Ralph Lauren x NFW

Ralph Lauren polo shirt made with Clarus / Source: Natural Fiber Welding

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Mayer Nissim

WHAT WE SAY:

Cotton is great for everyday clothes, but there's a reason why designers turn to synthetics for sportswear. Or there used to be.

Natural Fiber Welding’s first commercially available garment, based on its Clarus technology platform, signals a future where designers don’t have to sacrifice performance for plastic. Launched at the 2022 Australian Open tennis tournament, the Ralph Lauren RLX Clarus Polo Shirt offers synthetic-like moisture management and drying time, but in a garment made from 100% cotton.

KEY FACTS:

Ralph Lauren partnered with Natural Fiber Welding (NFW) for the RLX Clarus Polo Shirt, which delivers the high performance attributes of synthetic fibres from 100% Cotton.
Billed as the "world's first high-performance cotton fabric", the RLX Clarus Shirt leads Ralph Lauren’s commercially available line made from the material.
Clarus is a technology platform that enables the “welding” of natural fibres like cotton to make them longer and stronger – resulting in quick-drying, moisture-wicking, warp-knit compatible fabrics.
The Clarus technology is fibre agnostic, able to be used across many other fibre feedstocks beyond cotton.
Launched at a celebrity exhibition tennis clinic at the 2022 Australian Open tournament, the RLX Clarus Polo is available online and in store, priced at USD 168.

Ralph Lauren made with Clarus / Source: Natural Fiber Welding

Ralph Lauren made with Clarus in Flare Orange / Source: Natural Fiber Welding

DIVE DEEPER:

Synthetic fibres are often favoured by sportswear designers because of their strength, elasticity, durability and moisture management, but the shedding of microplastics during wearing and washing and the inevitability of landfill at end-of-life make these items an ecological disaster.
Cotton traditionally hasn’t been able to match polyester and nylon for activewear, but NFW's Clarus technology promises to enhance natural fibres to equal the performance of synthetics without the environmental cost.
At the 2022 Australian Open tournament, tennis legend Sam Groth and Australian footballer Josh Cavallo hosted an exhibition tennis clinic while wearing the RLX Clarus Polo Shirt. The event was designed to show off the polo shirt’s performance qualities at the height of Australian summer.
Clarus uses ionic liquids to swell, mobilise and reconstruct cellulosic bonds at the molecular level in the cell walls of natural fibres to create stronger, more durable and functional yarns and fabrics.
The salts are then removed and recaptured for reuse, leaving only the original natural fibre behind with its new performance characteristics.
The RLX Clarus Polo Shirt is made from 100% cotton and is available in Polo Black, Pure White and Flare Orange. It comes in a custom slim fit with an even vented hem, a ribbed polo collar, a three-button placket and short sleeves with ribbed cuffs.
The full Ralph Lauren Clarus range also includes a t-shirt at USD 98, a long-sleeved t-shirt at USD 125, and a cropped cotton tee at USD 68. Each is available in two colours and all items are machine washable.
Ralph Lauren made a minority investment in NFW in August 2020 to help scale its patented process and develop its apparel, which it hopes will help expand the use of recycled cotton to boost sustainability and achieve a goal of sustainably sourcing 100% of its key materials by 2025, while also integrating zero-waste principles across the company.
While no claim is made of the compostability of Clarus, it is made entirely from Cellulose and will break down into nutrients and not shed or degrade into microplastics.
In March 2021, Ralph Lauren announced the launch of its Colour on Demand programme, with the goal of combining technologies to facilitate the recycling and reuse of all water used in cotton dyeing and create a scalable zero-wastewater cotton dyeing system.

"A textile innovation that transforms virgin and recycled cotton into a high-performance fabric."

Ralph Lauren

Key Design Considerations:

Make Clarus the standard for performance garments

Polo shirts are often worn by golfers, and occasionally by tennis players, but in truth they are more commonly worn for casual non-sporting occasions. So while we hope this heralds a new era of cotton-based sportswear, a huge portion of sportswear features elastane because of its stretch properties. We would love to see ambitious designers exploring whether Clarus could replace this similarly troubling synthetic fibre.

Know your source

Ralph Lauren does not give details as to the cotton used in its RLX Clarus polo, but not all cotton is created equal. The volume and nature of water and pesticide used to produce cotton varies hugely – from regenerative organic cotton to best-in-class brands like Good Earth Cotton. More exciting are NFW’s claims that its Clarus platform can also enhance recycled fibres, given the huge volumes of cotton textile waste produced each year.

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Ralph Lauren x NFW

WHAT WE SAY:

Cotton is great for everyday clothes, but there's a reason why designers turn to synthetics for sportswear. Or there used to be.

KEY FACTS:

DIVE DEEPER:

Synthetic fibres are often favoured by sportswear designers because of their strength, elasticity, durability and moisture management, but the shedding of microplastics during wearing and washing and the inevitability of landfill at end-of-life make these items an ecological disaster.

Cotton traditionally hasn’t been able to match polyester and nylon for activewear, but NFW's Clarus technology promises to enhance natural fibres to equal the performance of synthetics without the environmental cost.

At the 2022 Australian Open tournament, tennis legend Sam Groth and Australian footballer Josh Cavallo hosted an exhibition tennis clinic while wearing the RLX Clarus Polo Shirt. The event was designed to show off the polo shirt’s performance qualities at the height of Australian summer.

Clarus uses ionic liquids to swell, mobilise and reconstruct cellulosic bonds at the molecular level in the cell walls of natural fibres to create stronger, more durable and functional yarns and fabrics.

The salts are then removed and recaptured for reuse, leaving only the original natural fibre behind with its new performance characteristics.

The RLX Clarus Polo Shirt is made from 100% cotton and is available in Polo Black, Pure White and Flare Orange. It comes in a custom slim fit with an even vented hem, a ribbed polo collar, a three-button placket and short sleeves with ribbed cuffs.

The full Ralph Lauren Clarus range also includes a t-shirt at USD 98, a long-sleeved t-shirt at USD 125, and a cropped cotton tee at USD 68. Each is available in two colours and all items are machine washable.

While no claim is made of the compostability of Clarus, it is made entirely from Cellulose and will break down into nutrients and not shed or degrade into microplastics.

In March 2021, Ralph Lauren announced the launch of its Colour on Demand programme, with the goal of combining technologies to facilitate the recycling and reuse of all water used in cotton dyeing and create a scalable zero-wastewater cotton dyeing system.

Ralph Lauren

Key Design Considerations:

Make Clarus the standard for performance garments

Know your source

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