Ralph Lauren Debuts New All-Natural Performance Cotton Fabric At Australian Open

2022-01-15 09:33:34 By : Mr. Murphy Gao

The new Ralph Lauren all-natural cotton performance polo shirt makes a debut at the Australian Open. ... [+]

Ralph Lauren approaches the Australian Open as an opportunity to put a new idea on the table. That new idea comes in the form of a new all-natural cotton performance fabric meant to provide a sustainable, non-synthetic approach to performance apparel. 

"We really charged ourselves to keep building more and more sustainable products and with sports franchises you want to do things that have performance qualities," says David Lauren, chief branding and innovation officer. "Coming up with a shirt that has the highest level of performance quality and is sustainable was a big challenge."

To create the new $168 RLX Clarus Polo Shirt, on display at the Australian Open, Ralph Lauren invested in Natural Fiber Welding, Inc. and worked with the Illinois-based company to craft a fresh way of building fabric from cotton fibers that produces an all-natural approach to sweat wicking and quick drying. 

David Lauren says the process involves taking fibers apart and putting them back together with the same strength you'd see in a synthetic fiber. "It is about how you blend it and how you put it together," he says. "That is the genius of what this company does. It is pushing the boundaries with cotton because there is now a market demanding more performance materials, but they don't want more synthetic materials." 

An exhibition match at the Australian Open will unveil the Ralph Lauren RLX Clarus Polo Shirt.

The synthetic market for polyester products has grown fast enough in the past 20 years it is often outselling cotton. "I find that scary," David Lauren says, adding he knows the demand is strong for the performance attributes of the synthetic poly fabric, but the all-natural cotton approach provides an alternative that "makes sense for us and our industry." 

"Through this collaboration, we are paving the way for complete circularity with resulting materials that perform similarly to plastic-based synthetic fabrics," says Luke Haverhals, NFW CO. "We are pioneering an entirely new system that simultaneously enables all-natural performance fabrics while reducing waste and eliminating the need for synthetic plastics." 

The combination of a marketplace focused on the rise of plastic-led synthetic performance materials and Ralph Lauren's interest in embracing an environmentally friendly approach to performance apparel led to the Australian Open—the brand has remained heavily invested in sponsoring tennis events globally and uses those events to showcase new products. "If we bring this to life in a high-profile moment, it can bring more demand and more customers wanting to learn more," David Lauren says. "I want people to challenge our company, push it even further. Because we are living with an environmental disaster today, we are challenged every day to do something better." 

The new Ralph Lauren RLX Clarus Polo Shirt.

The investment in Natural Fiber Welding wasn't just for Ralph Lauren. David Lauren says he hopes competitors join the effort. "We are open-sourcing a lot of these ideas after we come to market," he says. "We are the proof in the pudding and if other companies want to build on it, that is fine, we want to bring attention to the possibilities. It takes the buzz and platform of the Australian Open and we want the world to follow."

David Lauren says that while the timing matched up perfectly to debut the new fabric in Melbourne during the January event, one of three major tennis tournaments the brand sponsors, it also times well at the start of the year as people look to clean up decisions around purchases and health. Plus, with the tradition of hot Australian summers, David Lauren says the best way to show off a performance product is in the Melbourne heat. 

As part of the promotion of the RLX Clarus Polo Shirt, Ralph Lauren will host an exhibition match and have the product available on the grounds for fans to test. The shirt launches first in a men's style and a women's option will arrive by spring. Expect to see more of the fabric across Ralph Lauren in the future, but the roll-out cadence gets determined by customers. "If it is a success, we will move that much faster on it," David Lauren says. "We learn a lot from our customers." 

David Lauren knows this Australian Open debut is about more than a polo shirt. "It is about the philosophy," he says. "To me, what starts with a shirt can change a lot. It is like the tail wagging the dog when you put a product out there. It is more than a shirt; it is a change in how we think about athleisure and performance attributes in our clothing. The shirt is a symbol of a change in psychology that Ralph Lauren is trying to introduce."