Pendleton

You've heard of the brand "Pendleton," right? They've been around for 120 years, were worn by the Beach Boys and have in recent years been making a splash in the fashion industry ... their Portland line hits the market this fall and it's pretty awesome. They're probably most infamous for their wool blankets.

The mill made sense in Pendleton because it was once "sheep country." (There are still sheep, but now wheat is king here.).

Anyway, I got to take an hour long tour yesterday with the manager (usually tours are 15 minutes) and it was pretty fascinating. Not only do they produce the fabric for blankets at this mill, but they produce fabrics for just about anything including clothes and furniture.

What I really loved was that they are still using the same building as they did in the 1890s. They use some wool/textile machines that date back to the 1920s and 1940s and even some of their day to day tools and carts are old. They aren't in a hurry to innovate the way they do things. They are true to what they've always been, classic.