From Seaweed to T-Shirt, Made in America

How regeneratively farmed Icelandic seaweed becomes a USA-made T-shirt.

June 18, 2026
By Oliver Charles

A SeaCell T-shirt starts as seaweed farmed in Icelandic fjords and ends as a garment knitted in Los Angeles and sewn in New Jersey. The beds are harvested once every four years, cutting only the tops of the plants. The shirt ships in a compostable seaweed-based bag, so there is no petroleum in it.

When we started Oliver Charles, we knew we wanted to make our clothes in the United States.

At the beginning, our goals were straightforward. We knew that if we made clothes in the U.S., they would be unquestionably of high quality, sustainable, and produced by skilled workers who are paid a fair wage.

We also didn’t know anything about making clothes, so we figured it would be easier to start at home.

We could not have been more wrong about the latter. As our journey progressed, we quickly learned that it’s actually quite challenging to produce clothing in the U.S.

Nevertheless, we kept at it, overcame challenges, and made it work. All the while, our admiration for American-made clothing grew and grew.

So when it came time to make T-shirts, we knew we had to do it in the U.S.

Two years later, we’ve finally managed to launch our first line of USA-made SeaCell T-shirts.

A woman seated in a garden wearing the cornflower blue SeaCell scoop neck T-shirt

A man leaning against a brick wall in the black SeaCell crew neck T-shirt

SeaCell Starts As Seaweed Farmed In Iceland

In the cool glacial waters of Icelandic fjords, we regeneratively farm seaweed. Our partners harvest these beds once every four years, cutting only the very tops of the plants. No nets, no disruption. Just enough to harvest, and nothing more, so the beds regenerate naturally on their own.

That seaweed gets turned into a fine yarn called SeaCell. The fibers are unbelievably soft, breathable, and gentle on sensitive skin.

Plus, it’s really fun to talk about. Seaweed is one of the most sustainable crops to grow for clothing. Seaweed doesn’t need arable land, doesn’t require fresh water, pesticides, and it grows abundantly. These are some of the many reasons we built our Summer T-shirts around SeaCell.

Two people seated at an outdoor table, both wearing Oliver Charles SeaCell T-shirts made in the USA

Why SeaCell Is Unlike Any T-Shirt You’ve Worn

Most clothing is made from plastic synthetic materials like polyester. Which means most T-shirts are made from plastic.

Polyester traps heat against your skin, stays clammy when you sweat, and sheds thousands of microscopic plastic fibers into the ocean every time you wash it. Most people have never thought of their T-shirt as a plastic problem. Once you know, you can’t unknow it.

SeaCell is the opposite of that. It starts as seaweed growing in the North Atlantic, and it breathes the way you’d expect something from the ocean to breathe. Lightweight, airy, and soft against skin in a way that synthetic fabric never quite manages. On a hot day, you feel the difference immediately.

And when you’re done with it, it goes back to the earth. No microplastics. No petroleum. Nothing left behind.

How a polyester T-shirt and a SeaCell T-shirt differ
	Polyester	SeaCell
Made From	Plastic, a synthetic material	Seaweed grown in the North Atlantic
In The Heat	Traps heat against your skin	Breathes, light and airy
When You Sweat	Stays clammy	Stays soft against skin
In The Wash	Sheds thousands of microscopic plastic fibers	Sheds no microplastics
At End Of Life	Petroleum based, nothing breaks down	Goes back to the earth

The short version of the table above: the difference is not a detail of finish, it is what the shirt is made of. One begins as petroleum and leaves microplastics behind. The other begins as seaweed and returns to the earth.

The environmental certifications held by the mill that knits Oliver Charles SeaCell fabric in Los Angeles

Making It In The USA

The yarn arrives at a circular knitting mill in Los Angeles. They’ve spent over 35 years manufacturing fabric for the fashion industry and hold six key environmental certifications. One of the very few mills in the country that takes sustainability as seriously as we do.

Cones of SeaCell yarn feed into the machine, which knits continuously in a spiral to form a seamless tube of fabric. That tube gets washed, dyed, heat-set, and softened before being cut into flat sheets. The process is precise. Small inconsistencies in tension produce defects you’ll feel the first time you put the shirt on.

From Los Angeles, the fabric travels to a factory in New Jersey, where skilled workers cut and sew each shirt. Every shirt is washed, inspected, and pressed before it leaves.

An Oliver Charles SeaCell T-shirt packaged in a compostable seaweed-based garment bag made by Sway

A SeaCell tee laid out beside its seaweed mailer, printed with the line that the bag is made with seaweed

SeaCell T-Shirts Shipped In Packaging Made From Seaweed

The completed shirt deserved packaging that matched what was inside it.

So we partnered with Sway, a material innovation company building compostable alternatives to plastic using seaweed. Each finished shirt ships in a special seaweed-based garment bag. From the yarn to the bag it arrives in, there is not a trace of petroleum in this product.

We think that matters.

Wearing a new Oliver Charles SeaCell T-shirt in a garden, the everyday companion the post describes

An Oliver Charles SeaCell T-shirt worn overlooking the water, light enough for a hot day

The Seaweed-Based T-Shirt Is Helping Revive US Manufacturing

If you’ve been following along with our journey, you probably know we’ve been talking about these T-shirts for a very long time. Since we started, we’ve been through four different factories, countless fabric suppliers, and more prototypes than we can count.

The once-robust textile industry in this country has sputtered and, in many cases, been stamped out entirely. Luckily for us, there are a few passionate and dedicated individuals out there who are committed to a revival. We are proud to be working with them.

A man at the helm of a boat in a SeaCell crew neck T-shirt made in the USA

A woman outdoors in a black SeaCell T-shirt, knitted in Los Angeles and cut and sewn in New Jersey

Light, Versatile SeaCell T-Shirts

For most companies, a T-shirt is an afterthought. Just another thing to slap a logo on and sell. For us, it’s a companion we call on daily. It deserves to be more than an afterthought.

After two years of work, from seaweed beds in Iceland to a sewing room in New Jersey, quality and sustainability were our north star. The result is a T-shirt that embodies everything Oliver Charles stands for, from yarn to packaging.

SeaCell T-Shirt FAQ

Where Does The Seaweed In SeaCell Come From?

It is farmed in the cool glacial waters of Icelandic fjords. Our partners harvest each bed once every four years and cut only the very tops of the plants, with no nets and no disruption, so the beds regenerate naturally on their own.

Where Are Oliver Charles T-Shirts Made?

Both stages happen in the United States. The SeaCell yarn is knitted into fabric at a circular knitting mill in Los Angeles that has spent over 35 years making fabric for the fashion industry and holds six environmental certifications. The fabric then travels to a factory in New Jersey, where skilled workers cut and sew each shirt.

Is The Packaging Plastic-Free?

Yes. Each finished shirt ships in a seaweed-based garment bag made by Sway, a material innovation company building compostable alternatives to plastic. From the yarn to the bag it arrives in, there is not a trace of petroleum in this product.

Does A SeaCell T-Shirt Shed Microplastics?

No. Polyester sheds thousands of microscopic plastic fibers into the ocean every time it is washed. SeaCell starts as seaweed growing in the North Atlantic, and at the end of its life it goes back to the earth with no microplastics and no petroleum left behind.

Own less, own better. Start with an Oliver Charles sweater.

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