LONDON — Kim Winser has joined with fellow entrepreneurs, and fabric champions, to invest in yoga and Pilates clothing brand Bahe that uses a new wicking technology to make sweat disappear without the use of chemicals.
Winser, founder of knitwear and clothing brand Winser London, and former chief executive officer of Pringle of Scotland and Aquascutum, has invested alongside Hap Klopp, former chief at The North Face.
The Australia-based Bahe got its start making yoga and Pilates equipment, and is set to launch its innovative athletic clothing in the U.K. in December.
The bra tops, leggings, shorts and onesies are made from a new, patent-pending fabric known as TurboDry, or TDry, which is soft, stretchy and employs a one-way wicking process to eliminate moisture.
“The wicking property sits within the structure of the fabric and does not rely on any chemicals,” said Winser, who compared the process to the way trees process water, outward from the roots to the leaves.
She said that Bahe is the first clothing brand to market the technology, which was developed by the U.S. company NexTex Innovations. Bahe will launch a men’s collection next fall.
Bahe, a Hindi word meaning “flow,” was founded by the fitness entrepreneur Matt Dixon and George Gregan, a Rugby World Cup champion and former captain of the Wallabies, the National Rugby Union team in Australia.
Gregan said clothing was a natural extension for Bahe and the aim is “to dress the community” of people using the brand’s mats, bags, blocks and bands.
Bahe’s parent company, Fitness Systems United, specializes in developing and marketing portable exercise gear, such as mats, balls and pull-up bars for home and gym training.
The Bahe collection includes bra tops, leggings and onesies in sizes ranging from XS to XL, and come in colors with names like coconut and cinnamon.
The brand is marketing the clothing as performance fashion. The new campaign video shows women wearing the tops and onesies during private practice at home, classes at the studio, and layered with shirts and skirts for a night on the town.
Prices start at 70 Australian dollars, or $52, for the Dinamica Strappy Active bra, to 120 Australian dollars, or $79, for the Goddess High-Rise Flare Legging.
Winser said she invested because of the brand’s sustainability ambitions.
“I only want to be involved with businesses interested in sustainability. These products and technologies are all stepping stones to making the [fashion] industry a better place,” she said, adding the TDry fabric does not require frequent washing, and therefore uses less water.
Sustainability isn’t a new crusade for Winser, who launched her direct-to-consumer brand in 2013.
Her priority, she said at the time, was to eliminate waste and all the extra steps in the supply chain. She began with knitwear primarily, and worked directly with mills, factories, and workshops in places including China, Italy and Scotland.
The brand has since expanded into dresses, outerwear and separates made from silk, merino wool and recycled cashmere. Tweed jackets, coats, skirts and dresses are designed and sewn in London from British wool-blend tweed.
Winser said she’ll continue to support sustainably minded brands, adding her next investment will be in a project that uses mycelium, a mushroom-based material that brands including Stella McCartney, Balenciaga, Reformation and Heron Preston’s L.E.D. Studio have used for clothing, accessories and art.
