“I feel like it’ll be our legacy
one day. I want to be the first
uniform company in North
America that goes strong
on really high-quality,
sustainable uniforms.”
— noel asmar
When noel asmar Founded noel asmar Uniforms
17 years ago, her focus was on quality. She admits
it was by no means an eco-conscious company.
But over the years, her goals have shifted. in
addition to quality, asmar is emphasizing
sustainability. and that spawned an idea
that she hopes will be her company’s
legacy one day.
about 18 months ago, noel asmar
Uniforms debuted uniforms that are made
from recycled products. for her efforts,
asmar received iSPa’s innovation of the
Year award at the 2019 iSPa conference &
expo on Sept. 13 in Las Vegas.
for a humbled asmar, the honor confirmed
everything she has been working for over the past
two years.
“it was a bit of an affirmation that i’m going
down the right avenue,” she says. “We dipped our
toe in the water, then we grew it a little bit more.
this for me says, ‘You know what, noel? our team is
doing the right thing. We have to keep going.’”
instead of cotton and polyester, the Sustainable
collection features spa uniforms made from
recycled water bottles. instead of the water
bottles ending up in landfills, they are crushed,
pelleted and spun into fabric to make the
uniforms. instead of uniforms that last a few
months, they last three to five years.
and most importantly, instead of using new
materials to craft her uniforms, asmar recycles
materials already out there.
She has given employers a sustainability story to
tell eco-conscious employees, who will be able to not only
look good in their uniform but also feel good, knowing
they work for a company that cares about the
environment.
“i think maybe the biggest part of this is that
hotels and spas have a story to tell now about
their uniforms, which aren’t usually the sexy
stories,” asmar says. “now they can talk
about how they are playing a big part. i
think that when you’re employing people
today when we have staff shortages,
people care about values. to know that
a hotel is going to dress you in an eco-
friendly way is an hr perk.”
it underscores how the world is
changing, and the spa community has
been quite receptive to the shift.
“i think our community embraces
change and embraces innovation. not all
communities are like that,” asmar says.
“the award means a lot to us as a company
just to help put us on the map and get
people to recognize that there’s a group out
there taking this seriously.”
the greatest and most immediate challenge
is education. asmar feels that it is important to be
more than just buzzwords that play well on social
media. She wants consumers to understand why
using uniforms from recycled products is important.
“i feel like it’ll be our legacy one day,” asmar
says. “i want to be the first uniform company in
north america that goes strong on really high-
quality, sustainable uniforms.” n
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