Co-founders of Butter Butter and fashion innovators, Michelle Huang and Elle Castellani, have unveiled the world’s first collagen-infused nylon fabric crafted from fish scales. This breakthrough spurred them to rebrand their fashion label as Locionne, launching their new active-wear line, Genesis, utilising this novel marine-collagen imbued fabric.
The fabric’s production involves fusing textile material with amino acids, resulting in a fabric naturally endowed with cooling, deodorising, and antimicrobial properties. Huang and Castellani affirm that the activewear can be worn consecutively for three days without necessitating laundering, while also retaining skin moisture and passing skin sensitivity tests.
Huang shared that buyers in the activewear domain in London extensively compared their new fabric, presenting samples to every major activewear player, including Lululemon, Sweat Betty, and Fabletics. In this head-to-head softness comparison, Locionne surpassed all competitors, even the ‘LuluLemon Aligns,’ the current softest fabric globally.
Huang emphasised that their leggings stand out for being remarkably soft yet supportive, with features like breathability, moisture absorption, 8-way stretch, shape retention, and sculpting capabilities. These fabrics, termed ‘long-chain’ polyamides, exhibit three times the durability and flexibility of traditional nylon, enhancing their unique feel, technology, and functionality.
Regarding the renaming of Butter Butter, Castellani cited a legal challenge from a skate brand named Butter Goods, which led to the rebranding. A cease-and-desist notice prompted the shift, ensuring a clear distinction from the Perth-based skate brand.
With the launch of the Genesis collection, Locionne is gearing up for extensive global expansion, targeting the United Kingdom and the United States, with plans for owned retail outlets. Castellani and Huang stressed the significance of tactility in driving sales, outlining their roadmap, which includes stocking in UK retailers and collaborative pop-ups in key cities such as Toronto, Los Angeles, and New York City.
