Death of Hypercolor

Jul 2, 2024

12:04

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Generra Sportswear, the Seattle-based company that distributed Hypercolor - the T-shirts that changed colour with heat - and declared bankruptcy on 2nd July, 1992.

In a brief three-month span, between February and May 1991, the company sold a whopping $50 million worth of heat-sensitive T-shirts, shorts, pants, sweatshirts and tights, using the ‘Global Hypercolor’ brand in the UK. However, they struggled to meet the overwhelming demand for their products and as a result of mismanagement and overproduction, couldn’t handle their overnight success.

In this episode, The Retrospectors explain how sex was used to sell its products Down Under; consider why the product was a let-down if you lived in a sub-tropical climate, and ponder whether mood rings became ‘the acceptable face of colour-changing’...