There’s a new clothing line that plans on being more than just fashionable. NOBITECH, a new brand founded by former Shark Tank contestant Ben Wood, launched a Zika-proof fitness apparel line, Forbes reports. That’s right, Zika-proof. The virus that scared the nation back in early April (first founded in Uganda in 1947) when reports found a spread of mosquitoes with the Zika virus down in South Florida.
According to the CDC, the virus can birth defects in babies born to pregnant women. The disease can also cause fever, rash, joint pain, and redness in the whites of the eye. Although the virus is mainly spread by mosquitoes, some cases are sexually transmitted.
The Zika-proof fitness apparel lines plans to use their clothing and the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janerio, to a big advantage. “This business went from ideation to execution in less than four months,” says Wood. “Timing was everything with the Olympics and Zika.”
The 2016 Summer Olympics is a time where top athletes perform and compete for Gold. It’s also a time where athletes and screaming fans/tourists rep where they’re from with apparel. The Summer Olympics has been the risk of athletes and tourists getting infected with the Zika virus. With such an alarm, some athletes elected not to attend this year’s competition like Canadian tennis phenom Milos Raonic, and the world’s top three golfers: Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth and current world No. 1 Jason Day.
With Woods’ apparel, he hopes to create a solution of safety and fun instead of fear. Woods’ line can be seen on the U.S. Olympic Polo, Swimming, and Triathlete teams in Rio. Though hard work is nothing new to Woods, his NOBITECH Zika-proof line had to be put to the test when it came to launching the apparel and making sure it could stand up to other UV-protective clothing lines. Woods doesn’t plan to stop anytime soon with just one fitness line.
It’s too early to say whether the clothing line was a complete success with the games still going on, but it is safe to say that NOBITECH is changing the game of fitness apparel, one mosquito at a time.