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Elizabeth & Clarke

Elizabeth Clarke Unstainable shirt workwear sweat-proof kickstarter
Clothing

Elizabeth & Clarke Add Workwear To “Unstainable” Collection

Elizabeth Clarke Unstainable shirt workwear sweat-proof kickstarter

Last May, online clothing retailer Elizabeth & Clarke hit Kickstarter with a clever new product. Available in a handful of different shirt styles, the company created what they called the “Unstainable” shirt. The tops were constructed from a textile featuring a special blend of hydrophobic coatings and cotton / silk that allowed the fabric to be soft, breathable, and water repellent. The shirts really did feel amazing, especially the tees; you would never have guessed that the fabric had been treated.

Twelve months after the success of the “Unstainable” shirt, Elizabeth & Clarke are back on the crowd funding site with a new line of products featuring the company’s signature hydrophobic fabric. Included in the collection are a dress, blazer, skirt, and trousers, all designed to be perfect to wear at the office. This time around, they have improved their “Unstainable” fabric by adding a Sweat-Proof lining. The inner layer of the fabric used for the workwear collection is designed to pull sweat away from your body to a middle layer of fabric. The moisture then is able to evaporate while the inner and outer layers remain dry. The nano-coating used for the lining also offers odor protection, killing 99.9% of odor-causing bacteria. The end result is workwear that is vegan and sustainable, stain resistant, sweat proof, machine washable, wrinkle resistant, and odor resistant!  The pants or skirt are currently being offered for $80 and the blazer or dress for $100. And, just as Henry Ford said, “You can have any colour as long as it’s black” (though more colors might be unlocked through stretch goals). The Kickstarter campaign ends on June 3rd.  

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Clothing

Elizabeth & Clarke Launch “Unstainable” Shirt

Elizabeth & Clarke Unstainable Shirt

It is one of the great mysteries of the world; put on a white shirt and you are guaranteed a stain will find its way onto it before the end of the day. Budget women’s fashion brand Elizabeth & Clarke has a solution with their simply named The Unstainable™ White Shirt. The shirt is currently on Kickstarter and has well exceeded its goal of $30,000. It is no big secret that hydrophobic materials are the key to making textiles resistant to liquid. The coatings work by disrupting the hydrogen bond that binds together water molecules. In order for the water molecule to maintain its structural integrity, it has to push away from the material. Thus, waterproofing is achieved. The problem is hydrophobic materials and coatings typically don’t breath and are not soft against the skin. Elizabeth & Clarke has spent 6 months researching and trialling different combinations of coatings and materials to allow silks and cottons to still feel like silks and cottons.

According to Melanie Moore, co-founder of Elizabeth & Clark, The Unstainable™ White Shirt is as soft as a pair of comfy PJs. The key to maintaining the suppleness of the fabric is liquid-repelling fibers 100,000 times smaller than a grain of sand. These fibers are applied to the textile of choice through a bathing and curing process, allowing the fabric to maintain its original breathability. The shirts maintain their hydrophobic qualities for at least two years and actually improve with ironing. They are currently available to purchase through Kickstarter: $25 for a tee and $50 for a blouse. See a very heavily produced video from Elizabeth & Clarke about the garment after the break.  

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