California Apparel News

Sea n’ Soul is here to help Mother Earth. As an avid surfer and environmentalist, John Kozlowski spends most of his days at the beach and in the ocean. As a professional, Kozlowski has spent years as an executive in the retail, fashion and apparel industry with roles at Ralph Lauren, Polo Ralph Lauren and GQ magazine.

“During my time in this role, I read many articles about how we as an industry are damaging our home planet by way of overproduction of goods that are not necessarily needed,” Kozlowski said. “At the same time, I saw a trend emerging—resale platforms like The RealReal and Poshmark were exploding in popularity, but there was nothing like this for the outdoor-adventure marketplace.”

And just like that, Kozlowski became the founder and chief executive officer of Sea n’ Soul, a social marketplace for outdoor-adventure gear and apparel. Launched earlier this month, the app has already seen several hundred adventurers and users with more people joining the community every day.

“Our mission is to inspire the world to use what has already been produced, reduce the demand for new products that are not needed and promote conscious outdoor recreation while helping to save our home planet,” Kozlowski said.

Sea n’ Soul is a destination where visitors can buy or sell lightly used gear such as surfboards, skateboards, snowboards, mountain bikes, kayaks, boots, jackets and vintage items. Sea n’ Soul gives a portion of the proceeds to nonprofits including The Surfrider Foundation and the Outdoor Alliance. The app also brings together like-minded, passionate outdoor enthusiasts who can share their stories and learn more about protecting the environment.

“We live in a society of constant consumption where single-use and disposable items have become the norm, and, to combat that, I wanted to create a fully regenerative company,” Kozlowski said. “I truly believe business can and should be a part of the solution to give back to the world and help solve our climate crisis.”

He added that places like garages, basements and closets are full of perfectly usable items that are just sitting and collecting dust. The goal was to make selling these items as easy as posting on Instagram.”

Just take a photo or video of an item, upload it to the app, fill in a few more details like price and condition, and the item is instantly posted for other users to purchase. Users can also browse popular categories such as bicycles and kayaks to find the item they’re looking for. Depending on the listing, users can make an offer or buy the item directly while having the option of it being shipped or picking it up in person.

“With a simple buying-and-selling process from start to finish, you can feel good that your transaction is helping to keep unnecessary waste out of landfills, reduce demand for new textiles and directly contribute to earth-repairing nonprofits with each transaction,” Kozlowski said.

Sea n’ Soul’s mission comes on the heels of the global crisis that the earth currently finds itself in with climate change continually wreaking havoc throughout the globe. As Kozlowski put it, giving back to Mother Earth is “why we get out of bed in the morning.” He added that cleaning up the planet is a collective effort and one that Sea n’ Soul wants to be in the middle of with a “think global, act local” mindset.

“We are deeply passionate about keeping our planet healthy, not only for the immensely important notion of a thriving world ecosystem to sustainably support all species but to also be able to enjoy the outdoors in its most natural state,” Kozlowski said.

Sea n’ Soul is also helping others engage in outdoor sports by helping lower the cost of these pricy activities.

“We wanted to make these recreational activities accessible to everyone, and by creating a marketplace where you can purchase lightly used gear for a hefty discount we are lowering the entry requirements,” Kozlowski said. “Not to mention, if you try out a sport that you don’t end up loving, you can put your gear up on Sea n’ Soul and recoup some of your expenses.”

Kozlowski has big dreams for Sea n’ Soul’s future with the hope that the app becomes the go-to place for adventure items.

“Sea n’ Soul will become the top-of-mind destination for anyone seeking to buy and sell adventure gear and apparel. It will be a place to turn to when someone is looking to learn more about what’s happening with the health of our shared public lands and how to get involved to help protect them.”

Sea n’ Soul is currently available for download at the App Store and Google Play and can also be accessed at seansoul.com.

Photos courtesy of Sea n’ Soul.