Today we’d like to introduce you to Suzanne Rijneveld.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
That’s a tricky question because it happened in phases. I would like to say that I had this big vision and created a business plan, and then got investors, and then launched this concept for soft clothing that heals mind body and soul. But, absolutely none of that was the case.
I had always wanted to do something in the fitness/wellness category and had a concept back in the 90’s for a workout top that would be both functional and cute. I wanted it to have straps that you could interchange and the top would come in a bag that you would also throw in your gym bag. It would not-so-cleverly be called STRAP. This was in the 90’s, way before athleisure was a category, and was back when those chunky Speedo tops were the only type of workout tops on the market. But, I was in my 20’s and had started my career in Chicago in corporate advertising, with low pay and no real foundation for driving this concept forward. I got as far as researching straps in downtown LA and gave up. By 2000, I moved to The Netherlands, started working for NIKE in brand strategy, had Dino in 2001, and followed the corporate path. Upon moving back to LA in 2004, now with a family of 3, I began working within marketing for Red Bull. At that point, I was having serious marital problems and was struggling to keep myself going. I isolated myself from family and friends, became complacent, and lost my entire self to the point that I lost focus. For a creative outlet, I started looking into fabrics, and the process of making a pant that I had envisioned from my days in Europe. I was obsessed with comfort and softness and always had been very tactile as a child. My husband was becoming increasingly emotionally abusive, and then physically, and began protesting my creative outlet. The further I got into the pant-project, the more angry he became. So at a pivotal point, one day I went to work and resigned.
I hadn’t really considered the implications of resigning, so things became worse at home. I was slowly spiraling downward, and all the while trying to protect Dino. So one day while sitting for coffee after dropping him at pre-school, I was at the fork in the road. On one prong, I had a call from Red Bull with a newly created position, a new salary, and security… And on the other prong, were the pants and freedom. Do I lean back into the corporate web or follow a new path that was already in motion. And I chose the new path. I took a consulting gig on retainer with Red Bull, which gave me freedom to grow creatively and be there for Dino. With the SkirtPant being the first design, I became known around the Venice community as “Pant Girl.” Mainstream yoga was on the rise, and the SkirtPant found it’s home in EXHALE and other local studios, and among the Venice yoga scene. However, yoga was never my inspiration. The pant itself was inspired by real women in The Netherlands, on their bikes riding in the rain with three kids hanging off of the back, dressed chicly with a skirt with jeans under it, all the while smiling. Women like us doing their daily routines, but choosing fashion for comfort, functionality, and beauty. I thought, how might that concept convert to a self-contained pant? And that was 2005 when the SkirtPant was born.
By 2006, I made a plan to leave my marriage. I can only describe it as ‘fugitive style’ … the kind of thing you see in movies. Mother, child, dog escaping in the night, sleeping on a floor, with $40 in the bank. It wasn’t pretty, but it was liberating. And this was the point where my absolute pitbull obsession to build DINO the business was born.
So, as the story goes, my original intention was to create a platform for freedom for myself and Dino. To allow us the independence to grow as high as the sky and without limits. To show my son what a powerful woman means, and to be there for him as he grows into a young man. The three human needs of food, shelter, and clothing all boil down to COMFORT. The pants became a symbol of comfort, resulting in a community with a foundation of women and men whom we would have never met otherwise. With viral marketing and the power of social media, now more than ever a global community is possible. Human connection is limitless and crosses boundaries where we would never have traveled otherwise. Everyone has a story, and when DINO is a small part of someone’s story, whether it’s a caftan to soothe a mother at the bedside of her sick child, or a jogger to soothe post-surgical pain, or simply buttery fabric on the skin to elevate a sense of well-being and happiness, it’s the fuel that keeps me/DINO/Dino going.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
See the next ramble. 😉 I would say the biggest struggle and at the same time the biggest blessing has been producing high-quality fashion without financial support or working capital. When you are pressed to become creative with every dime that goes into your business, the outcome can be much more beautiful and meaningful than if you have endless supply of funds. It becomes a very thoughtful process, from making to marketing, so that everything down to the thread sewn into the garment, has a story to tell.
DINO Apparel – what should we know? What do you do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
DINO is a lifestyle clothing company designed with one thing in mind — Comfort. We are known for the quality, versatility and softness of our garments, and have found our niche in eco-luxe essentials that are timeless.
I am proud of the fact that I have built a brand based on the less-is-more mindset, while never compromising on quality of materials, always focusing on relationships with our supply chain, while raising a son on my own, and having no access to capital. At a time when many businesses struggled, I continued to adjust where needed, both personally and professionally, with the goal of building something that would sustain us as a little family of two. This has forced me to be very conscious of every dime spent, which naturally sets the tone for the entire model of the business. We have been designing and producing sustainably long before “sustainability” became a buzzword, and will never consider doing it differently.
I would say that what sets us apart is the quality of our textiles and the fact that we are truly slow conscious fashion. We are one of a handful of brands who truly design and produce with a circular mindset, meaning that there is a little to no waste that goes into our production process — from knitting our fabric in downtown LA out of tree pulp fibers where we know the origin, to using local family run factories to make our garments, to never producing excess inventory so that everything we make finds a home in someone’s closet. Many larger brands will say they are sustainable, but it is very hard to be low impact when you are high volume producers.
I won’t compromise on creating fabrics that are soft on the skin and the earth equally, and that will withstand real-life wear and tear so that they can be loved for longer. My passion is to create functionally beautiful clothing for longevity, with the lowest impact possible on the earth and its resources.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
The other day when my son Dino, now 18, said to me “Mom, you are a success story of Los Angeles.” And when I asked, why do you say that? He replied, “Because you started something out of nothing, and you’re doing it.”
Contact Info:
- Website: www.dinoapparel.com
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: dino apparel
- Facebook: dino apparel
Image Credit:
Justin De Garbo, Lena Cher, Cristi Christensen
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