The Pine Company
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The Pine Company

William Feather once said, ‘One way to get the most out of life is to look upon it as an adventure’.

‘Escape The Ordinary’ brands the website and nothing could sum up The Pine Company more than this statement. Backed by 22 year old Geelong-by-Melbourne entrepreneur Jordan Di Paolo, The Pine Co. was simply born through the love of design.
With the focus of men’s fashion moving towards the minimalist but high-quality trend over the last few years, Jordan was well into his second year of studying Architecture and Construction Management at Deakin University when he decided to follow the dream of design with his very own clothing line.
“I’ve always wanted to do some sort of clothing line; I did graphic design in high school and I was pretty passionate about it, but then I just never really had the time to do it,” he explains. “Then I got to uni and I thought that I may as well give it a crack.”
Beginning the label with just one simple product in 2016, Jordan stepped away from the brand briefly before re-branding his company in the early months of 2018, bringing forth a strong vision for the future at The Pine Co. With the same name, same designs but a reinvigorated passion, Jordan was ready to bring The Pine Co to the forefront of minimalist streetwear and pioneer slow fashion, innovation and superior quality in Geelong.
Embracing the scenery around him, initially the forests of the Otways to now beaches of the Surf Coast, his visions became the inspiration behind his designs and saw The Pine Co. launch seven more products in the last six months.
“Originally I didn’t really want to go with that surf theme as I was pretty interested in camping, adventures and the scenery in Lorne and the Otways. I was looking at that and that was where I generated my first idea, and it’s only now that I’ve been playing around with surf inspired designs.”
Made with comfortable 100 per cent cotton, ensuring they’re both biodegradable and recyclable, the simple yet stylish unisex range was created with the adventurer at heart. The pieces can be worn whether you’re out exploring the open ranges, or if you’re at home surfing the web. Currently the line consists of long sleeves, tees, hoodies and even a beanie, all tagged with similar branding. It’s the Royal Navy Script tee however that stands as the best seller so far and it’s not hard to see why. It’s simple, comfortable, stylish and is available for an easy $25.
“That one has been the best so far. It’s a safe colour and it’s easy to wear; I actually just handwrote the embroid and scanned it onto the computer,” Jordan explains. “From there, they just sold so quickly. I sold about 50 of them in two or three weeks, I just couldn’t keep up. My housemates had to help me, and that really kick-started everything and allowed me to buy the hoodies with the profits. I sold 50 of them, and I still had 50 to go so everything from there was purely profit. It was a real confidence boost.”
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With the aim to create products that you can not only wear, but tell stories with, Jordan uses Instagram to promote The Pine Co’s vision of living, sustainable awareness and happiness and joy. The images not only show the brand’s clothing, but also images of men and women who embody the target buyer persona – adventurous, laid back, fun and awe-inspiring, which is a perfect representation of the brand’s essence — in other words, its heart, soul, and spirit.
With forward thinking fashion for a worthy cause, Jordan further explored The Pine Co.’s vision embarking on a new venture for his winter range, collaborating with Fight For Our Reef to safeguard the ocean and its marine life.
2015 had record-breaking temperatures, with devastating impact on the world’s coral reefs. For only the third time in recorded history, the world’s coral reef are experiencing a global “bleaching” event, and Australia is one of the many areas affected by this global warming crisis. Surprisingly, it isn’t the Great Barrier Reef facing the greatest threat this year, but Western Australia’s less well-known coral reefs.
The aim of Fight For Our Reef is to raise awareness of the major threats to the Reef including industrialisation, global warming and fertiliser run-off. Specifically, the campaign seeks to stop industrial port expansion, support strong laws and funding to cut farm pollution and turn down the heat on our Reef by investing in renewable energy.
As part of the collaboration, The Pine Co. designed one limited edition long sleeve – the Scuba Ningaloo Reef long sleeve T-shirt – inspired by the striking, serene beauty of the reefs. Simply by purchasing or wearing the product, The Pine Co. (and its customers) are helping promote awareness and supporting the Fight For Our Reef organisation by donating 10 per cent of profits from the sale of that particular product.
“The reef in Western Australia in particular is pretty damaged,” Jordan reveals, “it’s worse than the Great Barrier Reef at the moment; so I came up with a T-shirt design for it and I contacted them and asked if I could donated 10 per cent of my profits to them.”
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With a love of living life in the fast lane, Jordan will continue studying his double degree and travelling between Melbourne, Ocean Grove and Geelong for work while juggling the business, spending the rest of his free time focusing on ways he can grow his clothing brand. In particular, as we enter the warmer season, Jordan plans to design products that specifically cater towards female customers and embark on collaborations with other like-minded brands.
“From now until the end of the year I want to focus on women. Because I’m just a one man show, I don’t really know that side as well, I get scared and I want to play it safe,” he laughs. “I would also like get into some sort of store. Right now I’m just selling online, which is satisfying but at the same time it’s not; I’m not engaging with the people who are purchasing my product and I’d like to be more hands on with people purchasing. I’ve actually never tried a market yet either so it would be good to go to a market and see people come up and approach and see what they’re responding to and go from there.
“I’m sort of taking it as it comes, so just keep your eyes on our Instagram and website…”
Shop online via www.thepineco.com.au and follow the Instagram page @thepinecompany