Checkerspot’s outdoor brand debuts apparel with miDori® bioWick WA textile application powered by microalgae

WNDR^® Alpine – the outdoor brand launched by the biotechnology company Checkerspot – is releasing the Phase Series, a high performance, low impact activewear line powered by ingredients derived from microalgae.

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The Phase Series: Built for your daily cadence of exertion and recovery (Photo: Kevin Kinghorn)

The Phase Series builds upon WNDR Alpine’s successes creating award-winning backcountry skis and snowboards equipped with microalgae-derived high performance materials.

The team has taken the microalgae oil used in WNDR Alpine skis’ and boards’ AlgalTech^® construction and worked with the Swiss green chemistry innovator Beyond Surface Technologies to create miDori® bioWick WA, a 100% petroleum-free textile finish, formulated with microalgae oil and designed to move moisture away from an athlete’s skin to accelerate evaporation for better comfort. miDori® bioWick WA offers a 80% lower carbon footprint than a traditional wicking finish, while retaining competitive performance.

Ski industry veteran and WNDR Alpine’s GM and Founder, Matt Sterbenz emphasized the importance of extending the brand’s range of microalgae-empowered outdoor products. “I think of the Phase Series as an important part of our progression to bring biobased innovation to life through products that benefit the mountain athlete. The collection's name is a tribute to the many different environments, situations, and phases of the day in which we envisioned the use of this apparel in our core community."

In addition to the use of miDori® bioWick WA, each of the five pieces in the Phase Series is constructed from a variety of recycled and biobased materials designed for performance and comfort, including recycled nylon, recycled elastane, and Tencel derived from eucalyptus.

“Expanding the reach and impact of microalgae-derived materials is critical to us, so we designed the Phase Series for exertion, recovery, and everything in between,” said Romy Koles, WNDR Alpine’s Soft Goods Manager and outdoor industry textile development veteran. “The Phase Series is packed with hidden features that embody both performance and minimalism, to create a package that’s equally comfortable for biking, hiking, urban wear, and anything our community might be up to in between alpine activities. To further support our mission of environmentally responsible performance, we’re utilizing a US-based production house and fulfilling directly to our community via carbon neutral shipping from our Design Lab in Salt Lake City.”

By launching the Phase Series, WNDR Alpine intends to increase awareness of high-performance biobased textile solutions like miDori® bioWick WA, which is available today to apparel designers worldwide via Beyond Surface Technologies.

“It is the full package that sets it apart and makes it an industry first,” said Matthias Foessel, CEO of Beyond Surface Technologies. “This is a plug-and-play solution that enables mass volume adoption to empower the entire apparel industry players to lower their carbon footprint and meet environmental impact targets.”

WNDR Alpine’s Phase Series is available today from www.wndr-alpine.com.

About Checkerspot

Checkerspot, Inc. (Alameda, CA & Salt Lake City, UT) designs materials and ingredients at a molecular level to enable more sustainable and high-performing products. By optimizing microalgae, Checkerspot’s vertically integrated WING™ Platform biomanufactures unique oils that are designed to not only replace commodity oils and petroleum-based inputs, but also improve performance properties in targeted hardgoods, textiles, and personal care products. The award-winning company commercializes performance composites and engineers them into skis and snowboards, which are sold through its outdoor recreation brand WNDR® Alpine, and makes these new materials directly available to designers and hobbyists through the Pollinator™ Kit. Checkerspot also provides algal oil for formulation into miDori® bioWick, a 100% petroleum free wicking textile finish sold by Beyond Surface Technologies. Checkerspot continues to develop new biotech innovations and expand the reach of its commercialized next-generation polyurethanes and algae-derived materials to improve the performance and sustainability of consumer products. For more information, visit www.wndr-alpine.com and www.checkerspot.com.

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