Michelle Zhu

The blue in your jeans is poisoning our planet.

Most denim is dyed with petroleum-based chemicals... polluting rivers, harming workers, and even causing health issues in communities near factories.

In China, waterways near denim mills run electric blue with toxic runoff.

Michelle Zhu wasn’t about to let fashion destroy the environment.

In 2019, she co-founded Huue, a biotech startup using microbes, not fossil fuels, to create biosynthetic indigo.

The result? Five times less toxicity than conventional dyes, without sacrificing the iconic denim look.

Huue’s work is backed by $5M in funding from investors like Melinda Gates’s Female Founders Competition.

And the startup is now teaming up with major fashion brands to bring eco-friendly jeans to the market next year.

With a background in business strategy and a family legacy in fashion, Michelle is leading the charge to decarbonize textiles.

Proving that style shouldn’t come at the planet’s expense.

Your favorite jeans are about to get a sustainable makeover.