Made by nature for athletes
Everyone from the giant swoosh down, repackages polyester as the pinnacle of performance fabrics. But behind the clever names, underneath the powerful branding it’s all the same - plastic. Our approach – take the best materials that nature has to offer, supercharge them with technology and performance features to elevate our training experience. The outcome? Athletic-fitting, naturally-performing and comfort-boosting activewear that makes both you and the planet feel good.
01
Breathes easy
Tiny pockets in the fibres of the bamboo fabric ('Nanopores') allow your body to breathe naturally. That’s important because the human body needs to maintain its core temperature at safe levels when exercising.
Unlike synthetic fabrics such as polyester, bamboo fabric has the ability to adapt to your changing body temperature - directly impacting your level of comfort as you move.
02
Less smell
Here’s the science: sweat + skin bacteria = smell. Studies in the Netherlands found that Polyester increases the buildup of Micrococcus bacteria which means that eventually, your clothes stay smelly no matter how much you wash them.
Bamboo fabric reduces the amount of bacteria. Less smell. Happy days.
03
Comfort unlike anything we're use to
The long, smooth fibres that form bamboo fabric make for an experience of softness that's hard to describe. Imagine a fabric that's softer than Egyptian cotton, with greater tensile strength.
04
The world's most sustainable plant
Fact: Bamboo is the fastest growing plant on the planet and naturally regenerates once it’s been harvested. An acre of self-replenishing bamboo will give 10 times more fabric than cotton, which needs to be replanted annually.
05
Cleaner all-round
Each time you wash your polyester shirt, plastic fibres are released into the ocean, where they are accumulating by the millions of tonnes. They’re found in everything from the marine life to our own bodies. There's enough of the stuff out there - let's move on, shall we?
06
Here today, gone tomorrow
Like the other natural stars of the fabric world, bamboo fibre is biodegradable.
Ever wondered where your old shirt ends up when you throw it away? In the earth. For a very long time (if it’s synthetic). Not for long (if it’s bamboo).
Performance redefined with tomorrow in mind.
Premium, organic
Our bamboo is grown organically and doesn’t disturb the natural forestation or wildlife. Just ask OEKO-TEX, OCS and GOTS - they have been there and checked it out.
Lyocell - a cleaner approach
Unlike other conventional methods, lyocell bamboo is made using a closed-loop process that conserves water and minimises its environmental impact.
FAQs
Don’t your shirts contain Spandex?
That’s right, they do. Spandex (or Lycra) is a synthetic fibre and we’ve incorporated it into our garments to give the stretch we need. We’ve used very little - only 5 to 10% - and we’ve been actively searching for a natural alternative since day one. As soon as it exists, we will be the first in line to use it. Until then, know that wearing Airoc is still vastly kinder to the environment than synthetic fabrics (virgin or recycled).
Hang on - what about recycled polyester?
Let’s be clear, using old fishing nets and plastic bottles to create polyester fabric instead of pumping more virgin plastic into the environment is a definite improvement.
So let's make it simple. Question: What's the problem with plastic? Answer: It pollutes.
When we look beyond the ‘greenwashing’ at the facts we see that recycled poly, or rPET doesn’t actually solve the problem. Every time we wash our recycled plastic garment, we continue to fill the sea with micro-plastics.
Did you know that you can’t recycle plastic repeatedly? Each time you do, the polymer degrades and needs to be mixed with more new plastic. And when your shirt starts to smell, you’ll dump it. Where? In a land fill, where it’ll poison the earth for a very long time.
Recycled polyester is not the answer.
What’s the difference between bamboo fabric and the stuff i’m wearing at the moment?
Grab your training shirt, turn it inside out and look for the care label. Most likely, you’ll see it’s made from polyester. Polyester, like nylon, lycra and spandex is a synthetic fabric, made by the oil industry. These fabrics are 100% plastic.
Generally speaking, all fabrics fall into 2 categories: synthetic (man-made from chemicals) or natural (made by plants or animals) such as wool, silk, hemp and bamboo.
We believe that natural fabrics such as bamboo offer superior performance benefits for people who move. We don’t believe that wrapping ourselves in plastic is the best thing for us, or for the planet.
Why isn't everyone using bamboo?
Well, the activewear industry has been built on low cost, plastic fabrics since the 1950’s. Bamboo fabric is pretty new and like Merino wool, is less easy to find compared to the ubiquity of polyester. It’s not as cheap and easy to make and it’s less easy to work with than synthetic fabrics.