In the first episode of our new health and wellbeing series, we talk to Harry Zalk, director of Hydra Active and chief commercial officer at its parent company, Matrix.  

Based in London, Matrix specialises in product development and for years has supplied the airline industry with mini products such as moisturisers and face masks. With the company’s experience in cosmetics, and his background in textiles, Zalk spotted an opportunity for a product that could combine the two, which resulted in the formation of Hydra Active. 

Hydra Active offers a range of sleepwear that combines comfort and a ‘pioneering technology’ to help keep skin in shape. Using shea butter and argan oil, the company’s fabric uses a microencapsulation process to continually release nutrients designed to keep the skin moisturised and the user more relaxed.

In this podcast, Zalk talks about the initial idea for the product and he explains the microencapsulation process in more detail. Elsewhere, he mentions the company’s other two products – Hydra Active Defence and Hydra Active Serenity – the first of which has experienced an increase in interest recently due to the pandemic. Zalk also talks about the rising importance of technical textiles and how he thinks that in the next five years, we will all be buying clothing with some technical benefit.