NEW YORK — In between showing off his two new labels, his latest made-for-charity iconic T-shirt and his customized collection for NBA players, Jeffrey Grübb took a minute to help one of Barry Diller’s associates select a Microsilver cashmere blanket for the mogul’s private plane.
While variety is something Grübb thrives on, there is a common thread in each of these new endeavors: Microsilver, an antibacterial, antimicrobial, thermo-regulating fabric. After exiting FAL, an upscale activewear firm last year, Grübb has joined Microsilver LLC as design and creative director. His friend, I. Michel Indiano, Microsilver’s director of technology, encouraged him to make the move. The company aims to combine its proprietary technology with advanced textiles.
Grübb argued that silver spray-on applications are “highly pollutant” and are “dangerous to workers.” Designed to last for more than 50 washings, Microsilver is a fiber that bonds pure silver fibers to other fibers before any knitting or weaving is done.
Microsilver is used in linings and armpit insets in Alchemi/Jeffrey Grübb, a 15-piece sportswear collection. A cashmere coat, pants, crewneck top and “crooked” hoodie are among the silhouettes that will bow for spring 2006. However, select clients will start receiving merchandise in June.
With wholesale prices expected to range from $38 for a long-sleeved T-shirt to $2,000 for a cashmere coat, Alchemi is targeting better specialty stores. To try to play up the exclusivity, Grübb said he will “handpick clients” that he wants to work with instead of blanketing stores across the country.
Alchemi’s first-year projected wholesale volume should range between $1.5 million and $2 million, Grübb said.
The Italian-made collection is geared for jet-setters who appreciate good quality and often don’t have time to change once they land, the designer said.
“On the weekend, if you’re a spoiled luxury consumer, what do you wear?” Grübb said. “Once you have worn real luxury fashion, you can’t go backward to the contemporary market.”
MicrosilverImpulse by Jeffrey Grübb has some of the same elements as Alchemi, but is more of a better activewear collection. Rugby-striped crewnecks, tanks and pants are among the offerings. Pima cottons are a major part of the mix, and wholesale prices will range from about $12 for a bra top to $65 for a Microsilver-lined hoodie. First-year sales are expected to fall between $3.5 million and $4 million.
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Like Alchemi, it ships for spring 2006 but will be available on a limited basis in June.
The designer whipped up a Microsilver T-shirt imprinted with an image of Steven Tyler to benefit Design Industries Foundation Fighting AIDS. Grübb plans to feature images of other celebrities on T-shirts down the road to raise more money for the nonprofit group.
On another front, Microsilver is offering private label manufacturing for firms such as Wayne Scot Lukas and Jerod M. Grübb has collaborated with Lukas, Janet Jackson’s stylist, to develop a 12-piece collection that will be called Microsilver by Jeffrey Grübb for Wayne Scot Lukas. The collection bows this fall and will be sold through catalogues and retailers. A regular on the speaker circuit, the stylist offers fashion advice to “thousands” of women each year, Grübb said.
With Microsilver technology and Grübb’s design input, Jerod Margolis, the owner of Jerod M, is offering his NBA clients another option. Margolis has a loyal following of pro athletes looking for sportswear that doesn’t look as though it belongs on a basketball court.
Microsilver also is making industrial garments such as hospital scrubs and military uniforms. Microsilver plans to branch out into other categories such as underwear, pillowcases and shower curtains.
“This is a technology that will benefit all….The applications are limitless,” Grübb said.