Raised by an environmentally conscious family in Wisconsin, Grace Lorig, MS '18, holds sustainability at her core. While earning her undergraduate degree at the University of Minnesota, she focused on sports apparel design and, determined to make things differently, developed a line of yoga apparel from upcycled garments.
After working on design, development, and grassroots sustainability initiatives at local sports product companies in Portland, Oregon, Lorig decided she needed to learn about sustainability on a global scale to advance her career. In 2016, she enrolled in the University of Oregon’s Sports Product Management program, where she earned a master of science and learned the full product-creation process through the lens of sustainability to grow both her business and leadership skills.
While a student in the program, Lorig interned at a factory in Southeast Asia and—working directly with the company’s corporate sustainability officer—was able to gain perspective and execute important sustainability opportunities in manufacturing.
After graduation, Lorig worked with upcycling apparel designer Looptworks in overseas development, project management, and closed-loop research roles. She learned more about the industry on a global scale while initiating new solutions to improve the life cycle of products and materials.
Lorig joined Nike as a sustainability stakeholder engagement manager in February 2019. In this role, she contributed to a design guide that the brand presented at the 2019 Copenhagen Fashion Summit, the world's foremost business event on sustainability in fashion. The viewbook, entitled “Circularity, Guiding the Future of Design,” shares principles that support a universal call to action for the industry.
“We must all come together and have a more positive impact on our planet. Design has the opportunity to take on a powerful role in making the world a better place,” the guide states.
Lorig hopes to expand her knowledge in such areas as sustainable supply chain, operations, data analytics, and social sustainability initiatives.