In this interview with Supertrends, Jorge discusses the pioneering integration of graphene and other advanced materials into fashion products at Graphene-X, highlighting innovations that enhance sustainability and redefine fabric technology in fashion.

Supertrends: Welcome everyone to the Supertrends interviews. Today, my guest is Jorge Barros. He has extensive experience in commerce, marketing, and business development. But most importantly in the context of today's interview, he's the founder and CEO of Graphene-X. Hello, Jorge.

Jorge Barros: Hello. Thanks for having me here.

Supertrends: Maybe we could start with you explaining in a nutshell what you do at Graphene-X.

JB: Absolutely. Making a long story short, we at Graphene-X are a tech-driven clothing and gear brand that focuses on the use of advanced materials to engineer high-performance, sustainable, and multi-purpose products. That's what we have been doing since the company launched in 2019. Graphene has been the main advanced material we've used so far, and this year, 2024, marks the year where we expand our scope to a whole range of other advanced materials meant to help us fulfill our vision.

Supertrends: Let's focus for a moment on graphene. It's central to your product so far. What makes graphene such an interesting or revolutionary material for clothing?

JB: For those that haven't heard of graphene before, it was somehow rediscovered in the UK at the University of Manchester in 2004. The scientists who made this discovery were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2010. Graphene is the only material linked to a Nobel Prize, which is quite significant. Graphene has amazing properties; it's almost like taking material out of a Marvel movie and bringing it to real life. It has incredible tensile strength, flexibility, and conductivity, and is hydrophobic and antibacterial, among other properties. When you consider these properties—strength, flexibility, thermal management, and antibacterial—it becomes clear how integrating such a material into clothing can offer tremendous benefits. That’s why we decided to start our company with graphene and see where it would take us.

Supertrends: Thinking about all these properties of graphene, if you had to name three of the most unique features that your clothing has thanks to graphene, what would those features be?

JB: It's important to distinguish between our clothing and graphene itself. If I had to talk first about graphene, I would say its thermal management properties, tensile strength —which translates into abrasion resistance and antibacterial properties are the biggest assets. Now, if we're talking about our clothing at Graphene-X, graphene is part of the first big feature, which is the use of advanced materials to develop fabric technology. Secondly, we focus on minimal aesthetics, which helps in giving our clothing a multi-purpose angle. The third point is functionality. We always think outside the box and ask ourselves what if this shirt, these pants, or this jacket could do more than what we initially think a jacket can do? These are the three big features on our side.

Supertrends: What were the challenges you faced integrating graphene?

JB: There are several challenges. The challenges we faced six years ago when we started were completely different from those we face today. Initially, the biggest challenge was finding someone who believed in our vision to integrate graphene into polyester, nylon, et cetera. This hadn’t been done before, so conveying this vision without being one of the big companies was difficult. Secondly, we had to find a proper graphene producer. Many companies claim to use graphene but are actually using graphite. For those unfamiliar, graphene is the first atomic layer of graphite, and, in consensus, it can still be called graphene if it has nine or fewer layers. Over that, it's considered graphite.

As we don't produce graphene ourselves, we first became part of the Graphene Council, the largest consortium of graphene-related companies. We source 100% of our graphene from companies certified by the Graphene Council as proper producers. Our third, and probably biggest, challenge today is reaching MOQs (Minimum Order Quantities) for the production of fabrics with specific properties. We aren't just buying polyester or cotton; we are developing graphene-integrated polyester and nylon. Every new product requires us to convince fabric producers to be generous with their MOQs. As a niche company, this remains our biggest operational challenge today.

Supertrends: Now a question related to your company’s development. I noticed that crowdsourcing played a role at some point. Could you please provide more details on how crowdsourcing was involved?

JB: Crowdsourcing is a crucial part of the DNA of the company. When we had the vision of empowering clothing with advanced materials starting with graphene, and chose a jacket as our first product, we reached a point where we had a working prototype but no market. I used to work in a completely different industry, and retail wasn't our obvious place to go. So, we decided to go to Kickstarter. Kickstarter is described as a crowdfunding platform, but I think pre-orders platform is a better way to describe it. You create a campaign for your idea, like a graphene-integrated jacket, and see if there is enough market interest to bring that product to life. If you reach your funding goal, which covers the production costs, you get the money from your backers (pre-buyers), produce the product, and deliver it to them.

This was essential for Graphene-X. Our first campaign raised close to half a million dollars in 30 days, and we had to deliver jackets to over 2,000 backers in 80 countries. We incorporated this into our business model because there are four big benefits to Kickstarter. First, you don't need external financing. We are a cash flow-positive company and have never taken money from banks or investors. Second, you build a strong relationship with your niche audience. It's better to have 100 people who love what you do than a thousand who are just OK with it. Kickstarter allows for direct communication and feedback. Third, you expose your product to many new eyes; Kickstarter has 28 million visitors per month. Finally, you can produce exactly what you need based on pre-orders, minimizing waste. So it is a win-win-win scenario.

Currently, we are running our ninth Kickstarter campaign for jeans and a puffer jacket integrated with graphene and aerogel.

Supertrends: That sounds amazing because, like you said, from the very beginning, you know if people are interested. If they are, it's very rewarding to see your idea is well received.

JB: Absolutely. Sometimes you have an idea, and it's super important to test the market. At the end of the day, the market decides if your idea is great or not. Innovation without adoption equals zero. Kickstarter helps you test the market before you make a big production run.

Supertrends: Exactly. And this is like a real market response. You go directly to your customers. Talking about customers, who is your target customer based on those who have bought your products and helped build your company?

JB: The Graphene-X customer is an active person, mainly men, so far. I would say 90% of our clients are men, and our offerings have been mostly aimed at them because it's what we understand. These are normally very active people, tech-oriented, with a passion for innovation. Most of our clients are involved in modern industries, and I believe that's what brings them to us. When people think of technology, they usually think of iPhones, blockchain, virtual reality, or space rockets, not fabric technology. But today, we can empower our clothing with futuristic technology to improve performance in our daily lives. Our customers appreciate that.

Supertrends: We can say that you bring advanced technology to regular people.

JB: Exactly, and to our daily lives. We wear socks and shirts, and we play sports every day. We are empowering those daily lives, which is amazing.

Supertrends: Considering your target customers, like hikers and adventurers, what other applications could your clothing have given its features?

JB: There are almost infinite benefits to integrating advanced materials into clothing. You get better performance, more sustainable clothing, and more multi-purpose clothing. These are the three pillars of Graphene-X. Our goal is to improve our users' daily lives. For example, the polo shirt I'm wearing today is something I wear to meetings and for sports because it performs well in terms of moisture-wicking and odor-neutralizing. However, where we are headed is a future where our products not only help you perform better and are more sustainable but also contribute to your health. We say, 'You are what you eat.' I think we will be able to say, 'You are what you wear.' Imagine a shirt that's good for your skin and improves your skin microbiome. I'm confident that's where we're going in our industry.

Supertrends: Talking about the future, you mentioned at the beginning that you plan to implement other advanced materials into clothing. Could you give me examples of what these materials would be and why you would like to implement these specific ones?

JB: We are already running our current Kickstarter campaign. It includes not only graphene but also aerogel. Aerogel is well known for its insulation capabilities. This is the same material NASA uses to protect the Mars rover from temperature changes on Mars. We're using it in our jackets and jeans, which is pretty amazing. Later this year, we'll be working with boron nitride.

Boron nitride is sometimes called 'white graphene' because it has a very similar chemical structure. Its properties are slightly different, one being its lubrication capabilities. So whatever you use, if it's in contact with your skin, it'll help make it feel smooth. It also has amazing thermal management capacities. That's another product we're working with. There's another one, which I can't disclose yet, but it's closely linked to what I mentioned earlier about the health benefits. This is all happening this year, so we're moving quite fast. I honestly have no idea where we'll be or what conversations we'll be having five years from now.

Supertrends: Exciting! Coming back again to sustainability, you already mentioned that your business model is aligned with sustainable solutions because you work with pre-orders, right? So, you don't produce something that won't be used. But do you think that advanced materials, in general, can contribute to sustainability? And how could they do this? For example, maybe they make clothing more resistant?

JB: Exactly. As a company, the first step we took in this direction was becoming part of the Climate Neutral Project, now renamed to Change Climate Project. We've been certified with them since the production of our very first jacket. Being climate neutral, offsetting all our carbon footprint: We believe this is the bare minimum that every company — especially in fashion, which is one of the most detrimental industries today — should be doing. So, this is the basics.

The basics are covered. But where we really believe the biggest difference can be made is in durability and multipurpose use. We aim to produce things that if well cared for, can be in a working condition for hopefully the rest of your life. Durability is the biggest way we can help sustainability. It's about not needing people to replace their shirts or jackets every single year because they broke. We believe this so heavily that we have a lifetime guarantee for everything we do. So if a zipper stops working 10 years from the moment you purchase it, we're going to send you a new one right away. That's how sure we are about what we're doing.

And, thirdly, it's multipurpose. Why have one shirt for meetings, another for tennis, another for golf, and another for a barbecue with friends if the same shirt can perform amazingly in all those different situations? For business meetings, you need to look sharp. For tennis and golf, you need to wick moisture and neutralize odor. If you're with family and friends, it needs to feel light and be comfortable. What if we can do all this with one shirt? That's what we're doing.

So, first, offset your carbon credits. Second, care about durability; make durable products. And third, think a little bit out-of-the-box and make your products good not just for one occasion.

Supertrends: Could we say then that the aim here is to help reduce consumption and the production of waste? The fashion industry seems to be one of the biggest contributors to these problems.

JB: Tell me about it. I'm originally from Chile, and it's been all over the news for the last few years how millions of tons of fast fashion clothing are being dumped in the north of Chile. I've seen this with my own eyes. I know exactly— I've been there, looking at this, and it's unbelievable, honestly.

Supertrends: I sincerely hope there will be more products like yours because it seems like they can truly make a difference.

JB: We are convinced of that, and gladly, it seems that more and more people are also convinced of this. So yes, I think we are heading in a good direction.

Supertrends: It sounds like a very good take-home message, unless you have something else you'd like to add that we didn't touch on and you find important.

JB: I leave the invitation open to everyone who wants to reach Graphene-X at graphene-x.com. Our whole lineup is there. We have direct lines with our customer support team, and you can even reach me by email. I'm just one email away for ideas, constructive feedback, and questions. It's extremely important for us. We stand behind what we do. That's why we always put our face behind everything we claim and say. So, it's an open invitation for you to go and check us out.

Supertrends: Thank you very much. It was very interesting to talk to you.

JB: Thank you for inviting me. I look forward to having another conversation in a couple of years and seeing what innovations we'll be discussing then.

The text is a transcript of an interview conducted on 6 June 2024 as part of Supertrends “Interviews with Experts” series. Please note that the transcript may have been lightly edited for editorial reasons.

You could probably use a SmartScan

If you are currently monitoring relevant innovations and key players shaping the hydrogen economy you know how critical it is to stay on top of the latest research, trends, and innovations. You also know that gathering and sorting through vast amounts of information manually can be time-consuming and costly. 

Instead of employing a team to do extensive desktop research, our SmartScan offers a more efficient solution. It’s an automated system designed to collect and centralize the most relevant, up-to-date information from reputable sources—specifically tailored to green hydrogen. The best part? Every scan is human-verified, ensuring you’re not just getting data but insightful, accurate, and organized information.

Find out more about how SmartScans can save you time and give you the edge in the rapidly evolving field of smart fashion? Or get in touch with us to learn more!