Chris Kolbe spent 30+ years as a senior executive at Ralph Lauren, J.Crew, Original Penguin, Lands' End, and Kohl's — which means he knows exactly how the industry works, and exactly what it's been getting away with. After decades of watching apparel shift to petroleum-based synthetics, he left to build HyperNatural: a performance apparel brand made from bio-based materials instead of plastic. The flagship fabric, HyperCool Jade, is built from Supima cotton, jade stone, and chitosan from shellfish waste, OEKO-TEX 100 certified, and took two years to develop with a material science partner. The brand launched in premium menswear, landed at Nordstrom, and is now expanding into women's. Apparently once people find out their gym shirt is low-key dosing them with synthetic chemicals, they want options for the whole wardrobe. 🔧 Bio-Based Fiber Development — How HyperNatural built a patented cellulosic fiber process using Supima cotton waste, jade stone, and chitosan — and what two years of R&D actually looks like inside a startup 📊 Why Apparel Prices Haven’t Moved in 26 Years — The offshoring and petroleum shift that bent the cost curve down — and why tariffs and inflation are now colliding with a category that has no room to absorb them 🤝 The Pyramid Brand Strategy — Why HyperNatural started at the top of the market and is building down, and how the brand-to-licensing sequencing works for a materials platform with aspirations to become the Gore-Tex of natural fiber ⚙️ Fit, Fabric, Styling — The merchandiser’s framework for what actually drives loyalty in apparel (in that order) and how to keep a SKU range tight when every customer signal feels like a reason to expand 📈 Building Through a Bad Neighborhood for Investors — What it looks like to self-fund a material science startup through COVID, inflation, and an investment environment that sent all the oxygen to AI, and how Chris kept HyperNatural alive anyway 🎯 Health Over Sustainability as Commercial Positioning — Why “I didn’t realize it was bad for me” converts when “it’s bad for the environment” doesn’t, and how clean food and clean beauty show the path Whether you’re building a material-first brand, navigating an industry that doesn’t want to change, or trying to stay alive through a funding environment that’s working against you, Chris’s conversation is a ground-level look at what it takes to build something genuinely different in a mature category. Perfect for: Apparel founders, material science and wellness operators, self-funded entrepreneurs, consumer brand operators navigating a difficult capital environment Guest: Chris Kolbe — Founder, HyperNatural Host: Samantha Rose — Managing Partner, Hologram Capital & Founder, Endless Commerce This episode was recorded live and is part of our series on operational frameworks that drive real business results. Subscribe so you never miss an episode.
