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Dick Youngblood: Sun Protective ClothingJohn Barrow is a native of Australia, where skin cancer is as common as koala bears and clothing designed to protect the skin from the sun's hazardous ultraviolet rays is a growth industry.
That helps explain why, after a dermatologist friend asked Barrow's wife, Mary, to bring back some sun-protective clothing from several trips to Australia, he interpreted the requests as an unmistakable sign of a budding U.S. market.
Besides, "I'm what you'd call a crazed entrepreneur," said Barrow, 44, who had helped start or build two other companies before the sun-protection idea hit him. "You have to be crazy to forget how much work and energy are required to get a business started."
In 2001, Barrow started Coolibar, a St. Louis Park company that designs and markets long-sleeved shirts, calf- to ankle-length skirts, broad-brimmed hats and swimwear the likes of which you're unlikely to see in a Victoria's Secret catalog. (Instead, the swimwear protects the midriff, back and shoulders, as well as the limbs down to the elbows and knees, a design that suntan enthusiasts might call primwear.)
Skin coverage isn't the only protective element, however. Coolibar also uses densely woven fabrics, tested to assure that they block at least 97 percent of ultraviolet rays, and adds cooling vents in locations that are not exposed to the sun
more: www.startribune.com/stories/535/4... (160)
August 16, 2004 | Viewed 27,663 time(s)
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