a new use for gold

A NEW USE FOR GOLD?

Rhone, the luxury men’s activewear brand, is testing out a new apparel technology concept, GoldFusion, by taking to Indiegogo for crowdfunding the new concept.Although the brand is already sold in retailers and studios alike, such as Nordstrom, Bloomingdales, CorePower Yoga and Equinox locations, Rhone Co-founder Nate Checketts thought the crowdfunding platform Indiegogo would make for a great avenue to build buzz and community around new technology coming from the company. GoldFusion works by infusing gold particles into the brand’s high-performance fabrics for a softer, safer, faster-drying, longer-lasting, odor-neutralizing activewear garment.“ It sounds like magic, like it’s too good to be true,” said Nate Checketts, Rhone co-founder and CEO. “We were in a state of disbelief until seeing the results of this technology firsthand. But this is exactly what we strive for at Rhone: creating best-in-class products.” Rhone introduced its pre-launch campaign with crowdfunding platform Indiegogo in order to utilize the GoldFusion technology throughout a curated assortment of its collection items which will hit retailers nationwide in Spring 2017. “Indiegogo is a perfect fit for Rhone because of its reputation for offering early adopters the highest quality products with cutting edge technology,” said Chip Malt, VP of marketing and analytics, Rhone. “The Indiegogo team has been working side by side with us to ensure we launch a well thought-out and successful campaign that accurately reflects the Rhone brand.”

The above article seen in a recent online publication of SGB (sporting goods business magazine) I found remarkably interesting not true but interesting none the same.

First of all I have never heard of this company or what “crowdfunding” is. When I went to their web site I noted that they make fairly pricey T shirts and shorts as well as other garments specifically for wearing when exercising. Note the stores they sell too.

Then I looked up the meaning of “crowdfunding” and was astounded that last year according to Wikipedia worldwide US$34 billion was raised this way. Now for the meaning “the practice of funding or venture raising many small amounts of money from a large number of people, typically via the internet”. I have offered my boots in this manner so to speak with an incentive and a known delivery date. I do not think this crowdfunding that they are speaking of does that.

Now for the new product made with gold infused into the fabric, with as Nate Checketts the co-founder and CEO states and I quote; It sounds like magic, like it’s too good to be true. “We were in a state of disbelief (emphasis added) until seeing the results of this technology firsthand”. They do not give examples of the web site as to the testing to develop results as far as I could see.

Imagine that the introduction of gold makes fabric softer, safer (emphasis added) etc. in an activewear garment. There must be an abundance of gold that can be purchased very cheaply these days. I wonder how much weight of gold is used in these garments. Also if the price of a small garment and an extra-large garment is the same it would be beneficial to buy the larger size.

If according to the VP of marketing believes the product is so good as does the CEO why don’t they just put it on the market either mail order or through their retail accounts. Why do they need further financing? To me it sounds like shades of potential deceit. The products they are intending to make from this gold infused fabric will not perform as they claim. Has silver done these things, after all the claims about silver in workout garments were supposed to do the same thing. And then there is copper doing these things and more according to what I see advertised on TV. My opinion gold should be used for jewelry as should silver and copper for electric wire. Anyway these metals have many uses that actually work versus theory and fooling buyers of these products.

I expect garment marketers are not alone in offering magical products. We see it all the time and of course each season new magical products enter the market place.

IF I were asked my advice about these magical products my answer is ask a lot of questions first and then do the research before potentially wasting your money.