China Beach, Vietnam

Here’s a crazy idea: you know the concept of giving back 10% of what you earn to charity? How about we flip it around and instead of keeping 90% and giving away 10% we do the opposite! We give away 90% and keep 10%. Radical, but doable if you build the company with this goal in mind –it’s even got a name– social business.  Defined by Wikipedia, it is a non-loss, non-dividend company designed to address a social objective, in the case of VinniVooms it is the health of our oceans. The profits are used to expand the company’s reach and improve the product.

As a start up we know we must walk before we run. So instead of 90/10 we are committing out of the gate to gifting 50% of our net profit to organizations aligned with our common interest in ocean preservation. The impact of VinniVooms on the environment, rather than the amount of profit we make in a given period measures the success of our social business.  We aspire to reach 90/10 in the future.

The organizations listed in the sidebars of our website are folks doing excellent work on behalf of our oceans and the planet. These are the organizations that we respect and some of them are ones that we are working with to put our resources to best use.

When you buy a pair of VinniVooms know that a large part of the money you spend is going to organizations dedicated to keeping our oceans and beaches healthy, safe and clean for current and future generations. Thanks for your support.

Sunset South Western Australia

Inspiration comes in waves and  never seems to stop. After all, it’s not like you can flip a switch and turn it on and off.  Mother nature is clearly in charge and she operates on a plain vastly different than ours. Occasionally we get glimpses of the essence, the inside–we call them peeks behind the curtain or trips to the other side.

At first, they are random and shapeless. Then, over time, the collective inspiration begins to take shape and manifest into patterns and design. It’s hard to describe really, but when it works you know it to be true beyond any doubt.  You can feel in your bones.

Here are a few of the things that inspire us: authentic, genuine, honest, real, fun, upbeat, kinetic, positive energy, fiery, global, caring, comfortable, exceptional, quality, casual, creative, artistic, unique, reliable, timeless, a gift between generations, sun, earth, sand, sea, surf, water, waves, grandparent, parent, child, blues, greens, browns, yellows, oranges, reds, wind, trees, rock, leaves, acoustic, electric, laughter.

That is how we feel each time we pull on a pair of our board shorts. Grab a pair and join us for the ride…

Vince on the North Island, NZ

We call them everyday wear around here. No reason to own anything else. OK, maybe you need a t-shirt or two and a pair of “dress” flips but that’s about it. This is your life on holiday. Live it poolside and ocean front, both at the same time if possible.

VinniVooms are cut to hang just about knee height. They are, what we call, “essentials”, stripped down to the three things you need in a pair of shorts: (1) a single side zip pocket big enough for a credit card, cell phone and a few bills (2) a single button fly (no explanation necessary) and (3) a drawstring to hold them up. That’s it. When you wash them, hang them dry. Wear them often, break them in, treat them well and they will become fast friends.

VinniVooms should be lived in: the first thing you pull on in the morning and the last you slip off before bed. If 9-5 gets in the way we recommend that you wear them under your work clothes or throw them in the back seat. You never know when the next set is going to roll in or the winds are going to pick up.

They are made from recycled polyester microfiber, big words for old plastic bottles that would otherwise take a hundred plus years to decompose. Everything we use is made from recycled materials: the zippers, the pocket and the drawstring. Whenever possible you should pass them down from one generation to the next, however, if you decide to trade them in, just send them back to us and we will make sure they go back into the recycling loop and emerge as a brand new pair.

Enjoy…

Nelson, South Island, NZ

On 1.1.11 we launched our company to celebrate the bond between grandfathers, fathers, sons and loved ones.  The bloodlines that bind us together– the common thread that runs between generations.

Since then we have been testing fabrics, searching for manufacturers, designing the board shorts, creating our prints and patterns, building the website, working on our logo and developing our brand.

At the same time we are talking to non-profits about tying into fundraising efforts, working on our ecommerce strategy and looking for like-minded retail outlets.  To be honest, it is more fun than we could have ever imagined.

We are currently in production and look forward to bringing you our first line of eco-friendly board shorts in Spring 2013.   Join our mailing list and we will let you know when they come to market.

Somewhere in the Andaman Sea

Boys want to be “just like” dad and vice versa–when we wear our matching board shorts, we are. They give sons the chance to be big guys and fathers the chance to be young again. They let everyone around you know that the two of you are connected, that you love each other and the world in which we live, and what could better than that?

Well, how about you use recycled plastic bottles that are polluting our oceans to make our board shorts and give a significant portion of our profits back to help save our oceans? Now were talking.

We believe in social responsibility and that the world will be a better place when profits go towards the benefit of many instead of just a few. After all the true value of life is measured by what you give. For us, we give at least half of our net profit to organizations working towards the health and well being of our oceans. The other half goes back into the business to make more money so we can give more away. It seems crazy to some but perfectly sane to us. It’s our reason for being.

You will find VinniVooms on oceans and beaches worldwide. From Malibu to the Maldives, Cape Town to Corsica. We are from the ocean, to the ocean and everywhere in between. Grab a pair and jump in….

Fishing Boats in South Africa

Someone put a LA Times article about The Plastiki on my desk.

Did you know there is a swirling vortex of plastic in the middle of the ocean? Serious, it is so big someone actually named it the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.  You can even Google it!  This is not good.  They say it may be twice the size of Texas.  And there is one in the Atlantic as well! I had no idea.

A few days later while driving down the Pacific Coast Highway I had this vision of a fishing boat hauling up nets filled with plastic bottles instead of fish.  I could see the boat harvesting plastic from the Patch, using its big nets to fish old bottles out of the ocean.  It was so vivid and all too real.

Naturally this lead to the question, what do you do with a “catch” of old plastic soda bottles?  The answer hit me hard!  Make them useful and put them back into the sea.  There is a certain beauty and poetry to it.  You take something bad and turn it into something good.  You create a total transformation: plastic trash becomes recycled fabric that becomes a pair of board shorts.  And the board shorts? They go back into the sea.  It all comes full circle.

When the pieces fell into place I knew that I had to start this company.  I can’t escape the vision of the boat hauling up nets full of plastic bottles: it will not let go of me.  It is now my responsibility to bring these board shorts to market, to dive into the fray and make a difference.

Enjoy your VinniVooms and wear them with pride.  I thank each of you for helping us make this vision come true.

Steve Carcano
Founder, Father, Beach and Ocean Advocate

Vigeland Park, Oslo, Norway

Welcome to VinniVooms.  Our company is dedicated to the two things: (1) the bonds that tie families together and (2) preserving healthy oceans for generations to come.  These two currents are intertwined in our world and go hand in hand towards creating a positive environment for all of us.

VinniVooms’ focus is singular.  We make exceptional eco-friendly board shorts for fathers and sons.  That’s it.  Sure we may offer up a t-shirt here and there when we find fabrics worthy of the effort, but our board shorts are at the core.  They are who we are and what we aspire to be: environmentally conscious with minimal impact.

Our offices are located just off the beach in Malibu, California.  We set up shop here because the shoreline is just a stones throw away and SoCal is the epicenter of surf culture.  Not to mention the sunshine.

You can find our board shorts online at www.vinnivooms.com and in select retailers.