In honor of Black History Month, we’re spotlighting one Black-owned outdoor business per day. You can read the complete series here.

Owner: Patrick Robinson

Year founded: 2013

What Paskho does

Paskho sells high-performance and eco-friendly apparel for men and women, such as pants, shorts, tops, and outerwear. Patrick Robinson was a top designer for brands like Giorgio Armani and Gap. After a backpacking trip in Yosemite National Park, he was inspired by the durable, water-repellant, flexible, and multifunctional outdoor apparel and gear he used and decided to create his own line of sustainable clothes that were stylish and comfortable enough to go from work to play.

Nearly half of all fabrics used by Paskho are reclaimed and 85 percent are vegan. In addition to sourcing fabrics that use less water, energy, and toxic chemicals, the company offset its carbon footprint and donates a portion of profits to 1% for the Planet.

What makes Paskho special in the outdoor industry?

In summer 2020, Paskho launched a new on-going project called Community Made. Through Community Made, Paskho is producing a small number of clothing items on-demand through a large network of individual homes of pattern makers and seamstresses who live in the U.S. Paskho has launched the project in the homes of skilled makers in New York, Connecticut, and New Jersey, with plans to extend to Detroit and California. Robinson hopes this project will allow Paskho to provide fair wages and better working conditions for American makers, many of whom are from underserved communities that suffered job loss in the pandemic. If all goes well, Paskho may soon move all of its production from factories in Asia and be an all-American made brand.