the Hatter (episode 28)
+ Established his boot brand in 2010
+ An American buying US vintage for the Japanese market
+ Wearing replica vintage used to be scandalous
+ “Outdoor style” - function became fashion
+ Did not go to school (for fashion or shoemaking)
+ Insisted on “ethically made” from the onset
+ Where does the string that closes the bag that carries the boot come from?
+ But…where do the buckles REALLY come from?
+ Studied Cultural Anthropology
+ Doing it right is VERY expensive
+ Who are we giving our money to?  Who are we supporting?
+ Greenwashing
+ B Corp and “ethical verifications”
+ Doing something because it’s right (not for the credit)
+ Holding others accountable
+ Social responsibility
+ How to plant the seed to educate others to choose ethically made
+ The money you buy something with supports the government of the country it was made in (READ THAT AGAIN)
+ Our biggest vote in the world is with our dollars (Are we supporting regimes?)
+ Making the very best thing that you possibly can
+ The satisfaction of wearing something ethically untainted
+ Being painfully honest is helpful (low self esteem is unhelpful)
+ Dad was a farmer and did construction
+ Whatever you talk about doing is doable, but 99% of people don’t
+ Going broke…more than once (and being in real deep debt)
+ Losing everything in the 2011 earthquake tsunami
+ Looking for a lifestyle that’s a little less technology, a little more analog
+ Dear younger self: please do better in high school
+ You might know the language but if you don’t get the culture, you won’t last
+ Radical openness and radical listening

A taste:
“Maybe they sleep on it and maybe it’s like how that seed was planted in me when I was in Egypt when I was 21 years old, maybe sometime a little ways down the line they’ll think, ‘Hey, I’d like to see what it’s like to wear something that’s ethically made too, something that’s not tarnished with slave labor or child labor.” Even if it’s just one part of it - see what it’s like to own one thing that’s completely ethically made.”

“You’ve got to have some sort of personality trait that’s a little abnormal to do what we do, or everybody would do it, wouldn’t they?”

Favorite saying:
“The strongest of the fittest.”