Climate activist Aditi Mayer has partnered with Keel Labs to launch its seaweed-based Kelsun fiber making its debut in a t-shirt.
Keel Labs, a leading innovator in sustainable textiles, has unveiled what it says is a groundbreaking development in the world of eco-friendly fashion: the Kelsun T-Shirt. This latest creation is the result of a collaboration with climate activist and sustainable fashion advocate Aditi Mayer, and it showcases the potential of the Kelsun fiber, Keel Labs’ flagship product made from seaweed. The launch of the Kelsun T-Shirt marks a significant milestone, being the first garment created using Kelsun fiber on industry-standard knitting machines.
Crafted from a blend of 70 percent Kelsun and 30 percent cotton, the T-shirt is a testament to the versatility and familiarity of Kelsun in textile production, especially in jersey knit, a fundamental knit construction in the fashion industry. Adding to its sustainable credentials, the T-Shirt features a unique design element — the Spun K — printed on its pocket using Living Ink’s Algae Ink, a sustainable alternative to conventional inks.
The Kelsun fiber emerges as a sustainable alternative amidst an industry that produces 21 billion tons of textile waste annually. By leveraging seaweed, Kelsun dramatically reduces water and land use compared to traditional cotton, illustrating a viable solution for the environmental challenges facing the fashion and textile industry.
Mayer is a leading voice for sustainable fashion; she highlights the pressing need for the industry to reassess its material choices. She points out the significance of Kelsun in addressing major environmental concerns associated with fashion production. “With a brand’s material choices alone being responsible for over half its total emissions, there’s a dire need for the industry to revisit its chosen fibers. As someone who has long challenged the presence of fossil fuels in fashion and has opted for nature-based solutions instead, Kelsun’s ability to create an option that integrates a renewable source, addresses fashion’s plastics problem, while also eliminating pesticide use and agricultural land use is incredibly promising,” Mayer said in a statement.
Aleks Gosiewski, Co-Founder and COO of Keel Labs, emphasizes the broader mission behind this launch. “This launch is about so much more than creating a T-shirt—it’s our mission come-to-life, offering the industry a product that can be produced at scale,” Gosiewski said, adding that the collaboration with Mayer demonstrates to both the fashion industry and consumers the feasibility and immediate applicability of innovative material solutions in existing supply chains.
Keel Labs’ vision goes beyond fashion. The company is exploring Kelsun’s potential in various product categories, including automotive, home goods, furnishings, and interiors. CEO Tessa Callaghan expresses enthusiasm about the future of biomaterials in fashion. “The Kelsun T-shirt is fashion’s latest proof point that biomaterials are ready to revolutionize the industry at large. We are excited to debut our first in-house garment created using Kelsun, with the Kelsun T-shirt serving as the start of global product and brand launches to come,” she said.
The launch comes as a recent report found circularity efforts are being outpaced by new material use. The report noted that in just the last six years, the planet has consumed more new resources than it did in the entire 20th century.
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