The North Face’s former CEO just bet his reputation on this tiny startup

Unspun has built a machine that weaves trousers in minutes, cuts waste to near zero, and could upend how the apparel industry works. It just hired one of fashion’s biggest names to prove it.

Arne Arens, CEO of Unspun [Photos: Unspun]

Over the last decade, as consumers became more aware of climate change, the fashion industry suddenly scrambled to curb its enormous environmental footprint.

Everyone from Prada to H&M launched products made of recycled nylon and organic cotton. Gucci, Patagonia, and Timberland invested in regenerative agriculture. Adidas and Nike began designing fully recyclable sneakers. Resale programs popped up everywhere.

According to many industry insiders, this moment has now passed. Politics and culture are no longer focused on the climate crisis. Consumers, faced with the higher price of sustainable products, consistently choose their wallets over their values. In response, many brands have quietly abandoned their sustainability goals.

Arne Arens watched all of this from the inside. As CEO of The North Face and later Boardriders, the parent company of Quiksilver and Billabong, he lived through fashion’s sustainability push—and its retreat. But he hasn’t lost faith in the industry’s ability to clean up its act.

Now he’s betting the next chapter of his career on a Bay Area startup called Unspun, which has developed proprietary 3D weaving technology capable of producing pants with significantly fewer carbon emissions, reduced waste, and shorter lead times. Unspun, which has more than $50 million in VC funding, has named Arens as its new CEO. The hire is a signal that a well-known industry leader believes the technology is ready to move from proof-of-concept to scale.

The Enthusiasm That Faded

Ask Arens about fashion’s sustainability retreat and he doesn’t hesitate. He confirms what anyone who covered the industry closely already sensed: There was real pressure, real investment, and then a gradual letting-go.

“Part of that is that people have never really been able to figure out how to do sustainability cost-competitively,” he says. “Season after season we tried to move to 100% recycled nylon and polyester and cotton. But when we looked at the margin breakdown, we realized we’d have to price everything up by $5 to $10, and unfortunately consumers are just not ready to pay for that.”

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