SUSTAINABILITY

FAIR TRADE

ETHICAL FAMILY VALUES

In the Kirsch household, we were never idle. If we weren’t completing our rigorous rounds of chores, like feeding the animals, milking the goats, sweeping the floors, and folding laundry, the six of us Kirsch kids were encouraged heavily to be outside. We would ski, mountain bike, and hike as a family. I remember one summer the whole family sailed around Hawaii...and then my parents allowed my younger brother John, aka Aventura’s President and CEO, to sail the boat back to San Francisco by himself at just 14 years old.

This philosophy acts as groundwork for Aventura, as does our father's drive to be honest, ethical, and hardworking. They've both been able to make a difference in my life and the lives of my 5 siblings, which we hope to carry on through Aventura.

If even a simple mistake is made sailing, things could go south quickly and because of this, our parents were strict about getting the job done well. If a chore wasn’t done well, we would have to do it over plus another one. Needless to say, we all learned to do things really well the first time.

I consider myself fortunate to grow up with strict attention paid to our work ethic and personal morals. I also feel lucky to have seen my dad start a business from the ground up; we watched him grow a respected reputation in the outdoor industry because of his innovative fabrics and pioneering utilization of Gore-Tex and sun-protective fabrics.

We look forward to a bright future of innovation, and of creating comfortable, functional clothes that have a positive impact on not only the wearer, but also the environment and the people who help us produce them.

With a history close to our hearts, a team that acts as our family, and customers who support our mission, I believe we can continue our father's legacy.

— Kathleen & Aventura Family

In the 1960s, he invented the Espa Twill, a stretch fabric that revolutionized outdoor clothing. From this fabric, he created shorts and sold them from the back of the family’s station wagon. He called his company Sportif, and 41 years later Aventura was born from it. Though we’ve traded in the family’s station wagon in Los Angeles (thank god!) for a warehouse in Sparks, Nevada, we keep the same humble, resourcefulness to this day.

Born from Sportif, Aventura carries on the same bootstrapped mentality. From our low-budget photoshoots, which often feature our children as models and occasionally our mother as a photographer, to the undertaking of product development, our small team makes it happen. In fact, there is no committee or extended team driving the product development each season: it comes down to one designer, one merchandiser, one tech designer, and one (vocal) sales manager creating the clothes you see before you.

Family is what sets us apart from the others. We share the title of the small, independently owned outdoor brand with just a handful of others.

Without any outside opinions pressuring us into decisions we don’t want to make, we can uphold our family values every day in everything we do, from our company culture and the way we treat our employees to the ethical production we’ve embodied since day one. This isn’t a trend we’re following to make the most sales this quarter, this is our life's work.

We work alongside folks we’ve known and treated like family for years. There are employees who have worked here since before John took over as CEO in the early 90s. Take our Production Manager, Deb, for example. She has worked here since 1976 and she knows more than most of us forgot!

She is just one of 13 of our employees who have celebrated more than 15 years (and counting!) working with us -- that's more than half of our staff! We owe a great debt to these incredible employees.