The darling of eco-sportswear Pangaia has redefined fashion, yet its recent losses prompt a pressing question: can ethical coolness stay profitable?
The rise and challenges of brands like Pangaia highlight a crucial question: how can we make activewear—and, by extension, sports—truly sustainable? As the industry grapples with balancing environmental responsibility and financial viability, Pangaia’s journey provides insight into both the promise and hurdles of innovation-driven sustainability. Their efforts to redefine materials and practices underscore the urgent need for scalable solutions while also revealing the complexities of turning ideals into lasting impact.
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Can Ethical Coolness Stay Profitable? Pangaia’s Balancing Act
Pangaia, the eco-sportswear brand celebrated as a game-changer in sustainable fashion, faces a crossroads. Founded in 2019 by a group of influential industry insiders—including influencer-turned-venture capitalist Miroslava Duma and alumni of her sustainable materials incubator Future Tech Lab—the brand promised to be much more than a loungewear label. While its brightly coloured tracksuits drove early growth, the company’s ultimate ambition was to establish itself as an eco-innovation hub, selling patented and trademarked textiles and technologies to other fashion brands.
With an investors list including funds backed by Will Smith and Leonardo DiCaprio, Pangaia captured attention with its mission to merge cutting-edge materials science and stylish design. The brand achieved $76 million in sales and profitability in its debut year, buoyed by pandemic-fuelled demand for comfortable clothing.
But the boom proved difficult to maintain. By 2022, sales had plummeted by 42% to $37.1 million, and net losses soared to $50.4 million. Heavy investments in research, workforce expansion, and infrastructure over the years took a toll on the company’s finances, even as its broader ambitions to become a materials innovation powerhouse remained largely unfulfilled.
Recent restructuring efforts, including workforce reductions and operational streamlining, have shown early signs of stabilisation. Pangaia’s direct-to-consumer business returned to profitability in late 2022, and the company is optimistic about its future. Yet, its ambitious B2B plans, aimed at marketing eco-friendly materials to other fashion brands, still account for only a fraction of its revenues.
In a challenging economic climate, where both investors and clients are tightening their budgets, Pangaia’s outlook is uncertain—despite market trends and evolving regulations are increasingly calling for a stronger focus on responsible fashion.
The main question facing the brand is clear: Can Pangaia’s commitment to sustainability and style align with the financial pressures that come with scaling innovation? If the brand succeeds in this endeavour, it could set a new standard for the fashion industry. However, if it fails, it may become yet another startup whose ideals clash with economic realities.
Beyond these financial hurdles, Pangaia’s ascent has marked a critical turning point in the merging of fashion and environmental awareness. The brand’s breakthroughs in materials science are setting new benchmarks for sustainable sportswear. By incorporating advanced, eco-friendly technologies, the brand is redefining the potential of performance fabrics and providing a vision for the future of truly responsible activewear.
A Quest Against Environmentally Uncool Fibres
For a long time, sustainable fashion largely overlooked sportswear, which was more a practical oversight than a conscious blind spot. Since the late 1920s, when nylon was invented, synthetic fibres have dominated the sportswear and athleisure industries. Over the years, thermoplastic polymers have become the primary materials used, even infiltrating even natural fibres like cotton or wool.
Until about a decade ago, there were hardly any sustainable alternatives in athleisure. Items such as leggings, sports bras, and yoga pants were overwhelmingly made from synthetic fibres derived from fossil fuels or, at best, upcycled plastics. (A reminder: both types of materials take millions of years to break down and contribute to the proliferation of microplastics.)
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However, something changed with Pangaia—a leading sustainable athleisure brand founded in 2019 as a materials science company with operations in both London and New York. Pangaia quickly became a sensation, recognised for its innovative, problem-solving approach to sustainability, underpinned by cutting-edge technologies and bolstered by an A-list roster of celebrity supporters, including Jennifer Lopez, Tracee Ellis Ross, Kourtney Kardashian, Sarah Jessica Parker, Bella Hadid, Justin Bieber, Pharrell Williams, and Jaden Smith.
Pangaia’s “Earth Positive” Approach
At this very moment, vast quantities of polyester and acrylic garments are making their way to pollute the oceans and overcrowd landfills as new collections continuously replace the old.
While a few brands have managed to adopt bio-based fabrics, they often rely on toxic treatments to convert these materials into textiles. The process involves harmful chemical treatments that can be highly hazardous and cause significant environmental damage in the regions where they are produced, undermining the benefits of using naturally sourced materials.
Dr. Amanda J. Parkes, a fashion scientist and the Chief Innovation Officer at Pangaia, was acutely aware of these challenges when she devised a more environmentally conscious solution: growing pigments in a laboratory using bacteria. This bioengineering technique significantly reduces the harmful impact of traditional dyeing processes.
The name “Pangaia” is derived from the Greek words “pan” (everything) and “Gaia” (the name of Mother Earth)
The Most Stylish Plant-Based Activewear Ever
From the outset, Pangaia has been renowned for its minimalist aesthetic and comfortable pieces, available in a range of fresh colours safely dyed with significantly reduced water and energy consumption. Hoodies and track pants have become wardrobe staples, lauded for their relaxed fits and oversized silhouettes.
Pangaia’s garments are designed to be comfortable, durable, and minimal while also being timeless, ensuring they remain a permanent fixture in the wardrobe. When these items eventually reach the end of their first life, they are given a second chance as ReWear items, allowing them to be passed on to new, appreciative owners.
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In addition to organic cotton and recycled materials, Pangaia has developed entirely new plant-based textile fibres. Seaweed fibres, used in their T-shirts, offer exceptional softness and durability. When high-performance bio-based options are not available, Pangaia opts for low-impact, animal-friendly fibres such as recycled nylon for swimwear and recycled wool for fleeced jackets. Many of their textiles are treated with peppermint oil, which gives them natural antibacterial properties.
When Pangaia Introduces the Next Groundbreaking Textile, All Eyes Are on It
Imagine wearing a pair of jeans made from nettle. Don’t worry; they won’t sting, as they are crafted from Pangaia’s PANETTLE™ plant-based fabric derived from Himalayan wild nettle. You might wonder what is wrong with conventional denim. Although it’s made from cotton—a plant-based fibre—it undergoes processing with a slew of chemicals. It also requires enormous amounts of water to transform it into a finished garment, making it far from sustainable.
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Puffer jackets are filled with revolutionary plant-based materials like FLWRDWN™ and FLWRFILL™, which combine wildflowers and biopolymers to provide warmth and lightweight insulation, replacing both goose feathers and fossil fuel-derived wadding. T-shirts are made from FRUTFIBER™, a fabric derived from vegetable by-products of the food industry, such as bamboo, banana, and pineapple leaf fibres, offering the same soft touch as cotton.
C-FIBER™, which is produced from eucalyptus pulp and seaweed powder, is not only more sustainable than cotton but also has a similar feel. Instead of sourcing wool from questionable origins, Pangaia uses NATIVARegen™ wool, harvested from sheep raised in harmony with nature.
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Explaining Over Excusing
Pangaia operates with a zero-tolerance policy for non-sustainable practices, yet it also takes the time to educate its customers, making compelling arguments against the use of conventional materials.
Above all, Pangaia seeks to explain its processes to persuade both consumers and millions of athleisure wear enthusiasts why it is urgently necessary to shift away from “old-school” materials.
Take, for example, Vegea, an alternative to animal leather derived from grape waste. When it was first introduced, the brand highlighted that plastic-based faux leather—often touted as a substitute—actually comes with its own set of problems. While polyurethane is considered less harmful than polyvinyl chloride (PVC), it still raises significant environmental concerns. Additionally, while the use of animal leather is not an option, Pangaia has demonstrated a keen awareness of the issues surrounding “vegan” alternatives as well.
This educational approach is what sets Pangaia apart as a solid, reliable brand, as it strives to engage a rapidly expanding niche market driven by growing consumer awareness of environmental and social impacts, as highlighted in research on the Sustainable Clothing Market.
Pangaia pushes the boundaries of sustainable fashion, constantly exploring new materials, technologies, and production methods to minimise its environmental impact. By leading the way, the brand has set an ambitious benchmark for other responsible sportswear labels to follow.
Overproduction: Bad. Drops: Good.
Pangaia’s marketing strategies deliver a strong message against overproduction and excessive consumerism. The brand’s collaborations and limited-edition drops not only solidify its high reputation but also underscore its commitment to ethical practices.
Collections like the Reclaim capsule—one of the brand’s most sought-after lines—align with Pangaia’s mission to expand activewear into a more relaxed, lifestyle-oriented approach. Pangaia has also partnered with notable names such as Victor Victor, Es Devlin, and artist Haroshi, which helped bring the brand into the spotlight.
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Through partnerships with eco-activist Nadya Hutagalung and Jaden Smith’s water company, Pangaia launched exclusive capsules to raise awareness of environmental issues, positioning itself as an active participant in the solution.
Sustainable Fashion Through Material Innovation and Environmental Action
Pangaia Lab is constantly researching and developing new solutions to stay ahead of the curve.
In 2023 alone, the brand unveiled four remarkable products that are helping to build its reputation: the Renu Jacket, crafted from recycled clothing transformed into new fibres; the Rewild Body Block soap, a collaboration between C16 Biosciences and Haeckels; the Absolute Sneaker, a 3D-printed, minimal-waste sneaker created by Zellerfeld; and the Air Gilet, a 100% biobased garment that mimics the appearance of soft calfskin.
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Pangaia’s strategy is grounded in a precise problem-solving mindset, focused on minimising the negative impact of garment production at every stage—from sourcing materials to considering the lifespan and afterlife of each garment.
While innovative plant-based fibres often receive the most attention, they represent only a small part of the broader discussion about the current and future landscape of sustainable athleisure and slow fashion.
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However, Pangaia’s commitment extends far beyond its innovative products. The brand is actively engaged in environmental initiatives, including reforestation projects and ocean clean-ups. Additionally, it offsets its carbon footprint by investing in renewable energy.
Resonating with a Community of Eco-Warriors
Pangaia aims to attract a growing global community of advocates who demand more sustainable and conscious fashion. In response to this demand, the brand offers stylish, comfortable, and environmentally responsible athleisure items that we can truly trust.
As the fashion industry wrestles with its environmental impact and the shame that often comes with it, Pangaia stands with a clear conscience, serving as a shining example of virtuous practices. It creates clothing that not only feels good to wear but is also good for the planet.