Spotlight: Jackalo – Designing a More Durable Approach to Kidswear

Kids go through clothes fast. But what if the problem isn’t just how quickly they grow… it’s how quickly the clothes fall apart?

In this episode of the Seeing Green Podcast’s Spotlight series, we take a closer look at Jackalo, a kidswear brand rethinking clothing from the ground up by starting with durability instead of treating it as a premium add-on.

We explore:

• Why kids clothing has quietly become one of the most disposable categories in our homes
• How durability can be a powerful sustainability strategy, reducing waste while actually lowering cost per wear
• What goes into designing clothes that can handle real play, from reinforced construction to thoughtful details like flat seams
• The role of materials like organic cotton and deadstock fabric in creating longer-lasting garments
• How Jackalo’s TradeUP program keeps clothing in use longer and makes circularity practical for families
• What it means to rethink kidswear not as something temporary, but as something designed to last and be passed on

This episode is about looking at a familiar part of everyday life in a new way and realizing that better choices don’t have to be complicated.

Because sometimes, the simplest shift is choosing something built to last.

Transcript

Welcome to Seeing Green - Solutions for our Daily Lives. The podcast where we spotlight the brands, ideas and people making it easier to live sustainably every day.

Today’s episode is part of our “Spotlight” series – a deep dive into one of our Seeing Green Solutionists of the Day. And now… today’s solution.

Welcome listeners to episode 54 of the Seeing Green Podcast. Today’s episode is part of the Seeing Green Spotlight series, where we take a closer look at the Seeing Green Solutionist of the Day and the real solutions they bring to help us be healthier and greener in our daily lives.

Before we get started, a quick reminder: if you enjoy this content, please consider subscribing to the podcast. You also can join the Seeing Green Community at SeeingGreen.eco, and follow us at @SeeingGreenEco across social media. 

Yes, definitely do that. It helps us out a lot.

Yeah. And hey, have you heard the Seeing Green news from the other day? We launched the Seeing Green newsletter to bring our greener finds, easy swaps, and select offers straight to your inbox. Visit SeeingGreen.eco to subscribe.

I love the newsletter. Honestly, it's packed with so much good stuff.

It really is. So, today we are returning to an always popular topic, which is sustainable apparel.

Oh, yeah. We always get so much feedback when we do deep dives into fashion,

Right. And in the past we have covered many brands in this space including Marine Layer, Mate the Label, ThredUp, Nothing New, Thousand Fell, Houdini Sportswear, Christy Dawn and others on the podcast. So give those episodes a listen if you enjoy the apparel topic.

There are just so many great innovators out there right now.

Exactly. We also have spotlights on more than 20 leaders in sustainable apparel on the website, plus interactive Vibe Checks on both womenswear and menswear. Lots of great fashion content.

Which you should totally check out.

Yes, for sure. But in the spotlight today is a brand taking on the challenges of the kidswear segment of apparel, Jackalo.

And kidswear is such a um it's a really specific beast compared to adult fashion.

Oh, completely. Like just think for a second about a specific drawer in your house or, you know, maybe a friend's house if you don't have kids.

Oh, I know exactly the drawer you're talking about.

Right. It's that bottom drawer of the dresser, the one just stuffed with pants that have blown out knees, uh shirts with mystery stains, and sweaters that somehow shrank to doll size after literally one rush.

It's basically a graveyard in there.

It is. And we spend so much time, you know, critiquing adults for buying cheap, disposable, trendy clothing, but we completely ignore that nursery dresser.

Well, yeah, because it is a massive blind spot in the sustainability conversation. Fast fashion in the children's sector is I mean, from a purely physical standpoint, it's arguably worse than adult fast fashion.

Really?

Worse.

Oh, yeah. Think about it. An adult might throw away a cheap shirt because it went out of style or they just got bored of it. But a child's garment gets thrown away because a six-year-old actively destroyed it on the playground in under a month.

Huh. Yeah. Kids are just incredibly hard on their clothing.

Exactly. Yet the industry standard is to manufacture that clothing as cheaply and flimsily as possible. It makes no sense.

Which feels like just a completely broken equation. And that is actually the exact frustration that birthed Jackalo.

It's almost like we've accepted that children's clothing is essentially single-use plastic. Like, we buy it anticipating its immediate destruction.

That is a perfect analogy, actually. And the traditional apparel model. Extreme durability is treated as this expensive premium feature. Think of high-end outdoor gear for adults. Right.

Sure. Like the heavy duty hiking stuff.

For Jackalo, durability isn't a premium upgrade. It is the absolute non-negotiable starting point.

Let's actually look at the clothes themselves because building a new system from the ground up means constructing the physical garments differently.

Oh, yeah. Structurally they are very different

And just reviewing their product line. They aren't churning out miniature runway pieces or capitalizing on whatever, you know, cartoon character is popular this month.

No, they focus strictly on everyday essentials. They make joggers which feature their signature reinforced knees alongside leggings, tees, sweatshirts, and just versatile layering pieces.

And the entire line is gender-neutral, which I thought was super interesting.

It's incredibly smart.

Yeah, the gender-neutral aspect is a really smart mechanical choice, not just a stylistic one, because If the goal is to keep a garment in use as long as possible, making it gender-neutral means it can seamlessly pass from an older brother to a younger sister or vice versa without any friction.

Exactly. It maximizes the hand-me-down potential.

But I want to dig into the construction because there are some specific design elements here built for the actual realities of childhood.

Yeah, they really thought about the end user here -- the kids.

For instance, they use flat seams. I didn't realize how important this was until I read into the deep dive. materials, but standard seams are created by folding the fabric inward and stitching it.

Right. Which leaves that bulky ridge inside.

Yeah, that bulky, sometimes really scratchy ridge of fabric inside the shirt or pants.

And if you have a child with sensory processing sensitivities, that bulky ridge can feel like sandpaper rubbing against their skin all day. It can make getting dressed an absolute nightmare.

Exactly. But a flat seam uses a specific machine to butt the two edges of the fabric together. edge to edge without overlapping them at all.

So, it creates a totally smooth interior.

Right. And that's a deliberate design choice that prioritizes the comfort of the wearer over the speed of the manufacturing line because flat seams take longer to make.

They do, but it's worth it for the comfort first approach.

They also use easy pull on construction, avoiding complicated zippers or buttons, which empowers kids to dress themselves,

Which saves parents a lot of morning negotiations.

Oh, man. Yeah. Anyone with a toddler knows the struggle.

The garments are meant to be worn constantly for climbing trees, crawling through the dirt, sliding across hardwood floors,

Right. They aren't meant to be kept pristine in a closet for special occasions.

No, they are built for real play and everyday wear.

I do have to play devil's advocate here though for a second.

Okay, lay it on me.

When I read descriptions in the sources like reinforced knees and built for high impact, my mind immediately goes to like heavy-duty workwear. Does making these clothes so rugged turn kids into walking tanks? Like, do these pants look like tactical survival gear?

It is a logical concern, but no, the aesthetic is deliberately classic and timeless. It is not trend-driven at all.

Okay, that's good to hear.

Yeah, the reinforced knees on the joggers are integrated into the design really cleanly. They don't look like bulky industrial patches slapped onto the fabric as an afterthought.

Right. Not like knee pads.

Exactly. They look like a subtle, intentional architectural detail. The goal was a return to old-fashioned quality.

Clothes that kids actually want to move in.

Exactly. And that parents feel good putting them in, whether they are at the park or going to a family dinner.

Okay. So, they look good and they can take a beating. But designing for rough play isn't just about saving a parent’s sanity or reducing the clothing budget.

No, it's much bigger than that.

Right. According to the source material, this extreme durability is the very core of Jackalo's environmental strategy.

It all revolves run a metric called cost per wear or CPW.

Let's talk about the math behind cost per wear because there was a statistic in our notes that literally stopped me in my tracks.

Oh, I know the one you mean.

The average piece of clothing in the United States is worn only seven times before it is discarded.

It's insane.

Seven times. That is a staggering amount of resources. The water, agriculture, labor, shipping fuel, all burned for just 7 days of use.

It really exposes the hidden penalty of cheap clothing. And the cost per wear equation is simple. It just takes the initial price of the item and divides it by the number of times it is actually worn.

Let me actually run those numbers. Let's say you buy a cheap pair of fast fashion kids pants for $15.

Okay?

If they tear after three trips to the playground, your cost per wear is $5. You literally pay paid $5 every single time your kid put those pants on.

Right. Which adds up incredibly fast.

Now, let's say you invest in a $50 pair of highly durable Jackalo pants and your kid wears them 50 times over the course of a year. Your cost per wear drops to $1.

It is mathematically cheaper for the family.

It is. It is cheaper to buy the more expensive durable item and it's exponentially better for the environment because you aren't sending 16 pairs of shredded $15 pants to the landfill.

But to drive that cost per wear down to a single dollar or even pennies. The garment has to survive the washing machine.

Oh, true. That's where a lot of clothes fail.

Exactly. Conventional fast fashion materials are practically designed with planned obsolescence. They pill, the fibers break, the colors bleed, and they lose their structural integrity with every single wash cycle.

So, how does Jackalo counteract that?

They rely heavily on organic cotton.

Now, organic cotton is something we see a lot in sustainable apparel, but I want to clarify why it is physically superior, not just ecologically superior.

Oh, that's a really important distinction.

Because from an environmental standpoint, yes, it uses drastically less water than conventional cotton, avoids synthetic pesticides, and promotes biodiversity on the farms.

All of which is fantastic.

Right. But from a structural standpoint, conventional cotton is processed with harsh chemicals that actually break down and weaken the natural fibers.

Right. That toxic chemical bath just ruins the integrity of the cotton.

Exactly. Because organic cotton skips that toxic chemical bath. The individual fibers remain intact. They stay longer and they are fundamentally stronger fibers.

And in addition to the organic cotton, Jackalo also utilizes responsibly sourced dead stock fabric.

Dead stock. Ah.

Okay, for those who might not know, dead stock refers to surplus or overstock material produced by other textile manufacturers that was just never used.

Yeah. It might be leftover from canceled orders or simple over production by a bigger brand.

I always wonder about dead stock though. Like does using another company's leftovers mean you are compromising on the quality of your own product.

Not if you have strict sourcing standards. And Jackalo specifically sources high-grade organic dead stock.

Oh, I see. So, they're very picky about what leftovers they take.

Extremely picky. By utilizing these materials, they are intercepting perfectly good premium fabric before it reaches a landfill.

And they are doing it without requiring a single drop of new water or new energy to manufacture raw material.

It is a brilliant way to lower their overall resource footprint while maintaining that extreme durability standard.

And because of the integrity of these fibers, whether it's the fresh organic cotton or the dead stock, the clothes don't degrade in the wash like conventional clothes do.

Right. They actually improve with wear.

Yeah. They soften and form to the wearer over time, much like a good pair of raw denim jeans or like a leather jacket.

And that durability is strategically placed, too. Those reinforced knees we talked about earlier, Jackalo mapped out exactly where kids destroy pants sliding, kneeling, falling, and they engineered the defense directly into the high impact zones.

They fortified the exact areas that traditionally force a garment into the trash bin?

Exactly.

Okay, I am entirely sold on the durability, but we have to address the ultimate hurdle of the kids clothing market,

Which is?

Indestructible pants are great, but children are not static. They grow.

Ah, yes, the growing problem.

A pair of pants could be made of titanium, but if the kid grows 3 in in 6 months, those pants are obsolete to them. So, what happens to these garments when they physically no longer fit the child?

This is where the company shifts from simply making a good product to running a fully circular system. First, they design for repairability.

Repairability.

Yeah. The garments feature clean construction and durable hardware because no fabric is truly immortal, right?

Sure. Eventually, something has to give.

Right. So, when a knee finally does wear thin or a seam pops, the item is constructed in a way that makes mending straightforward. A quick patch or simple fix can add literally years of life to the garment.

I hear that and conceptually mending is wonderful.

But?

But let's look at the reality of a busy household between commuting, working, making dinner, and getting kids to bed, how many parents actually have the time, the energy, or even the technical sewing skills to darn a knee on a Tuesday night?

That's a very fair point.

I just feel like relying on parents to become amateur tailors is a massive bottleneck.

And Jackalo recognized that exact bottleneck, which is why they established themselves as America's first circular kids clothing brand by launching their TradeUP program.

TradeUP program.

Yes. They built a system that accommodates the actual reality of busy, overwhelmed families.

So, how does the TradeUP program actually function on the consumer end?

It's so easy. When a child outgrows a Jackalo garment, the parent doesn't have to throw it away, and they don't have to stuff it in a donation bag, hoping a local charity can find a use for it.

Okay.

They simply send it back to Jackalo. And in exchange, the parent receives store credit toward the next size up.

Oh wow, that is incredibly practical. It totally solves the psychological guilt of throwing away clothes and it gives the parent a direct financial incentive to participate.

Exactly.

But wait, what does Jackalo do with a box of worn, outgrown toddler pants? Like that's a lot of work.

They take on the entire burden of the secondary market. Their team inspects every return garment. If it needs a repair, their experts handle the mending.

Oh, so they do the mending, not the parents.

Exactly. They refresh the garment, ensuring it meets their quality standards, and then they resell it on their platform to a new family at a more accessible price point.

That entirely removes the friction of the secondhand market. Because let's be real, buying used kids clothes online can feel like the wild west.

It really can.

You never know if the zipper is broken or if there's a hidden stain. But here, the original manufacturer is acting as the quality control checkpoint,

And it keeps the garments in continuous motion. It fundamentally redefines the value of the clothing.

How so?

Well, in this model, a garment that can be easily repaired and resold is worth exponentially more to the company and the consumer than a disposable one.

Right. Because it has multiple life cycles.

Exactly. It reduces waste at the source and it allows a completely new family to enter the circular economy. They get access to premium durable clothing at a lower barrier to entry, inheriting clothes that still have a massive amount of life left in them.

That is such a practical circular system for families.  

Taking all of these pieces together. Um, Jackalo isn't just a company selling cute shirts to parents. They are systematically redesigning how we outfit our children.

Which is what we need, because for decades, the industry has treated children's garments as inherently disposable.

They really have. They rely on families as a trapped audience of your peak customers forced to replace shredded pants every single month.

But they took a step back and proved that environmental sustainability, physical durability, and the messy, chaotic reality of real family life can all exist within the exact same garment. They prove that durability doesn't have to be a premium add-on.

It can be the starting point.

Exactly. Before we wrap up, I want to leave you with one last thing to chew on based on our deep dive today. Think about that drawer full of clothes your kid has right now.

Yeah.

The one filled with outgrown or unwearable fast fashion.

The graveyard drawer.

The graveyard drawer. Now zoom out and look the rest of your house. What if we evaluated everything we bought for our children -- from their plastic toys to their nursery furniture to their shoes -- not by the initial price tag, but strictly by its cost per wear or cost per use?

Oh, that is a huge perspective shift.

If we factored in the true lifespan of an item before we brought it into our homes, how drastically would that change the way we consume? Just something to think about. 

Absolutely.

To learn more about Jackalo, visit them at hellojackalo.com.

Definitely go check them out.

Are you interested in learning more about creating a greener, more sustainable daily life? Check out the other episodes of the Seeing Green podcast, both the Spotlight series and the Greening My… series. And please subscribe while you are at it.

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Thank you for joining us for this episode of the Seeing Green Spotlight Series podcast. Until next time, keep seeing green.

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