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Want to Wear Premium, Organic Threads? Ibex’s New Sub-Label Can Help

Ibex Labs aims to bring a new level of sustainability, innovation and quality into the world of textiles. Ibex’s GM explains how.

ibex labs launchIbex Labs

By Hayley Helms

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It’s common wisdom that the larger a company, brand or entity becomes, the slower things move or develop. Ever heard of bureaucratic delay? Yeah, that happens to outdoor brands as well.

When you bundle a bunch of brands under one conglomerate umbrella, quick pivots and growth can be impeded; decisions are made by groups, not individuals and the pace of innovation can slow down to that of molasses.

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Ibex wants to do things differently. The privately-owned apparel company was founded in 1997 by John Fernsell and Peter Helmetag; over the years, it enjoyed success and growth, until it didn’t. In 2017 Ibex shut down, after laying off a third of its staff, unable to maintain competition with other brands in the space.

In 2019, the Flour Fund bought Ibex and the brand was reborn. Now, after getting its bearings for a few years, Ibex is undertaking a new venture — launching a premium sub-label, Ibex Labs, focused on innovating the textile manufacturing process. Based on Ibex’s Tranquil Collection, the first collection, Dyed in the Wool, features pieces with a blend of merino wool and organic cotton and a limited run tie-dye pattern achieved through a natural dyeing process.

I sat down with Jordan Todoroff, Ibex’s general manager, to learn what inspired the creation of Ibex Labs, what it means for textile innovation and what we can expect in the future.

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What was the motivation behind founding Ibex Labs?

The motivation for Ibex Labs is simple: to mix the best of human innovation with the best of what nature has to offer. There has been a shocking lack of innovation in apparel. For instance, ring spinning has not advanced in 200 years. Spinning yarn is the most fundamental aspect of creating a textile, and we’re doing it the same way we did 200 years ago. That’s insane.

“Spinning yarn is the most fundamental aspect of creating a textile, and we’re doing it the same way we did 200 years ago. That’s insane.”

Ibex has been working to address that and will have some exciting new developments on that front coming out next month, but it’s a perfect example of what happens when large conglomerates own the majority of a sector (in this case, outdoor brands).

As a small, privately owned brand, Ibex gets to invest in new technologies and processes without the same kind of margin constraints and limitations that publicly traded companies face. Ibex Labs is made to be a challenge to both our industry and ourselves, forcing us to continue growing and experimenting. Our team often says that we would rather be better tomorrow than right today. Labs is built to keep us from settling.

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Ibex Labs was born out of the desire to innovate the textile industry in a real, material way.
Ibex Labs

Dyed in the Wool is the first collection. How many collections does Ibex Labs plan on releasing a year?

That all depends on what we can innovate. Ibex Labs is a way for our team to test the waters with dreams we’ve had for years. If we can’t come up with something truly remarkable and different, we won’t be making it. We’d love to release Labs products a few times a year, but we’ll only be doing so if we have a high level of confidence that the end result is outstanding.

You worked with Green Matters on this collection — what was that process like?

Partnering with Green Matters Natural Dye Company has been a dream for the Ibex crew. Winona [Quigley, the brand’s co-founder and CEO] is brilliant and the quality of her work speaks for itself. On the Ibex side, we worked to source the highest quality blend of two natural fibers that we love: organic cotton and premium merino wool.

We needed someone who specialized in natural dyes that could source with the same quality and sustainability in mind. That’s where Green Matters came in. They have exceptional sourcing standards and know how to bring out unbelievable colors using fully natural dyes and mordants. Not only that, but we were looking for a partner who could handle the environmental challenge of dyeing cotton.

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Captured rain water is a key ingredient in the Green Matters dyeing process.
Ibex Labs
ibex labs
The Lancaster, PA-based brand proves you don’t need chemicals to produce vibrant colors.
Ibex Labs

Cotton is an incredibly thirsty fiber, so the fact that Green Matters was able to use captured rain water to dye this collection was something that thrilled both teams. It’s rare to find that level of synergy through a shared ethos. After a few tests back and forth, we knew we were on to something with them.

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The men’s Tranquil Natural Dye Hoodie and Crew sweatershirt.
Ibex Labs

How many pieces are there?

There are 4 pieces available as part of the Dyed in the Wool collection. A Men’s & Women’s Tranquil Hoodie, Women’s Tranquil Jogger, and Men’s Tranquil Crew.

Is each piece considered one of a kind, due to the natural dye process?

Absolutely. Natural dyeing is a process that yields truly one-of-a-kind garments. Not only is each tie-dye different, but over time, the dyes also change and adapt with each individual wearer. The color will soften and change over time differently depending on how the user washes and wears their pieces.

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Thanks to the natural dye process, each Ibex Labs piece is one-of-a-kind.
Ibex Labs

What does sustainability look like for Ibex? What else can we expect from Ibex Labs?

At Ibex, science leads sustainability. That isn’t always the sexy answer, but it’s what we believe in.

When looking at environmental impact and sustainability as a whole, it turns out the old recycling symbol is excellent scientific guidance. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. Make less things total, make them to be repaired rather than replaced, then create a stream to recycle the basic components when they can no longer be repaired or repurposed. Those principles guide the entire product line at Ibex in our design philosophy.

Longevity is always the first thing on our mind, though. That means a focus on elite materials, construction and design. It’s the most significant decision a company can make to be truly sustainable. A 2021 study by ThredUp showed that extending a garment’s lifetime by 2 years can reduce its overall environmental impact by 82 percent. That’s the statistic that Labs is most focused on.

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Sustainability and innovation are at the heart of Ibex Labs.
Ibex Labs

If we can create products that are truly innovative and design them with timeless aesthetics, people will want to keep those items longer and reduce their total consumption. When it comes to materials and dyes, there are a lot of exciting options on the horizon. We’re experimenting with brand-new types of insulation that have never been tried, using a kind of wool that’s made for the most extreme cold. We have our eyes set on a natural fiber that’s 5 times stronger than steel, yet still fully compostable.

And we’ve got all sorts of fun new textiles and construction techniques in the line that we’ve been wanting to experiment with for more than a decade. It really is the culmination of what our brand has been working toward since 1997.

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