Highlight Reel From My Sourcing Trip

Here are some fave highlights from my sourcing trip – lots of cool innovation and sustainability technology in fabric!

💫 Buttons, buttons, buttons.

Made from all kinds of recycled stuff including leftover shavings of tagua nuts and horn, paper, veggie, hemp fiber and refuse from the food industry.

💫 UV sensor thread! It’s activated by light. Super fun and cool to see.

💫 CICLO Innovative Technology solutions for fashion pollution.

They created a non-toxic ingredient that embeds into fabric which biodegrades micro plastics present in soil, waterways, landfill, wastewater.

Why this is important:

The micro plastics in garments made with CICLO will be significantly degraded without negative impact on marine life 💥

This could significantly change the fashion industry’s pollution problem.

💫 Sun protective fabric with anti aging properties woven in to stimulate collagen, hydration, reduce wrinkles and cellulite.

Yes. Anti-aging properties woven into sun protective fabric!

Ofc I had to make a detour into Mood Fabrics popularized on Project Runway.

And oh, P.S. Got locked in a pkg garage stairwell, but it all ended up ok. Yep, that firetruck was for us 🤪

Now the next step in my design process is to get sample cards for the fabrics that meet our six criteria.

In case you missed our previous newsletter a few weeks ago, our six criteria are:

• UPF 50+ Certified

• OEKO-TEX Standard 100 Certified

• Inherent Sun Protection (permanent, never washes out of fabric)

• Made in a certified BLUESIGN Partner textile facility

• Small Batch enabled.

• Aesthetics (and luxe feel!) worthy of a Heliades design

When a fabric passes the above six criteria it's then seriously considered for a product. We evaluate many factors including aesthetics -- how it looks and how the fabric feels on your skin before making a decision if it's worthy of a Heliades design!

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