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US' Keel Labs unveils T-shirt made from seaweed-based Kelsun fiber

30 Jan '24

3 min read

Kelsun T-Shirt was brought to life by climate activist and environmental educator Aditi Mayer. Pic: Keel Labs/PR Newswire

Insights

Keel Labs has introduced the Kelsun T-Shirt, developed with Aditi Mayer, made from Kelsun fiber derived from seaweed.
The T-Shirt, created with a 70 per cent Kelsun and 30 per cent cotton blend, is the first to use standard knitting machines and features Living Ink's Algae Ink print.
Kelsun offers a sustainable alternative to traditional fibers.

Keel Labs announces the debut of the Kelsun T-Shirt – a sample developed in collaboration with Aditi Mayer – made from Kelsun fiber, the company's flagship product made from seaweed. Created to demonstrate Kelsun's plug-and-play potential in replacing conventional fibers used in the textile industry, this T-Shirt marks the first Kelsun garment made using industry-standard knitting machines. The Kelsun T-Shirt was created using a 70% Kelsun, 30% Cotton blended yarn, showcasing Kelsun's simple familiarity in a jersey knit – one of the most fundamental knit constructions. The Kelsun T-Shirt also features a screen print using Living Ink's Algae Ink, printing Keel Labs' signature brand element, the Spun K, on the T-Shirt's pocket.

The Kelsun T-Shirt was brought to life by climate activist and environmental educator Aditi Mayer. As a sustainable fashion thought leader, Aditi unpacks the relationships between fashion and the social threads that connect us to our clothing.

"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," said Aditi Mayer.

"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," said Keel Labs Co-Founder and COO, Aleks Gosiewski. "In partnership with Aditi Mayer, we're demonstrating to the fashion industry and consumers alike that next-gen material solutions are here, and they're able to be implemented in brands' and their partners' supply chains today."

In an industry that produces 21 billion tons of textile waste annually, Kelsun functions as an alternative to conventional, resource-intensive materials, like cotton, that fashion and textiles has long relied on. Kelsun is able to reduce water usage by 70X and land use by 100% when compared to cotton by utilizing seaweed, one of the world's most regenerative and renewable organisms. By translating the abundant seaweed supply chain into fiber production on industry-standard equipment, Kelsun is a drop-in solution for textile supply chains that delivers positive impacts to an industry in urgent need of mitigating its environmental impact.

Keel Labs functions as a platform for innovation, working to create new applications for Kelsun in apparel and accessories, as well as new product categories like automotive, home goods, furnishings, and interiors. The company's work is predicated on creating an accessible and utilitarian product with Kelsun: a widely applicable fiber that looks, feels, and performs like the materials the world knows, while taking the guesswork out of sustainably-created textiles.

"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," said Keel Labs' Co-Founder and CEO, Tessa Callaghan.