Barrelling to Build Community
The sun was rising early on a Sunday morning as I sped down the 10 Freeway away from the beaches of the Westside and towards a downtown LA clothing manufacturing center. I pulled up on the empty street behind where brothers JP and Matt MacDonnell were unloading piles of brightly colored sailboat sails from their Toyota Prius. We loaded the sails into a wagon and rode up to the second level of the run down building. The doors opened and we entered a vast room filled with long tables and massive rolls of fabric. That’s where all the magic happened.
I laughed to myself because I was used to seeing the MacDonnell brothers surfing or lifeguarding on the beaches of Santa Monica, Venice and the South Bay. But here, with no ocean in sight, they seemed just as in their element as they did in the waves.
The MacDonnell Brothers
The brothers playfully high-fived their fabric cutter, a short man named Martin, and quickly got to work. They rolled a bright blue sail out on one of the long tables, laid out a design sketch and watched as Martin helped them begin making their product.
The brothers’ company, Urban Barrels, was first conceived as a blog where fans could submit photos of themselves “getting barreled” by everyday objects. In 2014, they took their brand a step further and began making sustainable clothing and beach accessories.
“We had a few thousand followers on our blog and a good following on Instagram and we always had this idea to make the Bag Towel,” JP said. “In 2013 we went downtown and had a drawing of this product on a piece of paper and found a contractor to make some of them.”
The Bag Towel is the product Urban Barrels is known for. It’s exactly what it sounds like– a hybrid half-bag, half-towel made out of recycled sailboat sails. The brothers decided on the material while on a sailing trip in Maine the summer before they launched.
“We took an old Hobie Cat sail from our grandparents’ garage and that’s what we used,” JP said. “We raised money on Kickstarter and then we were able to build inventory out of it and go out and sell.”
When they began their company, the brothers got their sails from family and friends. They began to branch out as the company grew.
“We started partnering with some manufacturers to get some un-sellable, un-usable sails,” JP said.
After cutting the sails, the crew took a break and Martin brought out some fresh pastries from a Mexican bakery. They joked and laughed for a few minutes before moving on to the next step, and JP explained how Urban Barrels finds it important to reuse every part of a sail to make different products.
“If you look at a big sailboat sail, we’ll take the biggest pieces and use them for our blankets and we’ll take the smallest pieces and use them as the pockets for our bags,” he said. “From a big sail, you can work down.”
JP also explained how using recycled materials is more difficult than the traditional manufacturing process, but says he and his team are up for the challenge.
“In traditional manufacturing, you send it to a cutter and you have a pattern and it’s just easy,” he said. “When you use recycled materials it just makes the process a little more difficult, but it’s more creative. You’re figuring out how to use different materials and how to implement them so you’re not wasting.”
And the brothers said they could not do it without Martin who is enthusiastic about the products as well.
“We bring all our sailboat sails to him and he looks at us like, ‘Are you kidding me?’” JP said. “It takes him more time too, but he likes the challenge too so it’s cool to find people that understand what we’re doing and work with them.”
And Martin is not the only community member involved with the Urban Barrels mission. The company has several product ambassadors throughout the LA area, who are mostly lifeguards or professional athletes.
Dave Walters
County lifeguard and former Olympic swimmer Dave Walters became an Urban Barrels ambassador when he quit his job in finance to work full time on the beach. He said the company’s ideals go along with his newfound way of living.
“I got involved with Urban Barrels because I had a huge issue with bringing my bag and my towel and all my gear to the beach,” Walters said. “I don’t want to bring four arms of gear with me when I can just bring one little thing. That’s sort of the way I’ve changed my life, switching from finance to working on the beach. I just like to simplify things.”
Urban Barrels also hosts product launch parties, community get togethers and surf outings for their customers and fans. But the company caters to more than just individuals.
“We were selling to people who were getting barreled on Instagram and we were also selling to businesses,” JP said.
One of the businesses Urban Barrels supplied for is the Malibu Seawolves, a local swim club.
“Urban Barrels provides the Seawolves with truly unique gear, which helps our team stand out from the others,” said coach Kelsey Maguire.
As sustainable clothing makers and LA County Lifeguards, the Urban Barrels team stresses the importance of keeping SoCal beaches clean, especially leading into the summer months.
“The beaches have been getting dirtier and dirtier,” Walters said. “A lot of marine life is coming to shore and a lot of things are looking sick, so it would be great if everyone could come to the beach and take some trash off with them. We only get one shot at this, so if we ruin it it’ll be gone forever.”
