Transcript, Buxton Midyette
Season 4, Episode 9
Conversation with Buxton Midyette
[00:00:00] Joshua WIlliams: [00:00:00] Retail Revolution, a unique podcast that features in depth conversations with guest experts in omni-channel retailing with myriad perspectives, technology, consumer engagement, data analytics, merchandising, and more. We pay special attention to current sociopolitical issues and challenges and their implications on fashion retail. As well as opportunities to innovate and rethink retail's future.
Visit retailrevolutionpodcast.com for more information, including full transcripts and follow us on Instagram and LinkedIn @retailrevolutionpodcast. Retail Revolution is produced by Joshua Williams and hosted by Christopher Lacey. Both are assistant professors in the Fashion Management Graduate Program at Parsons School of Design.
Christopher Lacy: [00:00:46] Our guest today has a background that includes working as a strategy consultant, specializing in retail and apparel for Kurt Solomon Associates and the director of Latin American operations for Cotton USA. [00:01:00] Today, Buxton Midyette is the vice president of marketing in the New York office for Supima the promotional brand of the US Pima cotton industry.
His responsibilities include all marketing, PR, and social media activities, as well as organizing the Supima design competition, which is in its 14th year. With over 30 years of experience in the Cotton industry. This revolutionary joins me to discuss the misconceptions of the cotton industry. The importance of cotton to sustainable practices and how the industry will evolve in the coming years.
I'm Christopher Lacy, and this is Retail Revolution podcast.
Hi Buxton, welcome to the show.
Buxton Midyette: [00:01:56] Hi, Chris. Great to be here.
Christopher Lacy: [00:01:57] I thank you for joining me. [00:02:00] So, I'm really excited about this conversation with you. But before we jump into it, I would love it if you could just give our listeners like a brief detail about what you're doing at Supima and your career.
Buxton Midyette: [00:02:12] So, I get to wear many hats, every day, sometimes every hour. I do all the marketing and promotion for Supima, which includes our fashion programs, where Parsons is a partner; where we promote the design schools, the great work they're doing and supporting, educating emerging designers. And we provide a show at New York Fashion Week, as well as Paris Fashion Week to really promote the beautiful work they're doing. I also do all the ad campaigns for Supima to help us connect with consumers and to share what we're doing with this very special cotton and highlight a number of our partners.
So, I stay busy. And with social media, of course, is just a mainstay right now with our accounts on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. So, it's never a [00:03:00] dull moment Chris.
Christopher Lacy: [00:03:01] I would imagine not. So, tell our listeners, because I don't know that many people know about Supima, like what Supima does for the industry.
Buxton Midyette: [00:03:10] So, Supima, we represent the 500 family farms that grow this special cotton in the American West. So, this is a 100% American grown cotton. And it's a special variety, which makes it different from other cottons.
It's what's known in the industry as an extra long staple cotton. So, the fiber is longer in length. It's actually an inch and a half, versus one inch for regular cotton. It's also twice as strong. A little anecdote about Supima is that it was developed in 1911 and its first major use was actually as an industrial fiber and they use Supima cotton to make automobile tires for Model T autos.
So, there were actually six pounds of cotton in every [00:04:00] single Model T tire. So, this is known for being a luxury fiber, but it's really tough stuff and it can really hold up to the wear and tear that our customers give it. Another attribute is that it's much finer than regular cotton. And that fineness allows it to absorb and retain colors. So, it's really a high performance fiber, but a natural fiber, which gives it all kinds of attributes. It's biodegradable, it's compostable. And it really is special. And to know it is to love it because it's also very comfortable and soft. And that's just a natural aspect of the fiber.
Christopher Lacy: [00:04:39] So, I'm glad you brought up raw material and the performance of it. And I think, as consumers, you get to the point where the one thing you know, is you're like when it comes to your cotton sheets, I want this thread count. And, we think in those terms, and we think of things like Egyptian cotton, and we know that that's great, but from what you're [00:05:00] saying, all cottons aren't created equal, right? And that being the case, what should consumers really understand about the production of cotton products.
Buxton Midyette: [00:05:12] I think one important thing to think about; and we're all really struggling with these terms that are out there, sustainability, traceability. But it all starts with the raw material, whether that's the cotton, polyester, rayon, wool. You have to look at the source of the product. You have to look all the way back to the raw material, because if you don't know where the raw material comes from, you really can't make any claims about sustainability. And so with Supima there's a lot of hard work that's gone in to number one, make our cotton traceable all the way back to the point of origin. I've been with Supima almost 20 years now. And every single year we [00:06:00] spent working on this and arriving at traceability. And before that was all done through a paper trail with invoices, from the sale of the raw cotton, to the spinner. From the spinner to the weaver, knitter who made the fabric. To the retailer and brand, all the way to, trace that product from field all the way to the shelf of the store. That was the best that could be done at that point. But we knew we had to do better. And so we spent about a decade working on DNA tracing of the cotton. Unfortunately, we didn't find there was enough DNA material in the cotton, the cellulose does not contain DNA. There was a little bit of plant material that was in the cotton. And we were able to get somewhat of a signature from that, but it wasn't the amount that we needed in order to differentiate, not just Supima from regular cotton, but Supima from extra long staple cotton.
So, we started working with a [00:07:00] technology partner, Oritain based out of New Zealand, and they actually use forensic technology to trace cotton all the way back to the point of origin. And so we've mapped our entire growing area. And what they do is they measure the levels of isotopes and rare elements in each geography, about 39 is what they measure. And these measurements create a unique fingerprint that allows us to trace the cotton back to Fresno, back to Albuquerque, back to El Paso, back to the Phoenix area. Wherever it's grown you can take it back to that origin. And so, that's a really exciting development, because that way you can link the agricultural processes, the cultivation processes to that specific cotton. Otherwise, and it doesn't matter whether you're talking about cotton or polyester, you can go and visit a fiber- making operation, be very [00:08:00] impressed that they're checking all the boxes, doing everything right. That specific fiber is in the product you're buying at the end of the supply chain. And so this really is quite a dramatic breakthrough. And I say this as a person who's worked in the cotton industry for the past 30 years, you would not think of cotton as a high-tech industry, but it's quite the opposite.
And that's what makes the Supima stand apart from other cottons is the constant incorporation of the latest technology in the cultivation of Supima, whether it's the traceability or the cultivation practices themselves.
Christopher Lacy: [00:08:37] So, you brought up in your 30 years in the cotton industry, how much technology is used in it. But then also there's the word traceability.
And in our industry, we talk about traceability and transparency to the point where I think, and I've said this before, sometimes the word stop meaning something, because then everyone claims that [00:09:00] something can be traced. But with that, I mean, you've just given a lot of information about how the cotton industry has changed. But I feel there is still a lot of misconceptions out there about the cotton industry, especially as it pertains to things like sustainability and traceability.
What should people really know? Like, can you clear up a few things? and I'm asking you a big question cause I think there's a lot of misconceptions.
Buxton Midyette: [00:09:23] Absolutely. Absolutely. And this is a story that we really were not focused on telling until we had the traceability part and the transparency part taken care of, because we felt it was important to be able to back up our claims.
I think in terms of cotton, the biggest misconceptions around cotton are number one, that it is bad for the soil. And number two, that it uses a lot of water. In terms of the soil, I think that this goes back to the 19th century where cotton was the crop. And if you were [00:10:00] a farmer there was no crop that could earn you more money than growing cotton.
The prices for other crops that they could grow just did not compare. And so they grew cotton year, after year, after year, and it literally exhausted the soil. And they just, at that point, would just push on to farther West where there was fresh soil to cultivate the cotton in. But that is something that this monoculture is something that will deplete the soil no matter what crop you're talking about. Whether it's carrots, or wheat, or corn. You simply cannot grow an individual crop time and time again without depleting the soil. Now, farmers are much more sophisticated in terms of their cultivation practices. And they regularly rotate crops to keep the soil in balance because after all, the soil, the land is our capital. It's what they receive from [00:11:00] their parents and hand to their daughters and sons. And so for Supima.
You will normally grow out of a five-year period. You would probably grow Supima maybe three years and you would rotate in tomatoes, or winter wheat, or maybe safflower. Safflower you would rotate in because it has a long taproot which breaks up the soil and allows salts to leach out. So, you wouldn't necessarily make money on the safflower, but you'll do that just because it's good for the ground.
The other misconception I mentioned was water. And you really, I think to best understand it, you just have to think about a cotton plant. Now the fiber is beautiful and I could wax eloquent forever about this beautiful fiber, but the plant really is never going to win any beauty contests.
It's a short stubby shrub. It grows maybe about three or four feet. And the cotton itself it's not a succulent fruit; [00:12:00] it's dry. So, you think like, where does the water go? Where's all this water, how the plant absorb it? Well, the truth is, the water that's applied to the plant, all of that, only 6% is absorbed by the plant. And the rest, it goes to replenish water tables. It goes into the environment, it goes back into the water system. So, the plant itself and Supima was bred to be a desert plant. So, it's very salt tolerant. It can grow and thrive in very substandard soils. So, this is not the thirsty plant that it has the reputation for being. In fact, it's a great rotational crop that our farmers use as part of the portfolio, wide portfolio of crops that they grow on their farms.
Christopher Lacy: [00:12:49] This is really cool. I love the science of this, because I have to tell you, I did not know that Supima was a desert plant. Quite interesting. But you do bring [00:13:00] up something that I want to talk about as an area of sustainability, when it comes to human capital. And you mentioned your farmers and this way of life of needing to rotate the crops out and also understanding that you can't exhaust the land. But with the human capital part of the cotton industry, there's kind of always been the underlying, the cotton industry, how it came about in the US. So, the question is now how does Supima ensure that human capital is protected in the production of cotton. And this is wages, farmers way of life, what people are doing, because we know that there are other areas in the world now where those in developing countries get exploited. And you get exploited from every area. The farmers could be exploited, the workers who are doing the work, whether it's sewing are exploited. And cotton is a huge industry. So, this has to be at the forefront I'm sure of Supima. So, what are the things that kind of [00:14:00] ensure this protecting of the human capital aspect of sustainability?
Buxton Midyette: [00:14:04] Absolutely. This is very important. And certainly for our growers and their families. It's very important to take care of the people that work on the farm.
And, I say this, Supima we're a marketing promotional organization, so this is not something we're directly involved in. But in the United States, you have very strict labor laws against child labor. Very strict laws governing the working conditions. And these absolutely adhere to the letter and spirit of that law. Because it's just in the interest of our growers that they take care of their workforce.
I mean, now in the United States for Supima, 100% of the crop is machine picked. So, that really takes out a big element, in terms of opportunity for issues. That is not the case for the other extra long staple cottons that are cultivated around the world. Egyptian is still hand-picked. Chinese [00:15:00] still handpicked. I mean, right now, just speaking about China, you have a huge issue with Xinjiang cotton that most of it is, if not all of it is picked by prison labor. So, you have to be aware of these issues in a way that you'd like to think those have gone away, but, I think we haven't fully resolved that.
And with Supima, and how our cotton is grown, and the practices on the farms, but that's certainly something that needs to be addressed. And actually our president Mark Lewkowitz is chairman of the Better Cotton Initiative. And so we don't see this as only of about, "well, we've taken care of things at Supima, we can just pack up and go," we're very cognizant of what's happening around the world. And we want to share and encourage best practices for cotton cultivation, around the world and share our knowledge
Christopher Lacy: [00:15:58] For you, the [00:16:00] cotton industry just, it goes beyond, I mean, you and I have talked about upcycling, the recycling of cotton products and what that means. What is the future of the cotton industry as you see it. And I feel like you've got some things turning in your head about what you'd like to see happen. I don't know if you can share it with our listeners, but it'd be great if you could.
Buxton Midyette: [00:16:19] Well, absolutely. I just think that as people are focusing on sustainability and trying to be more responsible consumers, that fibers like Supima and other natural fibers should really be top of the consideration for them. Because they have these benefits, they certainly are in a sustainable, in that that they'd been produced for hundreds, if not thousands of years and used as clothing and home fashion during that time. So, they, really deserve another look.
It's funny, I grew up in the seventies and during my childhood, you didn't want to drink orange juice, you wanted to drink Tang, because Tang was [00:17:00] the breakfast drink of the astronauts. And obviously it was so much better because it came in a nice jar and a lid, and you could just spoon it out and add water and that's the ultimate in modernity, versus that old fashioned orange juice with those messy trees and all the foliage and who wants to deal with that? Well, I think in a way, we're trained to look for these miracle fibers and what's going to be best. Oh, if it's new and we can just synthesize it and obviously it will be better, when it really hasn't ended up being the case. We've found that polyester, not only does it not biodegrade for at least a thousand years in a landfill, but that it's actually sloughing off plastic into the water system, just with the act of washing it.
And so I think that, we're learning that these miracle fibers aren't so much of a miracle. And the thing is that [00:18:00] cotton, you can obviously scale to fulfill the basic needs of people around the world to clothe themselves and for other uses. So I think, it's something that people need to think about .
Also, it's interesting to kind of watch this all play out. And there's a lot of focus on trying to reuse fibers and to take a t-shirt and "wow, we'll just shred it up and we're gonna re spin it and we'll make a new t-shirt." And that sounds great, but the issue there that you take a cotton t-shirt, which is fully compostable, biodegradable, when you shred it up, you have to re spin it. When shredding the t-shirt off, the fibers are very short. And they have to add polyester in to spin it. So, unfortunately that blend makes the product non-recyclable versus from its previous state. And so it's a real challenge. And I know that the [00:19:00] intents are all good. This is a tough problem to crack. But it is exciting that so much energy and thought is going into trying to resolve these challenges.
You know, I will say, one issue you asked me to talk about, cotton sustainability. There's something that I think gets lost somehow, in discussions around cotton that this is a plant. And you see it in pictures at its final stage where you have the beautiful fluffy cotton bowls. And it really is a spectacle to behold. But, this plant is part of the solution to our global warming challenge and that Supima is not only carbon neutral it actually sequesters carbon and takes carbon out of the environment. So, Supima is actually part of the solution to the major challenge that we're facing right now. Agriculture is very important to preserving the environment and the farmers themselves.
I mean, most of [00:20:00] our growers have been cultivating Supima for three or four generations. And if the practices that they use were unsound, they'd be out of business. The inputs, whether it's fertilizer or pesticide, you want to use as little as possible. These things are very expensive. You want to use natural method ologies to keep that soil and balance. And that's, kind of the legacy that you leave for that next generation.
Christopher Lacy: [00:20:30] Well, I want to ask you, because you, brought up so many great things and I'm thinking right now of if somebody is a new designer; so they're in school, or maybe they're not in school and they have the ability to create beautiful garments. They know this is the direction they want to go in, or they're starting their own company. And how easy is it for them to be able to use Supima cotton? Because if I were hearing this and I was one of them I'd be like, well, that's what I want to use, because they're really conscious about what they're doing. And is it easily accessible for [00:21:00] somebody who's starting out? Or is this something that larger organizations are able to afford, because it's Supima?
Buxton Midyette: [00:21:06] No, I'm happy to help out any designer that's interested in sourcing our fabric. We try to keep some on hand to provide sample yardage for designers. And we have a long list of manufacturers around the world, as well as here in the United States, about 300 that are under license and are making every quality of fabric that you could imagine, from the finest shirtings to denims, to twills and velvetines.
We are really fortunate to have some incredible top flight, manufacturers around the world that are doing amazing things with Supima. And then we have a licensing program with 300 leading retailers and brands that offer, towels and sheets and shirts and tees made with this beautiful cotton. And so, this is something we're really excited to be able to work with this group and really support [00:22:00] them with these traceability solutions and sharing information like I'm doing with you here, Chris about this very special cotton.
Christopher Lacy: [00:22:08] Thank you. Thank you so much.
And I want to close us out by giving you the opportunity to tell our listeners, how can they keep up to date with what Supima is doing? If they do want to get in touch with you, how would they go about it?
Buxton Midyette: [00:22:20] I think the best way to follow and learn more about Supima is through our social media platforms, through Instagram.
So, you can follow us at, @supima, S-U-P-I-M-A. Also, over on Facebook and Twitter. Or just reach out to me. We have our website supima.com. You can reach out to me through the website as well. But one of the core values for Supima since its founding in 1954 has been to support designers. We were partnering with designers like Claire McCardell, James Galanos in the 1950s and 60s and really helping them and supporting [00:23:00] them as design at that point was really dominated by Europe. And being a designer, it was almost still viewed as a craft and that you were a pattern maker in the back part of the studio. And so we were part of that movement to support American designers. And that's something that has translated today into our design competition, which we have organized with the leading design schools in the United States for the past 14 years. We love working with them and they nominate their top graduates from the school. We give them beautiful Supima fabrics and they create eveningwear capsule collections that we then show at New York and Paris fashion week. And so it's, been fun to work with these incredible talents and see them go off and do great things. And I have a lot of fun that I should've thought about this, Chris, but now we have an Alumni network going back 14 years. And we're doing a [00:24:00] project right now to kind of highlight some of these outstanding designers and what they're up to now, which is a lot of fun.
Christopher Lacy: [00:24:07] That's fantastic. And you have been running this program for 14 years, the 14 years of Alumni. But really quickly, how would someone be able to participate in that or enter into it? Or where can they go to find out that information?
Buxton Midyette: [00:24:21] I think if you're interested, talk to your Dean about the program. We are currently working with Drexel, FIT, we have worked with Parsons, RISD, Kent State, Chicago, FIDNU . We've been working with, as I said the leading in schools. So, talk to your Dean about it and they can kind of guide the student that's interested. You have to be a graduating senior to participate though.
Christopher Lacy: [00:24:47] Fantastic. Thank you so much, Buxton for joining me today.
This was a great conversation. The power of agriculture. So, thank you. And we hope to talk to you again soon.
Buxton Midyette: [00:24:57] Well, thank you, Chris. It's my pleasure. And I think, [00:25:00] it's just such a great opportunity to be talking with you and sharing this information with your audience. I know it's such a challenge looking at sustainability and how to be a better consumer. And I hope that some of our conversation has been helpful as people are trying to chart their way and do good in the world today.
Christopher Lacy: [00:25:19] Absolutely. Here's hoping.
Buxton Midyette: [00:25:21] That's right.
Christopher Lacy: [00:25:22] Take care of Buxton.
Buxton Midyette: [00:25:23] That's right.
Joshua WIlliams: [00:25:28] Thank you for listening to this episode of Retail Revolution, a very special thank you to everyone who has helped make this podcast possible. If you'd like to support the work we're doing, please visit our show page at retailrevolutionpodcast.com and click on the donate link. Our theme music was composed by Spencer Powell. Be well and stay tuned for our next episode.
