BY michael doughty

But it does need better ones.

When creating the Legacy Tech T-shirt, we started with the problem. Too many activewear t-shirts are made from fossil fuel based materials and give no thought to what happens to them at the end of their life.
So we wanted to produce a t-shirt that used as little fossil fuel derived materials as possible but also rethought the way that we interact with them during the entirety of their life cycle.

After hundreds of hours of material research, our product team suggested that we use organic cotton blended with Tencel Lyocell x Refibra, which is a cellulosic fibre of pre and post consumer cotton scraps mixed with wood pulp.
The performance benefits of this unique technology are really exciting. Organic Cotton is incredibly soft and comfortable and uses less water than traditional cotton. Tencel Lyocell x Refibra adds stretch and breathability whilst being entirely derived from nature.
The pioneering REFIBRA technology involves upcycling cotton scraps from pre and post-consumer cotton textile waste. These cotton scraps are transformed into recycled pulp and a substantial proportion of 30 percent is added to the wood pulp. Out of these combined raw materials new virgin TENCEL Lyocell fibres are produced.

The performance benefits of this unique technology are really exciting. Organic Cotton is incredibly soft and comfortable and uses less water than traditional cotton. Tencel Lyocell x Refibra adds stretch and breathability whilst being entirely derived from nature.
Sometimes material research hinges also on the scalability of these innovative materials - and, critically, on where the suppliers of these materials are based. We always ensure our supply chain is as close together as possible to minimise our carbon footprint whilst vetting our suppliers to meet our supply chain standards.

Sometimes material research hinges also on the scalability of these innovative materials - and, critically, on where the suppliers of these materials are based. We always ensure our supply chain is as close together as possible to minimise our carbon footprint whilst vetting our suppliers to meet our supply chain standards.
After deciding upon the materials, we sampled and graded the garment to ensure minimal wastage while focusing on the correct pattern and feel for performance and functionality. Minimising our environmental impact is at the core of our product creation process but we recognise we need to make great products that last and perform.
The sampling and wear test process is a vital part of our process as we always need to know before we actually order anything that we have made a product that is better than what is out there, otherwise what’s the point?!
We then lab tested the LegacyTech T-Shirt to meet our vegan requirements. All of our products need to be free from animal testing and contaniments during all parts of the creation process.

The LegacyTech T-shirt is our first product powered by hyloop. The LegacyTech utilises an NFC-capable logo (Near Field Communication) and is simple to use.
You tap the hyloop logo with your phone where you’re taken to the hyloop portal. Within the portal, you’ll receive tailored information on care, repair and recycling of hylo products and unique services to help you keep your t-shirt going for longer.
If you have any ideas about how we can improve any aspect of our product development process or even more specific feedback about how we can improve the Legacy Tech T-shirt, please reach out to jorma@hyloathletics.com