NEWS & NOTEWORTHY

Gorilla is excited to announce a new client relationship with prAna.com

Our name, prAna, holds great meaning to us. PrAna is an ancient Sanskrit word for breath, life and vitality of the spirit. We are honored to borrow this name that lifts our aspirations and guides us towards a positive vision for the future.

17 years ago, we started to cut and sew climbing apparel in our garage, shipping it out to customers in surplus fruit boxes gathered from the local grocery store. Starting a company from scratch, we had to be as resourceful and creative as possible. For clothing hang tags, we collected old newspapers, ground them up in a blender with essential oils, rolled the pulp into sheets out flat to dry, printed the homemade paper with water based inks and cut each one with a pizza cutter. We hand dyed clothing in the wash basin and patiently sewed patches branded on the kitchen stove one by one, breaking many needles along the way. Our first employee lived in the garage, building a hinged table that clipped into the wall with ropes and carabineers. By day it was the cutting table, by night it was a bed to sleep in. PrAna started to take on a unique life of its own.

The tribe of people participating with PrAna evolved and the garage space could no longer hold us. We moved into a building, put up a climbing wall and created a space where employees and friends of prAna could share and cultivate their like-minded passions. Those early habits of creativity and conservation have stayed with us and we continually seek to reduce environmental impacts in our business practices and our daily routines. We support wind power initiatives and numerous environmental groups that are all looking to make a difference. Pam heads the design team, combining fashion and performance with her pursuit of sustainable materials. I read and respond to many customer emails, and stay closely involved with the climbing community and organizations like the Access Fund and the Conservation Alliance. I reside on the board of the Outdoor Foundation that seeks to help kids connect with, respect and enjoy the outdoors. We support and are inspired by some of the best climbers in the world, such as Chris Sharma, Dean Potter and Steph Davis. We are thankful for our friendships with the many fantastic yoga teachers and guru’s like Shiva Rea and John Friend who are not only involved with product development but also inspire us to open our hearts and minds and stick to our convictions.

PrAna continues to evolve steadily and naturally, rippling with widening circles into the passionate community of those who love the outdoors, artists, athletes, and environmentally and socially mindful individuals. We are proud and honored to continue on this journey together where we are evolving and learning to live a fulfilling and balanced life. Thank you for joining us.

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