Pooghe. You might not immediately know how to pronounce it (is that a soft or hard "g"?), but it's a word you're most likely going to see a lot more of around here in the coming months.
The name itself -- pronounced "pooh-gee" -- means nothing; it was just something designer Steve Monte scribbled onto a napkin as he was planning his business. But what the random name has come to represent is more relevant.
Pooghe Laundry, the Milwaukee-based apparel line looking to launch this spring, is becoming synonymous with a new standard in comfort, design and antimicrobial technology -- a fancy word for "odor-free."
Pooghe is a base layer collection -- tank tops, T-shirts, underwear, leggings and socks -- manufactured with EcoFresh, an earth-friendly antimicrobial that fights odor-causing bacteria, mold, mildew and fungus resulting in a sweeter-smelling you.
And, as if the lack of pit stains weren't enough reason to love these clothes, EcoFresh will stay active with cold water washing, saving 60 percent of the energy needed to heat the water and eliminating the need for chemical bleach.
Sustainability and comfort were the driving forces behind Monte's motivation to produce men's and women's undergarments entirely within the United States. He chose Supima cotton as his textile, a pima cotton grower based in California and the Southwest, and the results are softer than a pile of puppies.
This is no coincidence.
"I'm obsessive about comfort. I have the high-thread count sheets and everything. I want my customers to put on a T-shirt or underwear and say 'Wow, this is wonderful.'"
And the perfect fit isn't something Monte takes lightly, either. He's been personally custom tailoring his own tees for years.
"I've been doing that since I was in the Navy. When you're in the Navy you want your uniforms to look good -- you don't want your undershirt to be bulky."
He's applied this same sense of style to Pooghe. His items are not simply relabeled blanks; they are meticulously crafted specifically for optimum lounging luxury.
Monte is preparing his apparel in three colors, white, black and salmon pink, for his end-of-spring launch in Milwaukee. While his initial plan for this national product was to launch in New York, he reconsidered and is now planning a big party at Decibel / DeepBar, 1905 E. North Ave.
"It is a Milwaukee products, and unfortunately, Milwaukee gets the short end of the stick when it comes to (national) media attention," he says. "There are so many amazing things going on here with the fashion industry and the arts, but the only thing that makes front page news is when someone kills somebody."
While the majority of the details are yet to surface, Monte says the Pooghe line will be available in local boutiques as well as via his Web site.
OnMilwaukee.com staff writer Julie Lawrence grew up in Wauwatosa and has lived her whole life in the Milwaukee area.
As any “word nerd” can attest, you never know when inspiration will strike, so from a very early age Julie has rarely been seen sans pen and little notebook. At the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee it seemed only natural that she major in journalism. When OnMilwaukee.com offered her an avenue to combine her writing and the city she knows and loves in late 2004, she knew it was meant to be. Around the office, she answers to a plethora of nicknames, including “Lar,” (short for “Larry,” which is short for “Lawrence”) as well as the mysteriously-sourced “Bill Murray.”
