SEATTLE — May 9, 2016 — Apparel industry veterans Raj Shah and Akhil Shah, along with Stanley Hainsworth, former creative director at NIKE, Lego and Starbucks, announced the launch of a clothing line, Ably. Ably is activated by a proprietary, patent-pending technology called Filium™, which allows natural fabrics to be WhateverProof. The applications and implications around performance and sustainability are significant.
People prefer to wear natural fabrics. The challenge, however, for active people has been a lack of performance with natural fabrics, like cotton, wool or silk. They stain easily, become heavy with sweat and take a long time to dry. That fact gave birth to synthetic fabrics and brands like Dri-Fit™, Silverescent®, and others. The problem with synthetic fabrics is sustainability — they take hundreds of thousands of years to break down in a landfill — and smell. They stink. Even after they’re washed. Synthetic fabrics often make the claim that they wick away sweat from the body. That is good in theory, but in practice anyone that has worn a synthetic fabric when exercising knows that wicking actually does the opposite; the clothing feels like a wet towel uncomfortably sticking on their body when they sweat. Which, ultimately, makes them sweat more.
Ably’s clothing line activated by Filium lets the wearer enjoy the benefit of a natural fabric while repelling everything. Filium-activated clothes have been tested on professional athletes, travelers, weekend warriors, moms and their toddlers. The athletes experienced less chafing; the travelers packed considerably less; the weekend warriors didn’t worry about offending their teammates with the smell of their shirts; and moms simply brushed away potential stains. The result is fewer loads of laundry.
“We’re excited about the increased performance across so many applications of wearers,” said Raj Shah, co-founder of Ably and co-creator of Filium technology. “But ultimately, we are excited for the long-term ramification for the planet. We don’t use nanoparticles or harmful chemicals that break down and leach into your skin or the environment. Less washing, less packing, longer use. Typically, clothes don’t lose performance and looks because you wear them. They breakdown because of how much you wash them.”
Posted May 9, 2016
Source: Ably/Filium
