2006 she joined Spanx and moved swiftly up the ladder to director of design, becoming intimately familiar with yarns, fibers, and technology, and traveling the world to meet with mills, factories, and tex-tile innovators.

Kolb, 36, Brrr’s CEO, also has roots in small-town Georgia. A Thomasville na-tive, she studied communica-

dress) and soft goods manu-facturers—even the military.

“Our goal is to lead the fashion-tech revolution,” says Hays. They’ve already garnered significant industry recognition, most recently at a global fashion-tech summit called Decoded in Milan. Hays is a charter member of national nonprofit (and MIT partner) Advanced Function-al Fabrics of America, and they have even received seed funding from Silicon Valley. “We want people to think of us as technology that solves problems,” says Hays.

One concept solves a problem we never knew we had. Brrr-lined clutches— or “mobile igloos”—come with a freezer gel pack to keep lipstick, iPhones, even water bottles and snacks cool all day.

cool e x tr a s

CoolClutch for makeup, $152, brrr.com

A sketch for a dress from the spring collection. The

shirting is made of a woven Brrr textile; the loose Brrr

knit adds flounce.

CoolWrap, $78

coming soon

tions at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, where she met Blake Mycoskie, who went on to found Toms Shoes and hired her as his first employee. After years in sales positions in L.A. and New York, she started at Spanx in 2007 and soon became sales director.

In 2014 the pair left Spanx, launching Brrr with a fall col-lection the following year at a Neiman Marcus trunk show. They also released Brrr Basics in five Dillard’s stores across the country, including the Perimeter Mall location.

This spring Hays and Kolb will reveal the company’s second collection. While the fall release was full of slinky and stretchy dresses, colorful scarves, and silky pants, the spring line showcases a more structured woven fabric (think creamy oxford shirts and shirtdresses).

Still, “our product isn’t this shirt or that dress,” says Hays, pointing at a rack of clothing. “It’s the technology. Fashion is just the vehicle for it.” Ul-timately they hope to license their textile to other fashion brands (imagine a Brrr by Diane von Furstenberg wrap

A sampling of patterns for the spring collection, out in March

CoolClutch, $82

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