Textile investigation
Exploring the tension between waterproofing and dye, from toxic coatings to Ventile cotton. A look at textile innovation and how Mongrel Logic approaches sustainable streetwear materials.
Olive and water - the design problem in one image
Not the sleuth, cat burglar kind of investigating. The kind where you realise you have been staring into a screen and not blinked for fifteen minutes. It’s also the term you land on when you were trying to think of something Inspector Gadget related and can only recall the rude versions.
Keeping you dry
Isn’t just challenging, it’s often toxic. Waterproofing is an active area of innovation and because of this, many brands that are in the business of keeping you dry have their own R&D, working on new materials, new methods. This is where textile innovation, waterproof fabrics, and sustainable streetwear start to collide.
Oil and water
I’m looking at this from the perspective of dye and print, and how textiles behave in real garments. Finding something that holds dye, specifically when it comes to translating artwork to garment, that is also waterproof, is a bit like oil and water.
Enter the Manchester textile industry
I know, I know, cotton. Honestly, I keep coming back to it, regardless of where I go. Ventile was developed by the Shirley Institute in Manchester, England. A dense, weatherproof cotton fabric that works without synthetic coatings. It’s a long story involving the need for a new type of flight suit for the RAF. But it resulted in PFAS free weatherproof material.
Materially aligned
I could list many more examples of innovative design like Colorifix, using engineered micro-organisms that create dyes, replacing what has traditionally been a heavy chemical process. It’s fascinating, and it’s all feeding into the development of the designer range. Even if it makes ‘the’ list of what not to use. It’s already fed into our core range, and why we chose GOTS certified organic cotton. And it’s why we print the way we do.
Go-Go…textile innovation
I know I’m not making flight suits. Designing something that lasts, without relying on harmful materials or processes, is crucial. If you’re going to make it, how does it break down, how does it return, that is where this list becomes, shorter. For now.
Built through circular systems.
Shop the Core range.
Designing for Endurance.
Endurance isn’t a look. It’s a commitment. Designing for endurance means building under real constraints, material, human, economic and refusing to pass the cost on to someone else.
Timeless used to be a look that stood the test of time. A quality piece that survived seasons because it outlived its moment. That definition no longer holds.
The quality no longer holds, and the silhouette has gone from timeless to time stamped.
Endurance is practical, not poetic.
Founder working at desk
Designing for endurance begins when you accept reality as the client. Use, time, money, labour and consequence. It shows up in stitching that doesn’t come undone, zips that don’t fail. And it extends beyond the object to the grower, picker, maker; if you’re forced to undercut yourself to remain viable, that fragility is built into the product from the start. Calling something sustainable doesn’t correct that. Paying properly does.
Endurance forces business change.
Most design avoids endurance because it forces long term thinking and costs short term gains. Designing for endurance means not offloading these questions onto the customer. It means building systems through aftercare, design and partnership, where responsibility remains with the maker. Where products can be returned, reused, recycled or passed on without becoming someone else’s problem. Where a product can become an heirloom rather than landfill. This way of working doesn’t fit neatly into traditional business expectations. It doesn't align well (yet) with shareholder pressure or growth that depends on constant replacement. That friction isn’t accidental, it’s the point.
Endurance changes the customer relationship.
Not through constant novelty, but through trust. Inviting return not just to buy but to see what has been built next. Through meaning, innovation, and designs that aren’t shaped by hype but instead carry weight, story, ethos and credibility. Ultimately, it’s about responsibility. About refusing artificial exclusivity. And not treating the customer like a cash cow or dishonouring their custom.
Endurance is non-negotiable.
Designing for endurance is not a claim of purity or perfection. It’s a commitment to build under real constraints, economic, material, human and to redefine those choices and the consequences. Redesigning them so there is meaning and reward instead. Selling products that aren’t a lie. That thinking is already being tested in what we’re building now, under real constraints.