Imperial College London has teamed up with graduate-founded biomaterials company Ponda to launch a range of sustainable university-branded clothing, demonstrating how ideas developed through engineering education can become commercial products.
The collaboration will see Imperial-branded apparel insulated with BioPuff®, a plant-based material developed by Bristol-based Ponda. The first products—a Mallard gilet and a Fern cap—will go on sale this autumn through the Imperial College Union Shop.
Unlike conventional insulation made from oil-based synthetic fibres or animal down, BioPuff® is produced from bulrush grown on restored wetlands. Ponda says the material offers greater warmth than premium synthetic insulation while reducing environmental impact. Each BioPuff®-insulated gilet is also said to represent the equivalent of restoring four square metres of healthy wetland.
The partnership is part of Imperial’s Sustainable Imperial Strategy (2026–2031), which focuses on tackling climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution through research, education, campus operations and community projects.
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Ponda was co-founded by Julian Ellis-Brown while he was studying at Imperial in 2020, making the collaboration a return to the university where the business first took shape.
Ellis-Brown said branded merchandise can influence how products are made and where materials come from.
‘Most organisations don’t think of merchandise as a supply chain decision. But every order creates demand for a particular set of materials and a particular way of producing them,’ he said.
‘This collaboration helps demonstrate a different model, one where the products we choose can create demand for ecosystem restoration rather than depletion.
‘Opening our funding round to the public is about accelerating that transition and helping us scale the material, the supply chain and the restoration model behind it. If it works here, it works for any brand buying at scale.’
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BioPuff® has already been used by brands including Stella McCartney, Berghaus, Ahluwalia and Sheep Inc., highlighting growing interest in bio-based alternatives to conventional textile insulation.
Professor Anna Korre, Associate Provost (Sustainability) at Imperial College London, said the collaboration shows how student innovation can develop into practical solutions with wider environmental benefits.
‘This partnership will give Imperial’s community the chance to directly back climate friendly fashion innovation,’ she said. ‘Ponda’s story is a powerful example of how Imperial aims to maximise its positive impact on people and planet by giving our students and innovators the tools they need to find solutions to some of the world’s most pressing challenges.’
The Ponda x Imperial College London collection will launch this autumn exclusively through the Imperial College Union Shop.
Source: Imperial College London.