about us: our journey
We are makers of merino wool children’s apparel. Let us introduce ourselves: Sarah & JP, co-founders and partners in all walks of life. We launched Chasing Windmills with a simple goal: to capture the adventurous spirit of childhood through the natural goodness of merino wool.
Founders, Sarah and JP, with their kids. (Photo Credit: Yan Palmer)
What started out as an idea in between double midnight feedings, neighborhood strolls, and soul searching, now exists as Chasing Windmills -- our vision for a beautifully simple and timeless collection of merino wool items for babies, toddlers, and children. After spending almost a decade in the corporate world, we both received a wake-up call with the birth of our twins.
Springing from a deep appreciation of the outdoors, we longed to create a bridge for parents to share the goodness of nature with their little ones -- to be able to soak in the adventurous spirit of childhood everyday. And so, in June 2015, we started the journey of Chasing Windmills.
By sourcing the finest merino wool from mountainous New Zealand and Australian ranches (courtesy of our friends at ZQ Merino and Global Merino), Chasing Windmills allows Mother Nature to provide the soulful base of everything we create. Amazingly, the merino wool used in our collection is naturally super soft, breathable, and lightweight -- truly an ideal fabric for little ones all year round, and especially as the seasons change.
Our soft yet whimsical designs and color palette are also meant to outlast the seasons, as well as the years. In our opinion, it's another way to respect nature's resources -- not to have to design and redesign a nursery collection for every season. Our blankets and other items will easily pass into the toddler years or to a younger sibling.
Mindful of our eco-footprint, we purchase annual carbon offsets to ensure that renewable energy projects and greenhouse-gas-capture projects offset the environmental impact of our home office and shipping. Chasing Windmills was born out of respect for Mother Nature's goodness, and so our commitment to minimizing our impact naturally follows.
We’re sometimes asked, “what does Chasing Windmills mean?” To us, it’s a journey with an open heart. It’s about chasing an ideal bigger than yourself; it’s about remaining an optimist even in the face of cynicism; it’s about striving to live up to heroic visions of what we can be, what our children can be, and what our world can be.
Chasing Windmills is a deeply personal part of our journey in life, and we're honored to share that journey with you and your family. Here's to the adventures ahead!
Co-Founders, Sarah & JP.
(Photo Credits: Jonathan Canlas)
Our way forward: our direct connection to you
Chasing Windmills’ merino wool kid’s wear is available at direct-to-consumer prices. What does that mean? It means that you’ll be able to wrap your little one with really super soft merino wool without making such a dent in the piggy bank.
By selling directly to you online, we strip away retail markups that elevate prices. We’ve settled upon a pricing structure that is sustainable for us and, hopefully, for you too.
The decision to sell directly to you is an extension of who we are and who we want to reach. With many of us being accustomed to shopping online, we’ve realized that we can reach across the globe without stepping foot outside of our office. The world is small but the opportunity to connect has never been bigger.
We know merino wool is more expensive than, say, cotton or synthetic fabrics, but it doesn’t have to put such a dent into your pocketbook.
Even though we offer direct pricing, we partner with several brick-and-mortar and online boutiques that share our vision for simple merino wool children's wear. In this way we can build relationships with shop owners who help us reach mamas and papas who appreciate beautiful simplicity and the things that Mother Nature provides.
Our new way forward gives us a direct connection to you, our customers. This is our way forward, together with you.
OUR VISION
Let us share our vision with you — the vision that gave life to Chasing Windmills and continues to sustain us...
We are makers of merino wool children's wear. But our vision does not end there. We will never be content merely to produce a good for consumption. We succeed when we capture the adventurous spirit of childhood through the natural goodness of merino wool.
At its core, Chasing Windmills is for those who chase the impossible dream.
For those who embrace idealism in the face of cynicism.
For those who understand that small acts, done with great love, sustain a beautiful world.
For those who feel compelled to live the life they love.
For those who believe that a conscious company must care for, not just its profits, but the lives it touches and the environment it graces.
And so, Chasing Windmills exists. It is the embodiment of hopes, dreams, and aspirations.
For us to achieve our vision, Chasing Windmills must live by its values and prove profitability. Profits, however, are not the ends, but rather the means by which Chasing Windmills may share its vision and, in turn, inspire its supporters to pursue virtue, meaning, and happiness in their own lives.
Above all, Chasing Windmills will always be dedicated to the adventurous idealist.
We thank you, our supporters, for inspiring us to pursue this vision. We are better people for the chase.
With gratitude,
Sarah and JP, co-founders