Active Cotton: a natural fit for endurance sport

Posted by By Gary Roethenbaugh at 11 July, at 06 : 07 AM Print

The widespread use of synthetic fibres within compression wear and across the sports apparel spectrum has placed cotton at the back of the queue in recent years. So, while the natural virtues of merino wool as a base layer may have carved out a role within the endurance apparel industry, cotton has been largely disregarded as a performance material.

One company, based out of Toronto, Canada, is seeking to change this perception of cotton… triathlonbusiness.com caught up with ACSkins’ Creator/Director Regg Miller to talk through the company’s innovative approach to cotton performance apparel, and its plans for the future.

triathlonbusiness TB: Please let us have a brief background to you and your company.
Regg Miller (RM): We are a private company located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. My partner and I have together over 50 years of experience in the garment business. ACSkins was developed specifically as an athletic breakthrough to change the landscape of performance apparel in two directions. The first is to bring core stabilization with ‘The Lock’ compression product to every athlete, and secondly to bring a natural cotton performance product to market.

TB: How did you come up with the ACSkins brand name? It is a little close to a rival compression brand name! Does this pose a challenge?
RM: The umbrella name of the company will be ACSkins. However we are finalising our actual brand name. ACSkins will operate in many areas from athletic gear, to fashion, to underwear, to therapeutic and health care products that are lined up once we break into the market.

TB: Talk us through your fabric and how it differs to others on the market?
RM: Athletic apparel companies have been pushing their synthetics and beating up on cotton for years. Until recently, they had a valid point. However, we have worked hard with new technologies that use cotton’s natural absorbency to pull moisture away from the skin. By rearranging cotton’s natural fibres, we use the fabric’s natural sponge like absorbency so you stay more comfortable and dryer: hence the term ACTIVE COTTON®.

Active Cotton is unique in many ways. Firstly, we didn’t want to compete with synthetics head on, i.e. wicking, so we upped the process. We got cotton to mimic your natural sweat process, i.e. move moisture to the outside of where you are sweating, so the evaporation process can do the rest.

Wicking by definition takes sweat from your skin and spreads it out over the fabric so it can supposedly evaporate quickly. This causes two problems. First, because it spreads through the fabric on both sides, it creates a sticky, plastic, non-breathable feeling and the garment basically seals itself to your body all over. The more sweat, the more moisture is spread out and the more sticky it gets. Secondly, because it is synthetic, it smells, snags and itches.

Active Cotton is a natural fabric and has none of those issues and because it moves moisture from your skin to the outside of the garment only where the sweating occurs, you feel dryer, more comfortable, without the sticky wet feeling.

TB: Why cotton? Why compete with the accepted synthetic fabrics that are out there?
RM: Simple. Why not compete with typical synthetics if we can be better than the status quo. The fact is 97% of all people polled (according to Cotton Inc research) would prefer a moisture control cotton product if it was available. Until we developed Active Cotton, this was not a choice, except for Charged Cotton by Under Armor, which wicks through the cotton making it heavier and so it performs worse than synthetics. We’re happy to put Charged Cotton side by side with Active Cotton and let you make your own conclusions.

TB: Was it a challenge to transfer moisture from the inside to outside of the garment using cotton?
RM: We worked with a textile chemist for three years to get this process completed; and in 2008 we were awarded the top innovator award in Apparel Magazine. Active Cotton is so different that it got its own trademark to set it apart from all other generic cotton or active wear fabrics on the market.

The uniqueness of Active Cotton is that it transfers moisture away from the skin as sweat leaves the body allowing cotton’s natural thermoregulatory traits to shine.

TB: Are you taking ACSkins’ apparel technology to market under your brand or can brand owners licence your fabric? Or indeed is the fabric available for retailer private label?
RM: We are taking the product to market under a brand of our making using Active Cotton as the preferred fabric, (similar to the way that Nike uses Dry Fit). We will not give up the fabric for private label, but will co-brand a product if it fits our goals.

TB: How have you approached the compression category with The Lock product? What sets it apart? You’ve mentioned that the big boys in the compression apparel industry have missed out on an opportunity. Please run through how you identified, tested and patented The Lock.
RM: We identified core stability as an area that athletic garments hadn’t considered. From ballet dancers, to gymnasts, to martial artists, to cross-fit, even weight lifters, the theme has always been to be centred and to be in control of your core.

We quickly realised that the advantage of a stronger, controlled core would improve any and all users in their respective sports. We spent two years coming up with a short that achieved this goal. We’ve seen that existing compression shorts on the market are no more than a degree of spandex that just push everything together. Your hips, your legs, your buttocks all have different musculature and different compression needs.

The Lock addresses these differences and puts the appropriate grade of compression where it is needed to support the core. Also, the differentiation of the support band and underlying crotch piece support the pelvic floor and stabilise you from three dimensions instead of two in typical compression shorts.

This is paramount for any endurance sports, from marathon, triathlon, biking, soccer, tennis, even playing 18 holes of golf, four days in a row. The Lock will help you perform longer, with more power, less fatigue and allow faster recovery. Initially, The Lock was built for marathoners; so any long distance athletes or those that spend a long time training will see The Lock as a vital piece of equipment.

TB: Where are you currently selling The Lock and your ACSkins fabric?
RM: As The Lock took five years to patent, we held back on any major marketing until now. We have sold The Lock at Rock n Roll marathons in the US and both The Lock and Active Cotton at major marathons in Canada.

Throughout North America in major sporting good chains, The Lock is sold by Bauer Hockey, Maverik Lacrosse, and Nutty Buddy for baseball. Active Cotton athletic gear will be launched in August at the North American CanFit show in Toronto, the largest exhibition of its kind for personal trainers and fitness enthusiasts. Some 70,000 visitors will file through this exhibition. ACSkins will also be the sponsor clothing for the XFit GNC Challenge over the two day event. All 110 competing athletes will be wearing Active Cotton.

TB: In the endurance sport arena, where do you see the biggest opportunities for revenue, and for category growth?
RM: The Lock and the female oriented Lady Lock will cover all sports where a competitive advantage is the goal. From general fitness, to the highly competitive athlete, The Lock will define performance going forward. Typically once an athlete trains and competes in The Lock, he or she will never go back to what they used to wear. Everything else just feels loose in the core after The Lock experience.

In the world of endurance sport, from triathlon to long distance running, cycling, etc., consumers are already embracing the virtues of Active Cotton for moisture management and The Lock for core compression and stability. We see this as a real opportunity for growth.

Meanwhile, in the gym and in cross-fit competitions, we have had many testimonials on a daily basis that support ACSkins’ products.

Jason Cain, 2011 Canadian Cross-fit Champion, recently undertook a wear test of The Lock and ACSkins’ Active Cotton technology. Cain said, “As a long time competitive athlete, exposed to all the top brands, this has truly been a revelation. After this short time, I now view ACSkins products as equipment rather than garments. The Lock’s support and core compression provides me with the stability I require across a broad range of functional movements. The Active Cotton clothing finally brings the comfort of cotton with the performance factor necessary for elite athletics.

“My only issue has been, I end up washing those few pieces over and over, which usually hurts the performance of a synthetic, but to my surprise, Active Cotton seems to perform better after laundering. Simply put, after discovering ACSkins I simply can’t go back to synthetics. Huge kudos to ACSkins for producing products that actually exceed their promises and meet all of my demands.”

TB: What countries do you see as particularly attractive?
RM: Obviously North America, but Europe, the UK and Australia are right there as well.

TB: What are consumers saying to you so far?
RM: I can refer to Jason Cain’s observations above as typical, but we have literally hundreds of testimonials about The Lock and Active Cotton products. These come from professional athletes to the equally important views of the grass roots age grouper.

For example, one such age grouper, Janice Solomon, a marathoner/Ironman competitor, is a Creative Director at Fox 40 International. She said: “I have wear-tested your Active Cotton shirt in place of my usual synthetics while playing racquetball, running and biking (spinning). It’s breathable and nice and light, unlike traditional cotton shirts that get hot or heavy. The AC Skins shirt disperses sweat like my synthetics, but unlike them keeps me dry because the moisture seems to be pulled away from my skin. The venting is really good. And because its cotton, there is no static feeling and no burn or chill, just a very light and comfortable wear! Now that’s what I call performance!”

RM: We spend a lot of time talking to active consumers and getting their feedback. Whether it’s a fitness enthusiast or an elite athlete, it’s important to get candid views and opinions. We are delighted that the feedback about Active Cotton continues to be so positive!

TB: What does the future hold for ACSkins?
RM: A broad base selection of high end and truly functional athletic, yoga and other lines. Once worn by the general public, this will dismiss once and for all the notion that cotton cannot perform at the highest level. Through The Lock, we shall also educate that to be your best, your core needs to be stable.

In fact, not wishing to be too provocative, we feel that within 2-3 years, we will have put a major dent in the synthetic machinery of all other major brands who are hell-bent on selling inferior performing synthetic garments that may look good, but do not live up to the over marketing of their brands to the generally brainwashed public!

www.acskins.com

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