The founding father of a sustainable North West clothes model that makes merchandise from seaweed and cotton has spoken with Properly-informed individual about its revolutionary manufacturing course of and its goal to assist sort out the local weather disaster.
Macclesfield-based Inland Sea makes use of an revolutionary methodology of spinning its material to permit for the fusion of cotton and seaweed.
Adam Costello, founding father of Inland Sea, stated Properly-informed individual the corporate had “pioneered a brand new sustainable strategy to clothes manufacturing”.
He stated: “We’re the primary within the UK to import a extremely sustainable fiber containing seaweed and efficiently spin it with absolutely traceable cotton, to make a cloth referred to as SeaBlend, which is created, spun, knitted, dyed and completed all within the UK We’re proud to have developed this course of and the innovation on the coronary heart of it We at the moment are in a superb place to construct on what we have now already achieved and enterprise into the usage of different alternate options, pure and materials constructive for the local weather for trend.
“This yr we made material for over 2,000 clothes, primarily t-shirts. We labored intently with different like-minded manufacturers who appreciated our sustainable strategy and noticed the advantage of utilizing our material. We have now produced quite a lot of graphic t-shirts for these manufacturers to assist create consciousness of the potential that pure assets akin to seaweed maintain, in addition to points akin to plastic air pollution and the methods during which seaweed can deal with these, We have now additionally produced a variety of t-shirts for our personal model – Inland Sea – in sizes for males, ladies and unisex.
Costello additionally outlined the corporate’s enlargement plans, in help of its aim to assist sort out the local weather disaster.
“Our sole objective has at all times been to assist clear up the local weather disaster, and it is a key profit we have now as an organization. As we broaden to offer materials for extra manufacturers, we’ll play an important position in bringing the imaginative and prescient of a more healthy world to life.” Like our clothes, all our packaging is made with seaweed, and for each ton of seaweed we use, we forestall the felling of 4 tons of timber.
“By way of our distinctive manufacturing course of, we have now supported the UK manufacturing companies who spin, dye, weave and stitch our merchandise. As a proud British firm, it’s gratifying to proceed to offer jobs for native employees as we set up our manufacturing chain.
“Inland Sea is a forward-thinking model with a brilliant future forward of us. Now that we have now developed our revolutionary material, we would like to have the ability to supply our product to different clothes manufacturers that wish to be extra sustainable, by utilizing our distinctive material. With the shift in the direction of a extra sustainable way of life gaining reputation, we count on increasingly manufacturers to look to utilizing high-quality, UK-made materials and clothes.
“We’re additionally seeking to begin new product traces, growing our material to incorporate thicker and thinner textiles appropriate for sweaters and hoodies, in addition to sleepwear and bedding. Our material is a flexible asset and has a unbelievable potential to take our model to new heights.”
Final yr, the Inland Sea obtained a mortgage from NPIF – GC & River Microfinance, managed by GC Enterprise Finance in partnership with River Capital as a part of the Northern Powerhouse Funding Fund.
Costello added: “Latest funding has performed a vital position in enabling us to finish the primary part of product growth on the cotton mill in Manchester. Solely after receiving funding from the Northern Powerhouse Funding Fund (NPIF) had been we capable of end the final phases of growth of the product, and with out her the corporate wouldn’t have achieved its aim of bringing our merchandise to market as rapidly as we did.”