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KD New York

The First Fiber Innovation and On Demand Knit Manufacturing Hub in The Bronx

Funded

$0

raised

Highlights

1
Patented plant-based fiber innovations including Vegetable Cashmere®
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U.S. Manufacturing headquartered in The Bronx
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Public Benefit Corporation committed to Purpose, People, Planet, and Profit
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Over 250,000 knits sold globally to 1,000's of retailers since the brand's origination in 1980
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Over 40-year legacy with a vertical model: manufacturing, b2b, brick/mortar and b2c
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Shared worker and community ownership in the Bronx
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Retailer contracts in negotiation with 4 global high profile luxury brands

Our Team

David is a lifelong vegetarian and believed it was time to put his creativity to good use to support the people in the Bronx community, protect and nurture the planet and lead the fashion industry in the next generation in fiber innovation, plant waste.

INVEST IN THE THE FIRST Fiber Innovation and On Demand Manufacturing Hub in the Bronx

  • Our team has 40+ Years running a sustainable apparel business in retail, wholesale and ecommerce under the legacy brand KD Dance. (KD Dance was formed in 1980, and has since been reincorporated as KD Knit Corp)
  • Self funded, organically grown.
  • KD New York brand is worn by dancers and A-list celebrities worldwide.
  • Legacy client base exceeds 600 athleisure and dance retailers, including Free People.
  • Signature products in demand consistently exceeds supply even today!
  • E-commerce following with over 5,000 returning customers.
  • New York City brick and mortar retail presence for 25 years.

From its beginnings in an apartment in Oakland, California, David Lee and Tricia Kaye launched a legacy brand that is synonymous with comfortable, superbly crafted dance and activewear worn by A-list celebrities, dancers and athletes all over the world. KD New York has been featured in leading publications such as Vogue, Harpers, Elle, Shape, New York Times, WWD, and Interview.

Born out of research on the environmental impact of luxury fibers and his own personal journey as a vegetarian, David began to develop a plant-based alternative to animal fiber made primarily from food waste over 10 years ago. After traveling the globe and working with incredible engineers and fiber spinners, David launched his first new plant-based product, Vegetable Cashmere®.

Vegetable Cashmere®

Vegetable Cashmere fiber is spun from an environmentally responsible soy fiber, and blended with other plant based fibers and spun into a single yarn chosen to mimic the hand feel and appearance of animal fiber cashmere. The soy is made from the waste of tofu production requiring zero additional resources to produce. Our patented finishing process makes our end product uniquely luxurious and competitive to animal fiber cashmere without the animal fibers or environmental impact.

Okara™

Our organic and fully traceable soy fiber in development that uses select varietals of soybeans with unique properties.

Rubberknit™

Our patented invention for knitting pure rubber yarns into fabric and panels that have applications in a wide range of industries including yoga mats, home goods, contract furniture, and footwear.

The KD New York innovation hub will be an engine of economic growth and inspiration for Bronx residents and beyond, helping to write a new story that centers development without displacement, environmental sustainability, and community wealth building.

The Bronx facility will be the flagship KD New York innovation center for the development and marketing of the plant-based fibers and yarns, design and on demand production of knits, and sampling and development for collaboration with brands worldwide.

Our new facility will allow us to expand our product categories and market reach. With our network of development and manufacturing partners in New York and across the US we will be the conduit for a complete onshoring process from sourcing to product.

Our commitment to end-to-end means traceability at all stages of production from varietal development and farming to up-cycling of by-product waste, to closed loop fiber and yarn processing, to small batch and on demand manufacturing. The future is being open, accountable, and certifiable at every stage of this process. KD New York understands this.

Our holistic vertical business model with multiple revenue streams including technology licensing, product development, sampling and production and KD brand product sales.

*Forward-looking projections can't be guaranteed.

Overview