Amas Abdi Sharifi & Sam Weidema

Start-up

Amas Abdi Sharifi and Sam Weidema are Students at Saxion University of applied sciences and during their minor course of sustainable beauty they have been working with innovative textile products and production processes.

What was the purpose of the project you developed your product in?

During this project we have worked on several different aspects such as conceptualizing, prototyping, and branding. All with sustainability as a key guideline. Additionally, our goal was to create a product that not only met the needs of our target market but also minimized its environmental impact throughout its lifecycle.

How did you come up with the idea of your product?

At first we focused on our mutual interest which was the sports industry, there were not enough healthy and sustainable options for athletes for energizing and recovering after workout. After conducting enough research we realized compression has a proven positive affect on blood circulation of athletes and resulting in us developing a compression sleeve with unique feature. We exist to create a long lasting healthy life for the athlete and our planet by providing sustainably sourced products and services which assist the athlete to fuel their healthy lifestyle without harming the body.

What is the unique features of your compression sleeve and what makes it stand out in the market?

We developed a compression sleeve for athletes on the circular knitting machine. This is a double layered sleeve, which has a pocket in the side seam. A patch can be fitted in between layers and comes in contact with the skin because of the open net structure on the inside layer. The bio degradable patch contains vitamins, minerals, and nutrients which are extracted to the skin of the athlete. The compression together with the patch helps the athlete to optimize their trainings. We exist to provide responsible products, innovative technologies, and build educational communities that motivate and fuel a healthy lifestyle and planet.

Who is your target audience and how do you plan to reach them?

For athletes and people who like to take supplements, stimulants and accessories before work out and are not satisfied with existing pre work-out products in the market we offer a product which is not harmful to the body and the environment to be an efficient substitute for the existing products.

For the start we plan to approach these target group by cooperating with gyms and local sports clubs to be able to get long term subscriptions and have a sufficient customer service with them and expand from there to more commercial market.

How can your product contribute to a healthier environment?

We have developed a double layered sleeve on circular knitting machine we have chosen this technique because of its possibility to produce products without waste and in one go, with our desired design both in looks and functionality. To add to this the material we use is eco-nylon which is derived from waste products mainly fish nets from the ocean waste, this also benefits the user experience by its sweat and moister regulation and its stretchable property. Also disposable patches contribute to the environment by its sustainable production process and it’s after life cycle disposal since it is made from food-base materials.

Can you elaborate more on the Knitting technology and how it helped you during your prototyping phase?

The circular knitting machine is working with a computerized designing software which can give specific motion to the needles according to the function necessary in the final product. It can be bringing in certain color, and patterns or material into the product when necessary. It has fast production speed and we can achieve zero waist production with using the right machine for our product. Also we could implement our logo into final product and eliminating another production process, printing for example, which also contributes to sustainability.

Do you think knitting may contribute to more sustainable solutions in the Textile Industry?

With help of the knitting as mentioned, you can use variety of material and design which you can tailor into your product according to your final desired functions. Also you can come up with different applications › and combine it with other technologies. In future it is possible for brands to get use of this technology to start on demand clothing to minimize their waste, consumption and emissions.

Did you get help from any other innovative technologies?

For developing the bio-based patches and also a sustainable packaging using PLA we have used 3D printing machines which are provided in the Fablab Saxion. Also for developing patterns we got use of digital 3D designing software to speed up our prototyping process and minimizing waste.

Who helped you in this process?

During the process for learning how to use the circular knitting machine we used help of experts from research group of Saxion (Lectoraat), and also throughout the process we got guidance of the teachers regarding the project. Experts who guided us through the process were Jan-Chris Hullegie, Evelyn Lebis and Sven Kamphuis.

How do you plan to scale your business in the future?

After finishing legal work with running the the start-up ,we should get to a Network of partners ,which are sport facilities and athletes that can buy the product, subscribe and hand in their old products and packaging and receive new product, additionally the used packaging can go for preparation to be reused or recycled. Our next goal would then be building up a community which will be educational and motivational for athletes.

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