Press Launch
Culver Metropolis, CA, | September 24, 2024 – In its persevering with dedication to accountable sourcing practices, Outerknown has launched a limited-edition run of its iconic Blanket Shirt made with Kelsun™, a seaweed-based fiber created by next-generation supplies firm Keel Labs. This launch marks the first-ever commercially accessible garment made with Kelsun.
Outerknown, based by professional surfer Kelly Slater and artistic director John Moore, is thought for creating elevated, lasting wardrobe staples within the highest high quality and most responsibly sourced supplies. As the primary attire model based on a complete dedication to sustainability, Outerknown’s present line is crafted with 99% most popular fibers – together with natural, Regenerative Natural Licensed® (ROC™), recycled or regenerated fibers, and now, bio-based fibers.
Sustainable supplies firm Keel Labs created Kelsun as a plug-and-play substitute for typical fibers used within the textile trade. Harnessing the renewable energy of the ocean’s assets, Kelsun is made with an ample biopolymer present in seaweed, leading to a fiber that’s 100% bio-based and biodegradable in wastewater. Seaweed is among the most regenerative organisms on the planet; it absorbs carbon dioxide within the ocean, much like timber on land.
Outerknown has impressed change within the trade by transparency in its processes and a dedication to the welfare of everybody they work with, from the farmer to the client. By no means pushed by tendencies, Outerknown has led as a pioneer within the trade, pursuing various fiber choices at each alternative.
Outerknown’s new Blanket Shirt (provided in a common match for males & girls) – made with a mix of natural cotton and Kelsun yarn – appears to be like, feels and performs like the unique model (which is able to stay within the present line) that’s made with natural and ROC™ cotton. Outerknown’s objective is to proceed to develop this partnership by future merchandise and collaborations.
“The Blanket Shirt was one of many first merchandise in our line, and it stays one in all my favourite items,” says Outerknown co-founder Kelly Slater. “From the start, it was vital to me to design and construct a shirt that was top quality, produced from sustainable supplies, however felt classic comfortable. We may really feel the common love for the Blanket Shirt from the beginning, and it has remained unchanged ever since, with an ideal match, comfortable natural cotton and pure corozo buttons. It’s been ten years since we made the primary one, and we’re proud to companion with Keel Labs on the following era of this shirt with a model produced from Kelsun, a 100% bio-based fiber derived from seaweed. Working with suppliers that share our love for the ocean is a superb match for Outerknown. I’m excited to see this develop.”
In an trade that produces 21 billion tons of textile waste yearly, Kelsun features as a substitute for typical, resource-intensive supplies, like typical cotton, on which vogue and textiles have lengthy relied. Keel Labs sources seaweed that’s harvested below strict sustainability tips, complying with native harvesting calendars and portions. A biopolymer is then extracted and separated from the seaweed, forming the idea of Kelsun fibers.
“We’re thrilled to announce our partnership with Outerknown with the primary business launch of Kelsun fiber,” says Keel Labs co-founder and CEO Tessa Callaghan. “At Keel Labs, we’re deeply dedicated to our mission of harnessing the potential of our oceans to create higher merchandise for folks and planet alike. Working alongside a model like Outerknown, that shares our dedication to creating a greater world, and our steadfast love of the ocean to convey our merchandise to life couldn’t be extra becoming. It is a pivotal second, not only for Keel Labs, however for the trade as a complete, standing as a marker for what lies forward when conviction, motion and collaboration mix. This garment is the primary (although not final) of its type, and we will’t wait to proceed sharing the evolution and growth of our partnership.”
To kick this partnership off, Outerknown hosted a celebration at their retail retailer location in Carlsbad, Calif. on Saturday, September 21, as a part of the Solento Surf Pageant, with artwork, dwell music, meals and drinks. A restricted variety of Kelsun Blanket Shirts had been on show and on the market.
About Outerknown
Based in 2015 by professional surfer Kelly Slater and artistic director John Moore, Outerknown’s mission is to craft elevated, lasting wardrobe staples, empower the folks making them, shield pure assets, and encourage trade change by transparency and an unwavering dedication to accountable sourcing practices.
About Keel Labs
Keel Labs is a sustainable supplies firm addressing the extremely polluting programs of textile manufacturing with aquaculture-based applied sciences. Most of the most generally used materials in the present day are petroleum-based, and thus are reliant on fossil fuels. Even pure legacy fibers use immense quantities of water and pesticides in cultivation, and a few even use poisonous chemical compounds of their manufacturing course of.
Pushed by the exploration of novel, regenerative assets, Keel Labs is broadening our imaginative and prescient for the potential of the ocean to speed up our planet’s improvement in the direction of a extra sustainable future by the event of climate-focused materials options.