New Clothing Company Makes Helping Endangered Animals Its Mission

A new clothing company called Arkwear is trying to help save endangered animals around the world, one preppy polo shirt at a time. Arkwear specializes in men’s polo shirts, but their goal goes far beyond helping guys look good on the golf course. Named after Noah’s animal-saving barge, Arkwear is committed to donating five percent of their sales to the Wildlife Conservation Society, a global non-profit dedicated to saving wildlife.

“Arkwear’s goals reach beyond preservation,” reads the company website. “We also strive to provide our customers with a way to get involved and support their favorite animals.”

Instead of adorning the clothing with a company logo, each shirt features a tiny embroidered animal. At the moment, Arkwear’s $95 shirts feature sharks, rhinos, orangutans, and elephants, and their website includes information on the challenges facing each species. Arkwear also plans to release a new line of shirts each year, featuring a new group of endangered animals. The idea is to put the focus on the animals rather than the Arkwear brand.

"I thought it would be really great if you could do something with animals for animals that are threatened with extinction, and at the same time have something with a logo that is not the same old boring crocodile,” said founder Andreas von der Goltz.