Three is the magic number!
DressCode Shirts is now three years old! Throughout human history, the number three has always had a mysterious significance. Pythagoras thought the number represented harmony, wisdom and understanding. It’s also said to be the smallest number we need to create a pattern, the perfect combination of brevity and rhythm, but we’d argue with that as our binary code and signature brackets designs do a perfect job as duo’s!
As we’re in a celebratory mood, there’s also 3 versions of the thought provoking “Three is the magic number” that we’re going to add into this post, here’s the first and original version from Bob Dorough - https://youtu.be/HL6PcEC8Hzk
Three years isn’t long for a business to grow, especially when for almost half of that time the world has been in lockdown and our customers were largely holed up at home, wearing tee shirts and joggers. But in amongst the truly dire things so many people have gone through we still have a lot to celebrate.
The past, the present and the future
The biggest cause for celebration was that Andy Boothman, creator and designer of DressCode Shirts, was invited to capture some of the most significant data available to a world in crisis. The British Antarctic Survey asked Andy to put 800,000 years of data into one clear message – an unmistakeable message that our world is heating up and that we have irrefutable proof contained in glacial ice.
The result is the stunning Climate Code Shirt which will be worn by members of the BAS team at COP26 - the 26th United Nations Climate Change conference, held in Glasgow later this year. The shirt not only demonstrates 800,000 years of data, clearly connecting global warming with the increase in CO2 concentrations, it symbolically identifies the ozone hole (check out the special button).
A Dress DressCode Breakthrough
That’s no typo! The Climate Code shirt is our first design to be made for both women and men. And it’s not only the shirt our fabrics are being used in a dress as well! The Climate Code shirt takes everything about DressCode to another level, we are in love with the end result. We hope our customers are just as pleased and if you’ve already pre-ordered, thank you. We know our customers care about the planet as much as we do.
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
We’ve always been proud of our environmental credentials, using sustainable cotton and ethical production methods right from the start, creating the Climate Code shirt drove our ambitions further, exploring how we could make our product even better.
Time for track 2, or should we say the second version, this one comes from Jack Johnson and it fits perfectly with our goals.
Jack Johnson - The 3 R's (Unofficial Lyric Video) - YouTube
Our customers have shared lots of positive comments about the fabric in the existing shirts and how great they feel, not to mention how they look (thank you). It was important that any changes we made not only enhanced our green creds, but also provided everything that our customers have come to expect from a DressCode shirt. We researched the options, looked at what sustainable, plant based, bio-products were on offer. Fabrics made from seaweed and wood pulp. Eventually we found a solution, Tencel, a sustainable, wood pulp, recycled fabric that feels as good as it looks.
And every triangle has three corners
Materials, water conservation and solar power
We’ve always been proud that our production methods use digital print technology to reduce water consumption as much as possible. We spoke with the machine manufacturers and the team that use these printing presses every day to see what else we could do? We experimented with lower operating temperatures, this creates a unique finish to the material and reduces the heat generated during the finishing of the fabric. We also went solar, using PV panels to create the energy we need for production.
Logistics, a world-wide mirco-chip shortage and many other challenges have pushed us to create the greenest production possible. The global realisation that we are killing the planet has led to some amazing innovations and we’re proud to be playing our part, creating new operational best practices and highlighting this important message through our design.
The heart and the brain and the body
The DressCode idea came from a print glitch, something that we thought would give a voice to a group of people who shared our love of tech and fashion, a way to geek out in style, something that we’ve called ‘Geek Lux’.
We are the only company designing shirts (and who knows what else we could do?) that are inspired by and use the technology that we find in the world around us. We are passionate about sharing the stories behind the tech, the people and the battles that they have fought to make a difference and make the diverse, multi-cultural world that we know and love.
No more, no less, you don’t have to guess – The CashCuff Tech
When we introduced CashCuff® The World's First Smart Payment Shirt in 2019 people were blown away. A shirt that you could pay for things with, using contactless technology directly from the cuff, this got a lot of attention and many thought it was pure novelty. Little did we know that this would literally become a life saver as the pandemic raged. No phone, no wallet, no problem – our customers kept themselves and others safe.
The CashCuff is what’s called ‘Payment Ready’, setting the highest standards of quality control and security across all contactless payments worldwide and we’re exploring ways to build more tech directly into our fabric.
Time for track 3 and we simply couldn’t not include this version from De La Soul
Watch and listen here - https://youtu.be/np0YIaHv6LQ
The past three years have been a roller coaster but we’re proud of what we’ve achieved. We’re unique, exploring and pushing the boundaries of what clothing can do, making it truly smart and integrated, bringing new levels of comfort, joy and connection to people’s lives.
We’ve only been able to do this because of our very loyal customers. The people who share our passions and have joined us on this journey, supported us, championed us and helped us get to where we are today, it really does mean a lot to know that you’re enjoying what we’re doing.