According to the EU, washing, drying and ironing clothes is one of the three main factors that contribute to CO 2 emissions associated with clothing. Dominic Hammann has resolved to change this. With his sportswear label “Portance”, he not only wants to save energy, water and waste but also say “Goodbye” to smelly sports gear. For the production and processing of suitable fabrics, he looked specifically for European manufacturers.

With his decision in 2021, he was already sending a clear message. And the company’s name also distinguishes it from large players in the sports textiles market. Portance is French and means ‘lift’, a state of mind that is the Essen-based entrepreneur and weight-lifting fan’s motto. “Our ambition is to make the transition between everyday working life and sports activities smooth and fluid, and to be able to offer something more in terms of function, lightness, effortlessness and high-quality materials instead of standard sports fashion.” To achieve this, in the spring of 2022 he launched a successful crowdfunding campaign. The first products were delivered to eager customers at the beginning of October.

What convinced them was product features that are far from run-of-the-mill, functionality, design, quality and the promise of never being smelly again – despite continuing to sweat. FuzeTM biotechnology is the answer. When the organic cotton is processed, a fine, chemical-free mist is applied that leaves the mildew and bacteria responsible for unpleasant odours no chance whatsoever. “Not only is this a huge advantage in the gym, which is generally teeming with bacteria, above all it means vast potential savings as far as washing is concerned because this is no longer necessary after every workout. Simply hang your clothes on the line, take them down after 20 minutes once they are dry, and enjoy the fact that this will make your sports gear last longer,” says Dominic Hammann, explaining one of the product’s many advantages. At the present time, five unisex articles are available, but many more are in the planning – depending, of course, on how demand develops.

But even as the product range becomes more and more diversified, the aim is to preserve what Portance stands for: smart and sustainable athletic wear, produced in line with the exacting sustainability criteria of the Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS).

Suppliers found via the Network

Manufacturing fabrics and products in Europe was Dominic Hammann’s goal right from the start, but as someone from outside the industry he did not have the right contacts. That changed with the ruhrSUMMIT start-up event, where he met the NRW.Europa team for the first time. Things then took more concrete shape in 2021 when he participated in the Fashion Match Supply online matchmaking event. This was organised by the Enterprise Europe Network and attended by 500 delegates from 36 countries, who held 465 bilateral meetings. The result was a contact to Poland and identification of a factory near Warsaw that met Dominic Hammann’s requirements perfectly. Through the Smart & Technical Textiles matchmaking event in early 2022, he also found a company in Lithuania that processes extremely fine cotton to produce very high-quality fabrics.

Contact to NRW.Europa:

ZENIT GmbH / Enterprise Europe Network
für Nordrhein-Westfalen NRW.Europa
Gregor Stolarczyk
Phone: ++49 208 30004-13
email: Gregor.Stolarczyk@zenit.eu

Contact to the Company:

https://www.portance.de