PANGAIA AND ARTIST TAKASHI MURAKAMI TEAM ON COLLECTION

In celebration of World Bee Day this week, Pangaia, a direct-to-consumer materials science company, is launching “Bee the Change” fund in partnership with Milkywire.

This fund aims to protect and preserve vulnerable and endangered bee species across the world. Human survival depends on bees. They contribute to the pollination of one-third of the world’s global food supply. Without them, many of our crops could disappear, limiting food diversity, and more importantly, overall supply.

The first collection to benefit the newly-established fund will be the Pangaia x Takashi Murakami collection, featuring prints with flowers and a bee. The capsule collection consists of two T-shirts and two hoodies with specially designed artworks by Murakami.

• 

• 

• 

Courtesy of ©︎ TM/KK

The T-shirts, which retail for $95, are available in off-white with a flower and bee print or saffron yellow with a flower ball and bee print. They are made from 100 percent GOTS certified organic cotton which is chemical-free, and therefore a completely non-irritant fabric.

The hoodies, which retail for $220, are available in cobalt blue with a flower and bee print, or orchid purple with a flower ball and bee print.

Where most other brands use around 10-30 percent recycled cotton, Pangaia uses a much higher 45 percent in their hoodies, mixed with 55 percent organic cotton. This is one of the highest grades of recycled cotton currently available on the market. The company also chose organic cotton where most companies still use recycled polyester — a critical pollutant due to microplastics.

All four styles on Pangaia’s website on May 20th.