I've sold apparel online for years. I know supply chains, I know factories, I know how brands cut corners to hit margin targets.
When I started researching activewear manufacturing, I expected the usual: cheap labor, sustainability greenwashing, maybe some sketchy dye practices.
What I found was different.
The performance fabrics dominating activewear (polyester, nylon, spandex blends) are systematically contaminated with endocrine disruptors. Not trace amounts. Levels 40x above California's legal safety threshold.
BPA in polyester fibers. PFAS in waterproof coatings. Phthalates as plasticizers. All leaching during the exact conditions activewear is designed for: heat, sweat, friction.
And the data isn't hidden. It's published. Peer-reviewed. Sitting in toxicology journals and independent lab reports. Nobody in the industry talks about it.
Then I started connecting the data to the reality of modern wellness. Women are battling unexplained hormonal imbalances, despite doing everything right: organic food, clean skincare, filtered water. The wellness consumer optimized every input except the one pressed against her skin during the moments her body is most vulnerable: exercise. That's the blind spot I'm fixing.
I don't have a personal fertility story. I'm not trying to build a wellness empire. I'm just applying what I know (supply chains, material science, go-to-market strategy) to a problem that shouldn't exist.
The industry says performance requires plastic. I think that's lazy engineering hiding behind decades of R&D inertia.
We're building the legging that proves clean, bio-based materials can perform. And if the data supports it, we'll scale it.
Tom, Founder PUR