ÉCAL graduate Luisa Kahlfeldt has designed a new diaper that is more sustainable than even other reusable cloth nappies ? an innovation for which she won the Swiss James Dyson Award.
Kahlfeldt's Sumo nappies are made entirely of a fabric called SeaCell, composed of seaweed and eucalyptus. The textile is antibacterial and antioxidant-rich, so it is beneficial for babies' skin.
It's also sustainable to harvest and produce, giving it an advantage over the textiles used in most cloth nappies on the market. And since Kahlfeldt has fashioned it into a mono-material design, it is also more easily recycled, with no need to disassemble its components.

While Kahlfeldt's primary concern was to provide an alternative to disposable diapers ? she says 17 million of them are binned every day in the European Union alone ? it's Sumo's advances over standard cloth nappies that have earned it several awards, including the prestigious Dyson Award. Kahlfeldt engineered SeaCell into three layers for Sumo ? a soft and absorbent inner layer, an even more absorbent core, and then a waterproof outer layer that prevents any liquids from leaking out.

The waterproofing was enabled by a partnership with Swiss textile company Schoeller, whose EcoRepel technology waterproofs fabrics without affecting their biodegradability or recyclability.
Kahlfeldt says it also withstands abrasion and repeated machine-washing.

In most cloth nappies, the absorbent layers are laminated with polyester or polyurethane, ...