Ably T-shirt
(Via Ably)

Wearing the same shirt for multiple days would normally be an invitation to attract fewer friends. But a new Seattle clothing line called Ably promises that its technology makes its clothing “whateverproof.”

Ably launched a Kickstarter campaign last week with a goal of $20,000, which it reached in less than 24 hours, and it’s now attracted more than $57,000 from 448 backers. The company was started by apparel industry veterans Raj Shah and Akhil Shah, along with Stanley Hainsworth, former creative director at NIKE, Lego and Starbucks.

According to its campaign, Ably relies on a proprietary, patent-pending technology called Filium, which allows natural fabrics to repel odors, stains and liquids. The product is billed as a smarter alternative to synthetic fabrics and brands that are marketed toward active people.

Ably’s Kickstarter video features an active dude putting his black T-shirt through the paces. Despite waking up and grabbing a shirt he wore yesterday, jogging and sweating through hot yoga in it, spilling coffee on it and not washing it before wearing it for a trip to London, the takeaway is that the guy still has a girlfriend. Thanks, Ably!

“We’re excited about the increased performance across so many applications of wearers,” co-founder Raj Shah said in a news release. “But ultimately, we are excited for the long-term ramification for the planet. We don’t use nanoparticles or harmful chemicals that break down and leach into your skin or the environment. Less washing, less packing, longer use. Typically, clothes don’t lose performance and looks because you wear them. They breakdown because of how much you wash them.”

In fact, Ably makes a big deal on Kickstarter about how putting on its shirt could help change the world.

We think this product is amazing even if it’s just one incredible shirt or hoodie in your wardrobe. (Or five. Or ten. Don’t let us hold you back.) Doing laundry uses a lot of energy and resources. Washing and drying one load of laundry every two days creates about 970 lbs of CO2 every year. Even if you don’t do laundry that often, multiply that energy cost by all the hundreds of millions of people who wash clothes. Which is most people, by the way. If even a fraction of the world’s clothing were activated with Filium, that would be a gigantic reduction in carbon emissions and wasted resources

Ably’s site features T-shirts and hoodies for men and women. The Kickstarter price for one tee was $30, for a savings of $18. The hoodie price was $80, for a savings of $45.

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