FIT start-up Werewool among winners of Microfiber Innovation Challenge

The Conservation x Labs Microfiber Innovation Challenge has announced a biotech start-up formed at the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) called Werewool was one of five winners among 19 countries that won the competition.

The challenge was to seek a solution to the pollution caused by microplastics. The biotech company was awarded a share of a 525,000 thousand dollars prize pool. In addition, the group is eligible to receive another 25 thousand dollars in funding. The Challenge was funded by the Flotilla Foundation and The Arthur Vining Davis Foundations.

The company uses the tools of biotechnology to design biodegradable and nontoxic fibers with performance properties like colour and stretch built-in to create long-lasting garments. Seven industry experts selected the winner based on the team’s environmental impact, feasibility, growth potential and the novelty of their approach. With the funding, Werewool aims to bring its fiber to the market and produce enough fiber to use a circular knitting machine within two years.

Werewool was formed at the FIT in 2018 as a student project that entered the Biodesign Challenge, a global undergraduate biotechnology competition. It was co-founded by Chui-Lian Lee, Valentina Gomez and Theanne Schiros.

Schiros, Werewool’s chief science officer, said in a statement: “Nature did a lot of research and development for us. This new fiber innovation space breaks down the barriers between fields.”

Lee, co-founder, and CEO, added: “Werewool envisions biodegradable yoga pants and rain jackets, colour without dyes, and performance without plastics. Support from the Microfiber Innovation Challenge is a game-changing boost that accelerates our realisation of following nature's blueprints for a new class of performance textiles,” according to the Microfiber Innovation Challenge.