THREADS OF APOLLO - OFFICIAL AFFILIATE THREAD

[ThreadsofApollo]

Hey guys,

My name is Wakkas and I am the founder of Threads of Apollo, a sustainable leather goods company based out of Vancouver, BC, Canada. We make premium, made-to-order, water-repellent Leather jackets and gloves (and soon-to-be other accessories) without any compromises.

How we do this:

• Offer our products at a fair price
  
  
• Design jackets with utility in mind
  
  
• Make our jackets wearable in any weather by treating them with a water-repellent we developed via an in-house proprietary solution
  
  
• Focus on premium materials: using only full-grain leather from Grade A hides, high-quality YKK zippers, and hand-stitching
  
  
• Produce only when we need to and use hides leftover from the meat industry, thus eliminating additional waste as a by-product of our goods

We aren’t about that “cut out the middleman” stuff – our supplier and we are the same. We are pretty unique in the sense that we have a tight-knit family-type relationship with our production facility. It gives us a lot of control over how we want to go about doing things.

I think this might be getting too long for an intro post, but if you guys want to hear the full story of how I got started, it’s something I can do in a separate post but here’s the gist of it:

I didn’t really plan on starting this brand. It was a combination of hating the typical 9-to-5, going through depression, coming across an opportunity that was too good to pass up, and wanting to save enough for a down payment as well as pay off my student loans. I lucked out on finding a great production facility, worked 2 jobs to get this up and running, and spent a lot of my own money to get started. This was all-around 2017-2019.

Around mid-2019 to 2020, the brand finally started gaining traction. By another stroke of luck, I found two other guys who work with me now – a Marketing and Sales Director, and a Creative Director. Despite COVID, we were fortunate to do well last year and continue to grow. We are still pretty bootstrapped though and want to try to grow and scale the right way. In our eyes, it's better to do it right than fast.

It’s been a crazy ride so far. I won’t lie, it’s been hard as hell and will probably continue to be. A lot more downs than ups so far. But the outcome is worth it!

Honestly, at least now I know what it takes to start something and watch it grow from nothing, especially in the apparel industry.

My goal with the brand has been to try to bridge that gap between a premium but approachable product while minimizing waste and keeping up with ethical standards. With that, I’m also always trying to find unique ways to spread positive messages through the brand – you’ll see short, aspiring messages on each product that hopefully leave you feeling uplifted.

From quality control to design aesthetic to customer service, we’ve improved a lot over the last 4 years and will continue to do so. It’s just the three of us right now and our production facility overseas. We are going to keep doing our best and give our customers what they deserve, and then some.

My Marketing and Sales Director would be pissed if I didn’t include a shoutout of our newest release, so here you go for anyone who’s interested:

_____________________________________________________________________________

We released a new water-repellent Nubuck style today, which is pretty cool. They come in two versions: Spring (comes with perforations and a satin mesh body lining) and Fall/Winter (comes with our standard cotton body lining and no perforations). We hope you’ll check it out!







To celebrate our release, here’s a week-long discount code for y’all:

Use “SFFriends” at checkout

(You can get 20% off any men’s jacket).

Since it’s a sale, we don’t usually offer size exchanges but we’ll make an exception for this code! It’ll be valid from Apr 29th – May 6th, 2021.

_____________________________________________________________________________

If you guys have any questions, things you’d like to know, or products you want to see in the future, let me know! If you guys have ideas on how we can better integrate product stories with the jackets, I’m totally open to hearing them as well! We tried providing written scrolls with the respective stories along with each jacket, but I don’t think people really cared to get the scrolls.

A few last bits of information:

• For common questions, check out the FAQs and Returns and Size Exchange Policy.
• For more about our made-to-order model, check out our Process page.
• General inquiries outside of Styleforum can go to: [email protected]
• If you want, sign up for our email list and/or follow us on Instagram @threadsofapollo for news and updates.

That’s it for now. Excited to finally have this up and be a part of Styleforum!

Cheers!

Wakkas

 

[afterthesuit]

That blue suede looks pretty bad ass

 

[ThreadsofApollo]

That blue suede looks pretty bad ass

I kept that sample for myself since I liked it so much hahah

 

[yshin10]

Hey guys,

My name is Wakkas and I am the founder of Threads of Apollo, a sustainable leather goods company based out of Vancouver, BC, Canada. We make premium, made-to-order, water-repellent Leather jackets and gloves (and soon-to-be other accessories) without any compromises.

How we do this:

• Offer our products at a fair price
  
  
• Design jackets with utility in mind
  
  
• Make our jackets wearable in any weather by treating them with a water-repellent we developed via an in-house proprietary solution
  
  
• Focus on premium materials: using only full-grain leather from Grade A hides, high-quality YKK zippers, and hand-stitching
  
  
• Produce only when we need to and use hides leftover from the meat industry, thus eliminating additional waste as a by-product of our goods

We aren’t about that “cut out the middleman” stuff – our supplier and we are the same. We are pretty unique in the sense that we have a tight-knit family-type relationship with our production facility. It gives us a lot of control over how we want to go about doing things.

I think this might be getting too long for an intro post, but if you guys want to hear the full story of how I got started, it’s something I can do in a separate post but here’s the gist of it:

I didn’t really plan on starting this brand. It was a combination of hating the typical 9-to-5, going through depression, coming across an opportunity that was too good to pass up, and wanting to save enough for a down payment as well as pay off my student loans. I lucked out on finding a great production facility, worked 2 jobs to get this up and running, and spent a lot of my own money to get started. This was all-around 2017-2019.

Around mid-2019 to 2020, the brand finally started gaining traction. By another stroke of luck, I found two other guys who work with me now – a Marketing and Sales Director, and a Creative Director. Despite COVID, we were fortunate to do well last year and continue to grow. We are still pretty bootstrapped though and want to try to grow and scale the right way. In our eyes, it's better to do it right than fast.

It’s been a crazy ride so far. I won’t lie, it’s been hard as hell and will probably continue to be. A lot more downs than ups so far. But the outcome is worth it!

Honestly, at least now I know what it takes to start something and watch it grow from nothing, especially in the apparel industry.

My goal with the brand has been to try to bridge that gap between a premium but approachable product while minimizing waste and keeping up with ethical standards. With that, I’m also always trying to find unique ways to spread positive messages through the brand – you’ll see short, aspiring messages on each product that hopefully leave you feeling uplifted.

From quality control to design aesthetic to customer service, we’ve improved a lot over the last 4 years and will continue to do so. It’s just the three of us right now and our production facility overseas. We are going to keep doing our best and give our customers what they deserve, and then some.

My Marketing and Sales Director would be pissed if I didn’t include a shoutout of our newest release, so here you go for anyone who’s interested:

_____________________________________________________________________________

We released a new water-repellent Nubuck style today, which is pretty cool. They come in two versions: Spring (comes with perforations and a satin mesh body lining) and Fall/Winter (comes with our standard cotton body lining and no perforations). We hope you’ll check it out!




View attachment 1602515 View attachment 1602516 View attachment 1602517 View attachment 1602519 View attachment 1602520


To celebrate our release, here’s a week-long discount code for y’all:

Use “SFFriends” at checkout

(You can get 20% off any men’s jacket).

Since it’s a sale, we don’t usually offer size exchanges but we’ll make an exception for this code! It’ll be valid from Apr 29th – May 6th, 2021.

_____________________________________________________________________________

If you guys have any questions, things you’d like to know, or products you want to see in the future, let me know! If you guys have ideas on how we can better integrate product stories with the jackets, I’m totally open to hearing them as well! We tried providing written scrolls with the respective stories along with each jacket, but I don’t think people really cared to get the scrolls.

A few last bits of information:

• For common questions, check out the FAQs and Returns and Size Exchange Policy.
• For more about our made-to-order model, check out our Process page.
• General inquiries outside of Styleforum can go to: [email protected]
• If you want, sign up for our email list and/or follow us on Instagram @threadsofapollo for news and updates.

That’s it for now. Excited to finally have this up and be a part of Styleforum!

Cheers!

Wakkas

Welcome to the forum! The Ares in red looks like a statement piece! How does the photo represent the color IRL? Looks more muted burgudy?

 

[ThreadsofApollo]

Welcome to the forum! The Ares in red looks like a statement piece! How does the photo represent the color IRL? Looks more muted burgudy?

Hey there!

Thank you so much!!

I just took out the one I had here It's pretty spot on imo. We actually had this colourway's name as "Burgundy" for a long time but it just felt wrong since there isn't much purple to it and rather it's red with a black undertone.

Here's a sneak peek of a 3rd colourway for the Ares we plan on releasing soon!

 

[yshin10]

Hey there!

Thank you so much!!

I just took out the one I had here It's pretty spot on imo. We actually had this colourway's name as "Burgundy" for a long time but it just felt wrong since there isn't much purple to it and rather it's red with a black undertone.

Here's a sneak peek of a 3rd colourway for the Ares we plan on releasing soon!

View attachment 1602634

Is that Navy?? And it looks beautiful!! Do you have a picture of the red in natural light?

 

[ThreadsofApollo]

Is that Navy?? And it looks beautiful!! Do you have a picture of the red in natural light?

It's actually "charcoal grey"!

I'll try to get a candid shot this weekend if it's not too cloudy and the lighting is good!

 

[yshin10]

It's actually "charcoal grey"!

I'll try to get a candid shot this weekend if it's not too cloudy and the lighting is good!

Love it!! Thank you.

 

[standaloneprotein]

I can only say good things about this brand. A friend of mine got one of their jackets and it was really well made.

 

[ThreadsofApollo]

I can only say good things about this brand. A friend of mine got one of their jackets and it was really well made.

Hey there!

So glad to hear your friend has been enjoying the jacket!

I try to get folks to leave reviews as much as possible on the website if they send me messages such as this. It's funny though because it's almost like it's bad at the same time since people tend to get suspicious if there are too many 5 star reviews.

It is what it is though. I'm just happy when I hear stuff like this. Honestly, stuff like this makes my day and helps me to keep pushing. Appreciate it!

 

[LA Guy]

So, I have a threads of Apollo rider jacket that I just opened, in the Perfecto style, in sheep, and the initial reaction was that the fit was very good with some very interesting and well thought out details, like the inside pockets, which I tend to use way more than outside ones. I like the use of an inset shoulder seen instead of the more traditional lapped seam. I don’t think that would have been me choice for a heavier jacket, but on the very supple sheepskin, it makes more sense. There are some features that I personally would never use, like a zip in hood, but if someone wants to live in 2003, well, more power to them. I don’t review products, as a matter of forum policy, but I mean, for $276, you really can’t do better than this. Frankly, taking into account the fit, the closest in seen are some jackets by Levi’s and one way back in the day by OakNYC, and those were, iirc, about $100 and $200. Personally, I’d be interested if threads of Apollo could do the same jacket in a heavier Horween style leather, maybe a black CXL, even at an up charge of say, $100-150.

 

[ThreadsofApollo]

So, I have a threads of Apollo rider jacket that I just opened, in the Perfecto style, in sheep, and the initial reaction was that the fit was very good with some very interesting and well thought out details, like the inside pockets, which I tend to use way more than outside ones. I like the use of an inset shoulder seen instead of the more traditional lapped seam. I don’t think that would have been me choice for a heavier jacket, but on the very supple sheepskin, it makes more sense. There are some features that I personally would never use, like a zip in hood, but if someone wants to live in 2003, well, more power to them. I don’t review products, as a matter of forum policy, but I mean, for $276, you really can’t do better than this. Frankly, taking into account the fit, the closest in seen are some jackets by Levi’s and one way back in the day by OakNYC, and those were, iirc, about $100 and $200. Personally, I’d be interested if threads of Apollo could do the same jacket in a heavier Horween style leather, maybe a black CXL, even at an up charge of say, $100-150.

Hey there!

Thanks for the feedback!!

With regards to the hood, for context, the thought process behind that was that, since the jackets are now all water-repellent and we were encouraging folks to not worry about wearing them in heavy rain/snow, having the option to attach a hood just made sense to us. Definitely needed them all removable though since it definitely isn't for everyone (I'm personally not a hood guy but hey it's there if you need it!).

In general, we wanted to start with sheep leather for a couple of reasons:

1. We wanted a balance with regards to durability and is soft and supple. You can probably tell that our leather is pretty stretchy and pliable but doesn't feel like it could potentially rip, like some jackets made from lamb leather, which is super soft, but thin as well.
   
   
2. The Wool from the sheep also protects the hide from getting any blemishes or scars, giving the finished leather a more consistent texture.
   
   
3. In line with the second point, our goal was to create more approachable statement pieces with an emphasis on a more modern, minimalist aesthetic used more so for going out with friends or something to wear for one's everyday commute. We feel like sheep leather is best for that since it allows us to have a more clean look.

With that being said, we do have plans to potentially offer additional leather options as soon the next year! Currently, we are considering cow and/or calf. There are a few local farms, where our production facility is based, that we'd be able to source these from and are in talks with. This would give us an option to provide that heavier, durable feel leather that some folks prefer. I think though, for us, it's important to have a certain level of being pliable and not overly stiff and still provide that clean aesthetic without over-treating the leather. It's a pretty nuanced endeavor and super interesting as well!

 

[ThreadsofApollo]

Hey everyone,

A while ago, my team and I began mapping out our 1 year, 3 year, and 5 year plans for the brand, including how we could showcase our commitment to ethical and environmental considerations. Obviously, COVID-19 derailed a lot of those plans and so we are in the process of re-mapping out a lot of things.

We know that we are not perfect, but we do believe in these things.

Part of the way we have thought about showing this in the past was to highlight the real working conditions in the production facility and to highlight the people behind the jackets. Due to COVID-19, I haven’t been able to go back to the production facilities and get the content needed, however, I figured this would be a good opportunity to share some content from when I was there over a year ago.

Here are some raw and candid behind-the-scenes images and videos of how our jackets are made, along with where they’re made, including a peek into some of the environmental considerations such as a look at the giant water treatment plant where all the water from tanneries in the area end up going to get cleaned.

There is also a script in the folder for a video that we were thinking about making a while back. The main reason we didn’t share it more widely is that the original plan was for me to get better content, but we were also in the midst of figuring out how to balance the premium aspects of the brand with more casual, behind-the-scenes footage.


I hope you guys gain some insight from this and feel free to ask any questions you might have.

 

[ThreadsofApollo]

We recently had our "Evergreen" shoot (a location shoot where we wanted to really capture the vibe of the jackets in different situations).

These are raw, unedited, and there are a bunch more that will be coming but figured I'd share some of my favorites thus far.

 

[ThreadsofApollo]

Hello all,

We are experimenting with an in-house unique 2-tone colorway method. As it is very time and labour intensive, we plan to only release a limited amount, this November and it'd be a one-off type thing.

I've created a poll and was curious to see which colourway folks here prefered. Please see below, regarding each 2-tone jacket: