‘First’ circular outdoor performance textile wins Jony Ive backing
Amphitex, a research and development project led by Royal College of Art (RCA) alum Jun Kamei and his Amphibio firm, has placed first in the eco-minded Terra Carta Design Lab competition alongside three other winners, all RCA students past and present.
Mr Kamei’s winning innovation was described as the world’s first 100% recyclable and chemical-free textile for the outdoor industry.
It is a three-layer fabric made from the same “new” source material, an undisclosed combination of recycled and plant-based feedstocks and the company’s superhydrophobic Amphidry yarn, which can also be made into a high-performance, breathable membrane that is free from polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE).
The winners were selected from 125 submissions by a grand jury comprising HRH Prince Charles and former Apple chief design officer and RCA chancellor, Sir Jony Ive, as well as RCA vice-chancellor, Dr Paul Thompson, plus representatives from Terra Carta Design Lab’s corporate partners including Bank of America.
Each will receive £50,000 (roughly $62,500) in funding, plus mentoring from Sir Jony and members of the Sustainable Markets Initiative (SMI), launched by Charles at Davos in January 2020. The SMI is a global network of chief executives or “coalition of the willing”, described as working together to build prosperous and sustainable economies “through the balanced integration of natural, social, human and financial capital”.
Sir Jony commented: “We can all have good ideas. I find it reassuring, particularly facing the overwhelming challenge of climate change, that we can all contribute ideas that could evolve into valuable solutions. I love not only the power of a good idea, but also how egalitarian and inclusive they can be.
“All the Design Lab winners have ideas and designs that deserve to be developed. The ingenuity and determination of these designers has produced some extraordinary creative responses and they now embark on the journey to turn these great ideas into practical solutions.”
Image: Amphibio.
