sportstyle

22 • July 2021 sportstyle • sportstylemag.com "The pieces will work whether you want to get in 15 minutes of yoga during the day or look professional on a Zoom call." Kirsten Harris Founder, EarthFirst Consulting "Streetwear and lifestyle brands are taking cues from outdoor." Cindy McNaull Business development director, Cordura Advanced Fabrics "On average Americans have seven pairs of jeans. We can make a real environmental impact with lifestyle collections." Niklas Brosnan Global marketing coordinator, Polygiene offering as an example high-end shoppers who found satisfaction buying product staples at big box stores, like Target, that remained open during Covid. To stand out in the current retail environment, premium brands seek to differentiate. "WIth premium brands there's got to be a story about why to buy this brand for this much more. Technology is the only thing that is rooting that story, and hopefully makes consumers pull out their wallet and purchase." Kirsten Harris identifies another consumer shift: "I believe there is a great desire to evolve exercise/lifestyle goals in a holistic manner, with exercise not being an activity separated from our overall daily lifestyle but deeply integrated within it," stated Harris, who has recently launched EarthFirst Consultants and is preparing to launch a parallel brand called Eavolu, with its tagline is "The Evolution of You." Harris, whose background includes product development and marketing at Nike, Nordstrom, Amazon and most recently textile supplier NILIT, said the intention of Eavolu is "to allow busy professionals to move seamlessly through their day, with activities such as work, family life, exercise, socializing all being woven together as a whole, in an eco- conscious fashion." The Eavolu brand is designed to work seamlessly with Avocado brand activewear. Harris' close relationship with Avocado led to the collaboration that will provide an online platform to launch Eavolu. A capsule collection of three different styles of a women's one-piece garment feature long-lasting materials that are functional, eco-conscious and suited to today's hybrid lifestyle. "The pieces will work whether you want to get in 15 minutes of yoga during the day or look professional on a Zoom call," said Harris. "Wardrobes in general are more casual and laid back. We want to be comfortable all day but still look professional." Denim Delivers As consumers start venturing out of the house and back into society replacing their old sweats with new streetwear, the latest denim developments look to be a good fit. Cordura marks the 10th anniversary of the launch of its durable denim technology with the introduction of denim hemp blends, and Naveena Denim Mills' new collection of sustainable denim, features Polygiene STAYS FRESH technology that fuses the comfort of denim with many performance benefits. The first durable Cordura Denim hemp blends to showcase come from Artistic Milliners. Made with French sourced hemp, the blue stretch denim qualities, in 11 and 12-ounce weights, have a soft, comfort hand feel and the natural slub characteristic of hemp. Hemp aligns with Cordura attributes including high tenacity, strength, and durability. Hemp is also gaining traction in the outdoor market, with Patagonia, The North Face and many other outdoor brands utilizing the natural fiber. "Streetwear and lifestyle brands are taking cues from outdoor," said McNaull, who added that now more than ever lines are blurring between market segments. "We've got this wonderful melding where outdoor meets workwear meets streetwear and trendy ready-to- wear. Cordura fabrics feature in all these categories, with great brand partners." Cordura is also working with hemp in knit construction. A durable jersey nylon/hemp blend knit from Haining Jintai mill China won an ISPO award in January. The natural stretch knit offers durable comfort performance suitable for hot or humid climates. Naveena Denim Mills and Polygiene presented their new partnership last month during the Kingpins24 Amsterdam trade show, with executives from both firms optimistic about growth potential in denim. Polygiene became known in the sport and outdoor market, attracting attention for its eco-conscious odor capture performance treatment ideal for base layer and other active outdoor products. But with only about 10 percent of wardrobes devoted to sport, there is "huge opportunity for sustainability performance in everyday clothing," said Niklas Brosnan, Polygiene's global marketing coordinator. "On average Americans have seven pairs of jeans. We can make a real environmental impact with lifestyle collections." Berke Aydemir, head R&D & technical sales at Navenna, added, "We desire to reach the next generation of early adopters and influencers to create awareness about garment care and the role consumers play in having a more sustainable world." Applied in the finishing stages of textile production, the Polygiene biostatic treatment, based on a silver salt solution, stops odor at the source and works for the lifetime of the garment. About 50 percent of negative environmental impact from jeans is due to consumer laundering. According to the companies, consumers can do more to reduce the environmental impact of apparel simply by washing clothes less frequently. Polygience calculates, for example, that skipping every 10th wash, results in saving 47 million tons of CO2 and 4.5 billion cubic meters of freshwater globally. Brosnan stated, "We are excited to continue this development with Naveena Denim Mills and be part of this movement to keep clothes out of landfills and change consumables to durables." n IN PURSUIT OF MOVEMENT & THE WAY WE MOVE NOW • IN THE STUDIO

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