Our Black Algae range is designed to reinvent how the colour black is made

The colour black is everywhere. From our phones to our cars to the ink in our pens. But black has a dark side. Every black thing you own is likely to contain carbon black – a pigment derived from petroleum. So we’re on a search for the new black. Our aim is to reinvent the way in which the colour itself is made. And it all starts with our Black Algae range.

The way carbon black is made isn’t sustainable. Vast tracts of land called tar sands are stripped of all life and vegetation to extract the heavy petroleum, while the production process creates significant greenhouse gases. So we’re on a search for the new black.

We build our Black Algae T Shirt with a biomaterials start up

With the help of US biomaterials company Living Ink, we’ve found a method of making black clothing with algae. After its founders Scott and Steve discovered that an algae cell is almost identical in size to a carbon black pigment, and can create the same colour, they’ve been on a mission to replace carbon black ink with a black ink made from black algae waste.

You don’t have to dig up the earth to find black algae

Our algae is grown in giant open-air ponds. It grows by feeding on sunlight, carbon dioxide, water and nutrients. While most of the algae is used to make natural food colourings, the rest is harvested and used as the base for black algae ink. After it’s harvested, the algae by-product is heat treated to concentrate it into a black powder which we use as pigment. This treatment seals in carbon dioxide which has been absorbed by the algae during its lifespan, preventing it from making its way back into the atmosphere. The black powder is then purified and mixed with a water-based binder to create black algae ink.
You don’t have to dig up the earth to find black algae

Our algae is grown in giant open-air ponds. It grows by feeding on sunlight, carbon dioxide, water and nutrients. While most of the algae is used to make natural food colourings, the rest is harvested and used as the base for black algae ink. After it’s harvested, the algae by-product is heat treated to concentrate it into a black powder which we use as pigment. This treatment seals in carbon dioxide which has been absorbed by the algae during its lifespan, preventing it from making its way back into the atmosphere. The black powder is then purified and mixed with a water-based binder to create black algae ink.
You don’t have to dig up the earth to find black algae

Our algae is grown in giant open-air ponds. It grows by feeding on sunlight, carbon dioxide, water and nutrients. While most of the algae is used to make natural food colourings, the rest is harvested and used as the base for black algae ink. After it’s harvested, the algae by-product is heat treated to concentrate it into a black powder which we use as pigment. This treatment seals in carbon dioxide which has been absorbed by the algae during its lifespan, preventing it from making its way back into the atmosphere. The black powder is then purified and mixed with a water-based binder to create black algae ink.

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Not only does algae generate more than half the oxygen on Earth, but once it becomes part of this t shirt, it captures and stores the carbon it used as its fuel for the next 100 years.

Our Black Algae Hoodie and Sweatpants combine black algae with hemp

Over the last 80 years hemp has been one of the most misunderstood and badly treated materials on the planet. It’s been banned by governments, had war declared against it, and been accused of bringing down modern society. But it could have a very different future. From an environmental perspective every tonne of hemp produced removes 1.6 tonnes of CO2 from the air. It kills weeds, purifies soil, grows super-fast and will thrive almost anywhere in the world. It requires zero pesticides and very little water to cultivate. So we combine two of nature’s supermaterials to build our hoodie and sweatpants.
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Our Black Algae Hoodie and Sweatpants combine black algae with hemp

Over the last 80 years hemp has been one of the most misunderstood and badly treated materials on the planet. It’s been banned by governments, had war declared against it, and been accused of bringing down modern society. But it could have a very different future. From an environmental perspective every tonne of hemp produced removes 1.6 tonnes of CO2 from the air. It kills weeds, purifies soil, grows super-fast and will thrive almost anywhere in the world. It requires zero pesticides and very little water to cultivate. So we combine two of nature’s supermaterials to build our hoodie and sweatpants.
Our Black Algae Hoodie and Sweatpants combine black algae with hemp

Over the last 80 years hemp has been one of the most misunderstood and badly treated materials on the planet. It’s been banned by governments, had war declared against it, and been accused of bringing down modern society. But it could have a very different future. From an environmental perspective every tonne of hemp produced removes 1.6 tonnes of CO2 from the air. It kills weeds, purifies soil, grows super-fast and will thrive almost anywhere in the world. It requires zero pesticides and very little water to cultivate. So we combine two of nature’s supermaterials to build our hoodie and sweatpants.

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