We’ve been getting pally with PANGAIA for a little while now and everything they produce grabs our attention in a way which is hard to describe. I say this because at first glance, their quietly branded, monochrome leisurewear might look like it belongs in a particularly tasteful yoga studio but give it more than five seconds of your attention, which, I know is difficult for you young ones, and you’ll quickly clock the serious R&D that sits behind these garments. This clothing is a great showcase of world-class science dressed up in earth-toned minimalism which is why the way it sucks us in is hard to describe. How it looks grabs our attention, how it’s made keeps our attention.
They call themselves a materials science company – one built on the charmingly wild idea that clothes shouldn’t knacker the planet. Instead of chasing shorter and shorter trends, they’re chasing longer and longer solutions, cooking up technical fabrics in labs filled with scientists, technologists and designers who probably haven’t touched polyester in years. These people know exactly what they’re doing and they’ve got the lab coats to prove it.
Their latest bit of brilliance is the (gaia)PLNT Nylon capsule, a collection spun from 100% biobased nylon made from castor oil. Yep, castor beans. The same unglamorous seeds that have long been more associated with laxatives than luxury, now moonlighting as the future of performance textiles.
What they’ve done here is quietly revolutionary: taking monomers derived from a crop that thrives on scraps of water in the middle of nowhere, and transforming them into a high-performance polyamide that behaves like traditional nylon, only without the fossil fuel hangover. This stuff isn’t greenwashing either. It’s proper material science work, with low water usage, reduced emissions, and enough versatility to handle Manchester’s daily gales and the microclimates of the London Underground. Designed and made in London, the whole range feels like something out of a futuristic, fashionable Orwell novel and we love it.
The garments offer a pleasing blend of clean lines, crisp tailoring, and a faint whiff of smugness (the good kind):
- Women’s Jacket – A cropped, boxy bit of outerwear with a drawstring waist, detachable sleeves and hood, and a silhouette that moves between street and stream with ease. Imagine a Swiss Army knife that studied architecture.
- Women’s Skirt – A minimal A-line design with a hoodie-inspired kangaroo pocket and a sneaky hidden message. More utilitarian than your usual skirt, less try-hard than utility wear. Pop a flapjack in it. Or don’t. We’re not your mum.
- Unisex Jacket – Light, structured, and cut cleaner than your local barber’s fade. The collar folds into a hood like a magician’s trick, and it looks just as tidy whether you’re layering it over knitwear or lugging it through Terminal 2.
- Unisex Track Pants – The kind of trousers you wear on a long-haul flight and then straight into a dinner reservation. Four functional pockets. No faff. Just future-forward legwear with the attitude of a well-packed weekend bag.
Under the hood (literally), it’s all about EVO® yarn – a castor-seed-based marvel that’s 25% lighter than conventional polyester, moisture-wicking, fast-drying, thermoregulating, and even fights off bacteria. Basically, your sweat doesn’t stand a chance. The zips are recycled, the trims are thoughtful, and the whole thing is engineered with the kind of focus usually reserved for aerospace design.
Dropping globally on April 10, 2025 via pangaia.com, the (gaia)PLNT Nylon capsule doesn’t just wear its credentials on its sleeve – it weaves them into every fibre. If you’re the sort of person who likes your gear with purpose and your purpose with a bit of polish, this one’s for you.
