Innovative Houston athleisure startup debuts in Talbots

ready-to-wear innovation

Houston-based Accel Lifestyle's innovative line of athleisure has made it into Talbots. Photo courtesy of Accel

After a year of planning and behind-the-scenes work, the highly anticipated collaboration between local apparel brand Accel Lifestyle and Talbots has finally come to fruition.

Shoppers can now find Accel Lifestyle apparel — beloved for its eco-friendly, sustainable, antibacterial fabrics sourced made in the USA — on Talbot's website.

This partnership marks the first-ever collaboration for the athleisure brand of Talbots, T by Talbots. By teaming up with Accel Lifestyle, Talbots expands its product offerings and also provides its loyal, forward-thinking, and ethically minded customers with a new clothing option that perfectly fits with their values.

At the helm of Accel Lifestyle is founder Megan Eddings, whose background in chemistry ignited the creation of the brand's groundbreaking Prema fabric after one too many run-ins with foul-smelling gym clothes. Her proprietary fabric boasts a revolutionary antibacterial technology, rendering Accel Lifestyle's apparel supremely comfortable, high-quality, and remarkably odor-resistant. With this cutting-edge fabric, Accel Lifestyle firmly establishes itself as a trailblazer in the industry, setting new standards for functionality and style.

As CultureMap reported in 2019, Eddings's innovative work was rewarded with a partnership with Inc. Magazine, Houston billionaire Tilman Fertitta, and others.

Amanda Cotler and Megan Eddings of Accel Lifestyle are celebrating a big win for their company. Photo courtesy

"We are beyond elated about the Accel x Talbots launch," Eddings tells CultureMap." Amanda Cotler, Accel's Director of Operations, and I have been working on this opportunity for a year, and it feels incredible for the collaboration to be live. Our passions are textiles with technology and an ethical made-in-the-USA supply chain. To have a multi-billion dollar company like Talbots care about the same things brings us so much joy."

In addition to their remarkable achievements in fashion, Accel Lifestyle champions the power of women in STEM through their team's leadership and this collaboration. By showcasing the applications of science and technology within the realm of fashion, Accel Lifestyle and Talbots are spotlighting the remarkable potential within these fields.

With the Accel Lifestyle x Talbots collaboration in full swing, customers can expect an extraordinary fusion of sustainable fashion and impeccable style. The Accel Lifestyle collaboration features an Anti-Odor Power Tank and an Anti-Odor Timeless Tee. Both are available in colors black and white.

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This article originally ran on CultureMap.

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This week's Houston innovators to know include Megan Eddings and Amanda Cotler of Accel Lifestyle and Brad Burke of Rice Alliance. Photos courtesy

3 Houston innovators to know this week

Who's who

It seems like 2020 is the year of the pivot and taking what the world has thrown at you —from pandemics to oil gluts — and making something out of what you have.

This week's innovators to know include a Houston startup flipping the switch on production to make face masks to the Rice Alliance re-envisioning an annual event that usually takes place at a global conference.

Megan Eddings and Amanda Cotler of Accel Lifestyle

Photos courtesy

When Megan Eddings and Amanda Cotler saw the CDC was recommending medical professionals wear bandanas or strips of cloth when surgical face masks weren't available, they had an idea.

The duo behind Accel Lifestyle, a Houston-based athletic wear startup that has a bacteria-resistent fabric, hopped on a call to see how they could rework their supply chain to quickly pivot to making face masks.

When setting up the company, Eddings, Accel's founder, made it a priority to avoid sweatshops, and she set up her supply chain to be completely within the United States — something that's been beneficial to the company's COVID pivot.

"If we did not have a 100 percent domestic supply chain, there's no way we could have done this," Eddings says.

Eddings and Cotler joined the Houston Innovators Podcast to share the story of how Accel went from deciding to make the masks to selling them by the thousands to Houston Methodist.

"When you think of face masks, you wouldn't think about activewear or thinking of Accel being a part of the fight against coronavirus," Cotler says. However, that might no longer be the case for the company now. Click here to learn more and to stream the podcast episode.

Brad Burke, managing director of the Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship

Photo via alliance.rice.edu

Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship typically hosts their Energy Tech Venture Day from the one of the halls within NRG Arena at the annual Offshore Technology Conference. However, the conference that attracts thousands of people from around the world, much like so many events, was canceled due to coronavirus.

But Brad Burke and his team at the Rice Alliance turned to tech to introduce the first virtual event, which then took place on Thursday, May 7. Burke introduced the event that had 39 startups that represented 11 different states and six different countries, 13 call Houston their HQ.

"We had many startups and corporations reach out to us and ask us if we could go ahead with the event in a virtual format, so that's how we ended up where we are today," says Burke. Click here to read more.

Megan Eddings and Amanda Cotler of Accel Lifestyle join the Houston Innovators Podcast to share how they pivoted from making T-shirts to face masks. Photos courtesy

From T-shirts to facemasks, how this Houston startup quickly made its COVID-19 pivot

HOUSTON INNOVATORS PODCAST EPISODE 30

Startups across Houston have made the decision to pivot their business or technology amid the COVID-19 crisis — both to stay afloat in the shutdown and to contribute to the community.

Houston-based Accel Lifestyle, an athletic wear company that has designed a bacteria-resistant material, flipped a switch on its production to make face masks `rather than T-shirts and tanks with their Prema fabric. On the latest episode of the Houston Innovators Podcast, Megan Eddings, founder and CEO, and Amanda Cotler, director of operations, shared the story of how this pivot came to be.

"When you think of face masks, you wouldn't think about activewear or thinking of Accel being a part of the fight against coronavirus," Cotler says.

But when Cotler and Eddings saw the Center for Disease Control was recommending wearing bandanas and cloth when face masks weren't available, they had an epiphany.

"Megan and I read that and immediately hopped on a call with our team," Cotler says. "We had a realization with our antibacterial fabric that a face mask made from it would be so much cleaner."

Within 24 hours, the duo had a sample in their hands, and they had 14,000 yards of their Prema fabric being shipped from California to Houston, where they had managed to find 60 local sewers ready to start making the masks.

When setting up the company, Eddings made it a priority to avoid sweatshops, and she set up her supply chain to be completely within the United States — something that's been beneficial to the company's COVID pivot.

"If we did not have a 100 percent domestic supply chain, there's no way we could have done this," Eddings says.

Packs of 10 masks are available online, but the bulk of Accel's mask sales have been to hospitals like Houston Methodist, which has ordered thousands.

Now, with the Houston workforce making moves to return to the work place, Eddings says she's seen an increased interest in corporations wanting custom masks with the company logo on it for their employees.

Eddings and Cotler share the story of Accel and its ability to pivot amid a national crisis on the podcast. Stream the episode below or wherever you get you podcasts — just search for the Houston Innovators Podcast.


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Texas A&M pilots $59M program for autonomous helicopters to fight wildfires

Autonomous firefighting

Texas A&M University's George H.W. Bush Combat Development Complex will receive $59.8 million to develop a way for autonomous helicopters to fight to wildfires in the state.

The funds appropriated from the Texas legislature will go toward acquiring up to four UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters and developing their autonomous configuration, as well as to facilities, tools and equipment for research, testing and integration of firefighting capabilities over the next two years, according to a release from Texas A&M.

The BCDC was also selected to work with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) on its Aircrew Labor In-cockpit Automation System (ALIAS), which works to reduce risks for pilots and aircraft in high-risk missions.

"Working together with Texas, we have an opportunity to use autonomous helicopters to completely change the conversation around wildfires from containing them to extinguishing them,” Stuart Young, DARPA program manager for ALIAS, said in a release from DARPA.

The BCDC program will incorporate DARPA's automation toolkit, known as MATRIX, which has already demonstrated fully autonomous flight capabilities on approximately 20 aircraft platforms. MATRIX, which was developed by California-based Sikorsky Aircraft, was previously tested in proof-of-concept demonstrations of autonomous fire suppression in California and Connecticut earlier this year, according to DARPA.

“I am proud we are working with DARPA in a manner that will benefit Texas, the Department of Defense, and commercial industry,” retired Maj. Gen. Tim Green, director of the BCDC, said in the release. “Wildland firefighting will be the first mission application fully developed to take advantage of over a decade of work by DARPA on its Aircrew Labor In-cockpit Automation System (ALIAS).”

The BDC will test fully automated and semi-automated ALIAS-equipped aircraft on highly complex firefighting tasks. The complex will also work with Texas A&M University–Corpus Christi’s Autonomy Research Institute, the Texas Division of Emergency Management, the Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service, the Texas A&M Forest Service and the Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station on the project.

John Diem, director of the innovation proving grounds at BCDC, will serve as principal investigator for the project.

“Advancing system capabilities through the last stages of technology maturation, operational testing, and concept development is always hugely exciting and rewarding,” Diem added in the release. “The best part of my career has been seeing systems I tested move into the hands of warfighters. Now, I’m proud to help ensure ALIAS is safe and effective in protecting life and property – and we will do that through realistic and challenging testing.”

Baylor, Rice win $500,000 to launch humanities-driven health AI center

ethical AI

Baylor College of Medicine and Rice University have been awarded a $500,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) to create the Center for Humanities-based Health AI Innovation (CHHAIN).

The new center and three-year initiative aims to create ethically responsible and trustworthy AI for health care that uses history and patient narratives to shape the technology, according to a release. It represents a collaboration between the Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy at Baylor and the Medical Humanities Research Institute at Rice. Ultimately, the researchers aim to establish a national model for integrating the humanities into the design and implementation of health AI.

Vasiliki Rahimzadeh, assistant professor at Baylor in the Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy, and Kirsten Ostherr, director of the Medical Humanities Research Institute at Rice, will serve as co-directors of the new center, which will be housed within the Center for Medical Ethics.

The team will also engage in strategic collaborations with Kirstin Matthews, Rice’s Baker Institute for Public Policy and its fellow in science and technology policy, as well as Dr. Quianta Moore, executive director of the Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute. An interdisciplinary team of medical humanities and bioethics scholars from Baylor, Rice, and partners in the Houston area will complete the group.

“CHHAIN represents a bold new model for integrating the humanities into health innovation,” Ostherr said in a news release. “It will create a collaborative space where humanities scholars, patients, developers and clinicians can come together to explore the human dimensions of health AI—trust, narrative and lived experience. These are essential perspectives that are too often missing from technology development, and CHHAIN is designed to change that."

CHHAIN’s work will revolve around three key points:

  • Defining trustworthy AI through patient voices
  • Translating humanities insights into clinical AI settings
  • Public engagement and policy translation

“For AI to truly improve health outcomes, it must be designed with patient trust and wellbeing at its core,” Rahimzadeh said in the news release. “CHHAIN will provide a dedicated space to explore critical bioethics questions, such as how we ensure AI respects patient autonomy, addresses the needs of underserved communities and integrates meaningfully into clinical care. Our goal is to translate these insights into real-world health settings where AI is already shaping patient experiences."

CHHAIN's research mission was also developed thanks to pilot funding from the Margaret M. and Albert B. Alkek Department of Medicine at Baylor and a grant from Rice's Provost's TMC Collaborator Fund.

Texas A&M, the University of North Texas and the University of Texas at El Paso were also home to some of the 97 projects that received a portion of the $34.79 million in fundning from the NEH. See the full list here.

Houston booms as No. 2 U.S. market for retail construction in 2025

Construction Zone

Get ready for a gigantic cartload of new shopping opportunities in Houston. A new report indicates the equivalent of 21 Walmart supercenters is under construction in the region.

The report, published by commercial real estate services provider Lee & Associates, says Houston has nearly 3.9 million square feet of retail space under construction, making it the second most active market for new retail space in the U.S.

To put that in perspective, given the average Walmart supercenter measures 182,000 square feet, the 3.9 million-square-foot total would work out to 21 new supercenters being built in the region.

Dallas-Fort Worth is by far the most active U.S. market for new retail space; DFW leads more than 60 U.S. retail markets with nearly 7.15 million square feet of space under construction. The amount of retail space going up in DFW represents 15 percent of all retail space under construction in the more than 60 U.S. markets tracked by Lee & Associates.

Houston and Austin aren’t too far behind Dallas-Fort Worth, though.

Third-ranked Austin area has more than 3.4 million square feet of retail space being built.

What’s behind the surge in retail construction across Texas? Population growth.

Data recently released by the U.S. Census Bureau shows Houston was the second-fastest-growing metro from 2023 to 2024. DFW was the country’s third-fastest-growing metro from 2023 to 2024, based on the number of new residents, and Austin landed at No. 13.

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This article originally appeared on CultureMap.com.

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