Far from being just another outdoor brand, Vollebak fuses science, technology and art to make clothing for the future. Described as the Tesla of outerwear, this brand is leading the way in innovative and sustainable technical apparel.
Twin brothers, Nick and Steve Tidball, have created the most innovative outdoor clothing brand to date. Fusing science, tech and art, the London based designers at the helm of Vollebak are shaping the future of clothing, becoming leaders in innovative and sustainable technical apparel.
Vollebak have gained attention for designs that are at the forefront of cutting-edge experimentation, prompting Esquire to write, “Vollebak aims to do for outdoor clothing what Tesla did for cars and El Bulli did for food, using science, wit and imagination to create products no-one thought possible.”
“Vollebak aims to do for outdoor clothing what Tesla did for cars and El Bulli did for food, using science, wit and imagination to create products no-one thought possible.”
Turning to nature and science for inspiration, they began exploring the world of biomimicry to make clothing for adventure enthusiasts with designs incorporating unconventional materials, from manmade super materials like graphene and carbon fibre to plants.
To date, Vollebak have created a colour-shifting jacket that mimics squid skin; a lightweight and waterproof antimicrobial copper jacket resilient to viruses; and a Solar Charged Puffer jacket that lights up at night. It's great for night hikes or Arctic winter exploration, and you can draw patterns on it with your torch. They have produced a near Indestructible Jacket made from Dyneema – a fibre that is 15 times stronger than steel; and a Relaxation Hoodie that zips all the way up over your face that they describe as a portable isolation tank. It uses colour therapy and a pink noise soundtrack to relax the wearer.
While durability is at the core of the brand— their technical gear is made to last 100 years and can withstand the harshest environments, so you don't need to replace your clothing as often—Vollebak have also produced a Plant and Algae T-shirt that is quite the opposite. Inspired by the ultra-marathon running principle of 'leave no trace' they created a t-shirt that can biodegrade at the end of its life.
Made of 100 per cent natural materials — pulped eucalyptus and beech from sustainably managed forests and algae grown in bioreactors — and inked with algae that constantly changes colour with exposure to light and air, the t-shirt can be thrown into your garden compost at the end of its life where is will totally biodegrade within three months, leaving zero footprint on the planet. Instead of ending up in landfill, the t-shirt returns from whence it came. Very circular.
Vollebak also recently unveiled a fully biodegradable and compostable hoodie. The Plant and Pomegranate hoodie is made from eucalyptus trees grown in sustainably-managed forests and is dyed with pomegranate peel. It can decompose in a compost heap in around eight weeks. In a post announcing the launch the brand said: ‘The Plant and Pomegranate Hoodie feels like a normal hoodie, looks like a normal hoodie, and lasts as long as a normal hoodie. The thing that makes it different is simply the way it starts and ends its life.’
Plans are underway for a Garbage Watch— built from electronic waste from computers, smartphone, and televisions —to be released in 2021. Check them out and stay tuned for more updates.
