HyperNatural: The First-Ever Polo Made from Jade Stone & Crab Shells
Updated: Mar 6, 2023
Miami Living caught up with Chris Kolbe, the co-founder of HyperNatural, the new eco-luxury brand that today makes its debut, introducing luxury men's polo shirts made from natural and recycled materials and designed for comfort.
Co-founders Chris Kolbe and Christian Arkins spent over thirty years working in the fashion industry at major brands including Ralph Lauren, J. Crew, Original Penguin, and Saks. Obsessive about materials, construction, and fit, they are committed to creating a more sustainable and scientific eco-luxury product made with innovative materials from natural, renewable, and biodegradable sources.
What are your respective backstories and when did you each know you wanted to build a new eco-luxury menswear brand together?
Christian and I have known each other for over 20 years when we started the Original Penguin fashion brand back in NYC. We always had this unique ability to innovate and incubate new ideas together.
With a little downtime during Covid, we became obsessed with the possibilities of natural biomaterials. We discovered unexpected ways to repurpose natural material waste into a special blend with Supima® cotton, to create this new hybrid of luxury and performance. Hypernatural.
Can you tell us about the inspiration behind HyperNatural and how it reflects your personal values?
Most sustainable products are not that special beyond a well-placed desire to reduce our ecological impact. We wanted to change this by proving you can make innovative products Better by Nature. Sustainable but without you having to compromise quality, performance, or comfort in what you wear. We know the future of fashion is not plastics and polyester – it’s nature.
What sets HyperNatural polos apart from others in the market, both in terms of design and functionality?
The magic of HyperNatural is our special yarn blend of raw materials, like Jade stone, seafood waste, scrap cotton, and recycled spandex. The rest is Supima®, the best 1% cotton in the world. Our fabrics will keep your skin temp up to 5 degrees cooler and keeps you feeling fresh. This is natural performance. All while still being luxuriously soft and comfortable for just about anything - golf, work, or travel.
HyperNatural also has a wide range of fresh colors, simple modern design details like a hidden glass cleaning pocket and no wasteful interior tags – just a QR code.
Can you walk us through the development process of your luxurious proprietary fabric? How were you able to create a product made with innovative materials from natural, renewable, and biodegradable sources?
First, we grind down Jade stone (mining waste) and Crabs shells (food waste), into a microscopic powder. Then blend them with scrap cotton yarns (waste) left over from our spinning mills. These regenerated materials are used in about 50% of the garment, instead of using virgin sources like farms or forests to produce new fibers.
Hypernatural mixes the Jade Stone and Crab Shells powders through a viscose process to create our own Hyper-Cool Jade® yarn, which is then spun with Supima® cotton and recycled Creora® spandex, to create a whole new luxurious material.
Tell us about how you chose your brand totem, the magpie. How does it relate to HyperNatural's brand message?
I fell in love with Magpies after a ski trip we took to Banff in Canada. Magpies are beautiful, resourceful, and very disruptive. Turns out Magpie are one of the most intelligent creatures in the natural world. We have always been inspired by the genius of nature and our potential when we learn how to work with nature, and not against it. So, when I learned a flock of Magpies is called a ‘Mischief’ – our totem was born.