From Seaweed to T-Shirt, Made in America

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

If you believe that every good wardrobe starts with owning less and owning better, consider buying yourself an OLIVER CHARLES sweater.