TRANSFORMING TEXTILES: KEEL LABS 🌊🧶
The Scope Vol. 36
Hello CWBS!
Happy almost Thanksgiving! I hope everyone is staying warm and cozy. As you head into break, read this edition of CWBS: The Scope featuring Tessa Callaghan and Aleks Gosiewski of Keel Labs—an innovation platform expanding the potential of the ocean to accelerate the planet’s development towards a more sustainable future. Tessa and Aleks share their experiences founding Keel Labs, how they were inspired by their college experience in NYC, and the future of sustainability in textiles. Happy reading!
Best,
Mary Qiu, Platform and Outreach Chair 2022-2023
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“ It's all about diversifying and not just replacing, because much of the harm coming from the fashion industry is the reliance on single materials that are extremely polluting. ”— Tessa Callaghan
TESSA CALLAGHAN AND ALEKS GOSIEWSKI OF KEEL LABS
Tessa Callaghan is the Co-Founder and CEO of Keel Labs. With a background in design and innovation, Tessa is leading the global expansion and adoption of Keel Labs’ flagship product, Kelsun, a seaweed-based yarn. Working across the value chain, Tessa is connecting and aligning partners, brands, and manufacturers to achieve their sustainability goals and to transform the textile ecosystem. As a Forbes 30 Under 30 member, Tessa is a thought leader in her space, bridging disparate fields to bring innovative solutions to the fore. Prior to co-founding Keel Labs, Tessa has held knitwear design positions at Helmut Lang and Perry Ellis, as well as a textile production development role at Stoll. She holds a BFA in Fashion Design from the Fashion Institute of Technology.
Aleksandra Gosiewski is the Co-Founder & COO of Keel Labs. With a background in fashion design and economics, Aleks is driving the development of Keel Labs’ business and R&D operations to scale the production of Kelsun, the company’s flagship product. As a systems thinker, Aleks connects the dots between supply chain logistics, financial planning, and business development. Aleks is a Forbes 30 Under 30 member, a testament to her unique and pioneering perspective on the intersection of science and design. Before co-founding Keel Labs, Aleks worked in fashion design at PVH and Ralph Lauren. She holds a BFA in Fashion Design from the Fashion Institute of Technology
How do you think your experiences at FIT and living in New York influenced your journey to Keel Labs?
Tessa: Being in New York is one of the most unique experiences, especially when it comes to being a college student. You get thrown into being an adult in a massive city where you have to stand on your own. It taught me how to be independent and how to navigate through multiple jobs while being in school. This allowed me to get involved in the industry and meet a highly diverse group of people — in school, on the street, and on the job.
Aleks: New York is definitely a very career-focused environment. You get this energy not only from your classmates, but also from your professors, who are usually involved in multiple projects or teaching at multiple schools. At FIT, there is a huge focus on getting involved in the industry. It makes you want to be a part of the real world and the workforce. At FIT and in the industry, a lot of emphasis was placed on using sustainable materials—searching for better ways to create the products we as designers work with. Of course, the real game changer for us at FIT was meeting each other and participating in the Biodesign Challenge!
It seems like Keel Labs was born out of this Biodesign Challenge competition. How were you able to pinpoint algae as the solution to the fast fashion problem?
Tessa: We were really coming to terms with the amount of pollution and waste of our industry, and the lack of viable solutions available to designers who sought to be a little more environmentally conscious. When we encountered the possibility to enter biodesign through this competition—having the opportunity to collaborate with scientists, engineers, chemists and a variety of different disciplines—we thought about how we could shape our careers in a way that would solve the problems of the fashion industry. But what would a solution look like? It quickly became clear that no material on land would be environmentally beneficial. By looking further at resources and their availability in our oceans, we found kelp—which became not only the inspiration but really the backbone for what and why we do what we do.
Aleks: Kelp is just a specific type of seaweed, and we’re looking to explore the possibilities offered by the whole realm of algae. We saw the ocean as an opportunity to use a new source of raw materials. Seaweed appeared as the best option—not only because of its sustainability in and of itself, but also due to its ability to be transformed into a yarn. Yarn is the foundation for creating raw materials, which are then transformed into other finished goods and products that we interact with every single day.
Do you think algae-based material has the potential to completely replace more commonly known materials like polyester? If not, do you see it as kind of an accompaniment?
Tessa: For us, sustainability is about creating the most impact by offering accessible solutions to all in every industry. Thinking about the materials that build into our most essential items is critical for us in achieving this vision of sustainability. Though plastics and polyester are obviously one of the most polluting, there's also a lot of pollution from the way that we're producing naturals. So, although naturals effectively acts as a replacement, particularly to the cottons and the viscoses of this world, what we really see happening in the industry is a transition to more diverse material scopes. Instead of cotton t-shirts, you can make ones made out of kelp. Instead of a shoe made out of polyester, there are some made out of methane. It's all about diversifying and not just replacing, because much of the harm coming from the fashion industry is the reliance on single materials that are extremely polluting.
Aleks: All of these new resources and new materials coming to the market need to work together in order to achieve the actual sustainable impact we’re targeting. There is no one solution, one material that will answer our problems. A number of complementary changes need to happen in the industry, both big and small. Small steps are just as impactful as huge changes. In the adoption of these new materials, their full integration to the fashion system will be granted by those small steps made in the industry. It takes time for things to be at scale. Polyester, for instance, took a really long time to develop and be fully adopted.
How would you describe your fundraising journey? What were some of the obstacles you faced when building it from the ground up?
Tessa: On one hand we've been extremely fortunate. I think we've been at the right place at the right time, and in the right market phase finding the right investors and the right partners. On the other hand, the material space of the fashion industry is still quite new when it comes to the venture capital world in the business models required. It’s a harder task when it comes to finding the right partners to support your mission and being able to do so for the long term. Finding ways to communicate value and growth and potential through both impact business and interdisciplinary innovations is a challenge, but it's one that we’re committed to undertake for us to create the impact we need to see.
Aleks: You're trying to identify your market, your customer, your value, and get that validation. Oftentimes it's difficult to raise really, really early in the development of a new field because it's super risky at that point. In our early days, we found success in raising funds or money through grants, which helped us get started. We eventually moved on to venture capital. There are several different avenues you can take depending on what your business focus is. At this point, VC is the right avenue for us.
Do you have any advice for women in college who are interested in applying passion in sustainability to their professional careers?
Aleks: ESG and sustainability have become a standard for many different industries, to the extent that if you are interested in pursuing a career in sustainability, you do not have to be siloed into one specific area. You can work across various industries and get involved in so many different types of businesses. Find what matters to you and align with the company to make sure that their commitment to sustainability is real.
Tessa: The beauty of having a background in business and a passion for sustainability is that it offers you a unique opportunity to speak this complex language that is historically quite difficult to translate into a sustainable orientation. If you can act as a leader in that space, seeking to accomplish goals that are both business and sustainability-oriented, you're creating so much added value for wherever you end up—whether that's a corporation, somebody else's business, or your own.
Quick Take One: What product would you like to see made with Keel Labs material?
Tessa: Basics.
Aleks: A fanny pack is coming to mind. I also would love to see athletes wear more sustainable materials.
Quick Take Two: Who is one woman that you look up to?
Tessa: Michelle Obama.
Aleks: Tessa!
Quick Take Three: What's one accessory that you can't go and you were without?
Aleks: Oh, my gosh. My chapstick. It’s giant, and looks like a glue stick. People always look at me weirdly when I put it on.
Tessa: My beanie.
Internships/Professional Opportunities
Banking/Finance
Consulting
Tech
Startups
1: Eden ( a web3 startup)
Contact: li.muhan@columbia.edu.
List of Openings: Marketing Manager, Operations Manager, Community Engagement Manager, UI-UX, Software Engineer
Venture Capital
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