Devan Chemicals’ CBD fabric treatment has been used to produce the world’s first CBD-infused activewear brand from Acabada ProActiveWear. Fiona Haran reports.
In December 2018, the US Congress agreed to the final version of the Farm Bill – legislation that legalised hemp in the US by differentiating it from the cannabis plant. Despite the heavy restrictions still placed on hemp, this meant that various industries, including the textile industry, could sell or transport hemp-based products across state lines for commercial or other purposes.
As luck would have it, the Farm Bill was voted in just before the launch of Devan Chemicals’ CBD (cannabidiol) fabric treatment – sourced from organic US hemp. “The Farm Bill immediately changed the general perception of CBD,” says Sven Ghyselinck, CEO of Devan Chemicals. “It labelled it as a much more accessible product, whereas before, we constantly had to explain that it’s not a form of marijuana and that it doesn’t contain drugs. Now there is a totally different viewpoint in the market.”
Acabada ProActiveWear infuses luxury fabric with the highest quality organic CBD
The company introduced its CBD fabric treatment at home textiles trade fair Heimtextil in January, as part of its R-Vital range of microencapsulated active ingredients. Now, only eight months later, the first CBD-infused textiles are hitting the market.
The Belgium company teamed up with Acabada ProActiveWear in the US and a Portugese production partner to launch the ‘world’s first and only’ CBD-infused activewear brand. Conceptualised in New York and made in Portugal, the new female activewear is said to “infuse luxury fabric with the highest quality organic CBD, to ensure that women look, feel and perform at their best”.
With over 30 years in the apparel industry, Acabada CEO and co-founder Seth Baum recognised the positive effects of CBD on pain and inflammation and the fact that top athletes embrace the active ingredient as part of their training and recovery ritual. “A handful of studies have begun looking into the benefits of CBD, and over the next few years we will see more science and proof of the benefits of CBD,” says Baum. “From consumer usage alone there is ample proof that CBD has helped people deal with pain and other uncomfortable situations.”
The activewear contains up to 25 grams of zero-THC, lab-certified, 99.9% pure CBD
To produce the garments, Baum assembled a team of experienced designers, including co-founder and CCO Katrina Petrillo, and together they created a “high fashion yet innovative product that is primed to disrupt the market”.
Each garment from Acabada ProActiveWear contains up to 25 grams of encapsulated zero-THC, lab-certified R-Vital CBD, which will allow the benefits to last through 40 high-intensity wear and wash cycles. Plus, as customers approach 40 wears and washes, they can choose to sustainably recycle their CBD-infused garments through Acabada’s upcycling programme, where the recycled, synthetic fabrics will be repurposed where needed as commercial materials.
The CBD fabric treatment involves a process called microencapsulation, which Devan Chemicals has already used successfuly to enrich textiles with active substances such as CoQ10 from the Japanese company Kaneka, Argan oil and Vitamin E. Explaining how the process works, the company says that CBD molecules are strategically infused with luxe, high-performance fabrics by wrapping microscopic droplets of the CBD with a protective coating. Strategically placed within the garments to align with muscle groups, the microcapsules gradually open over time as each layer meets with friction from the skin. When the individual capsules break open, the CBD is released and trans-dermally absorbed, where it interacts with the body’s endocannabinoid system (ECS) to help regulate and reduce pain and inflammation caused by physical activities.
Of course, any product placed under the health and wellbeing category must undergo rigorous testing, and Devan’s CBD-infused textiles were no exception. “Besides washability testing [to ensure that the fabrics retain CBD’s effects], we did typical cosmetics-type of skin penetration testing in order to demonstrate the amount of times you wear the garment; how much of the actual CBD will penetrate your skin,” says Ghyselinck. “We also had dermatological testing done by an outside agency to prove that the fabric is non-skin irritating and doesn’t cause allergies.”
Despite these added health benefits, most consumers are only willing to pay a certain amount for activewear of this kind, so this was something the team had to consider during the manufacturing process, says Ghyselinck. “It’s obvious that if you’ve put [the CBD capsules] in more places, it would increase the cost of the garment. So, it was a mixture of, on the one hand, beneficial areas for the body, but also taking into account the reality of activewear garments.”
The initial target for Acabada ProActiveWear is the greater New York region, with the garments and much more CBD-infused products from Devan Chemicals set to make an appearance at New York Market Week on 16-19 September.
“We’re currently working with 25-30 different programmes that are in the phase of development,” Ghyselinck says. “This ranges from activewear and recovery wear, but also in the home textiles bedding arena, including sleepwear.”
It’s likely that this will play a pivotal role in what is becoming an increasingly hot trend, and will help to further dispel any controversy related to hemp-based products. This certainly intends to be the case for Acabada ProActiveWear.
Baum says: “As the overall CBD space is projected to grow 20 times over the next few years, more and more of today’s sceptics will cross over into the believer category and therefore help fuel the growth of our innovative, first-of-its-kind ProActiveWear brand.”
To find out more about Acabada ProActiveWear, visit https://acabadaactive.com/
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