Bruce Harrell has a new job — with term sheets and customers as opposed to stump speeches and constituents.
The former mayor of Seattle is the new CEO of Filium, a Seattle-based sustainable textile company founded in 2015 as Ably.
The move puts the longtime Seattle politician into a very different world: stain-resistant shirts, sustainable manufacturing, global apparel brands and textile chemistry.
Filium makes a proprietary technology that allows natural fabrics to repel odors, stains and liquids and is billed as a smarter alternative to synthetic fabrics and brands that are marketed toward active people. The company calls itself a modern textile manufacturer that shuns the use of PFAS “forever chemicals.”
The company was started by apparel industry veterans Raj Shah and Akhil Shah, raising $540,000 with a 2016 Kickstarter campaign. Harrell takes over the top job from Raj Shah, who will continue as chairman of the board.
Harrell credited the brothers for “decades of leadership in the apparel and textile industry.”
“I am honored to step into this leadership role at such an exciting moment for the company and the industry,” Harrell said in a news release on Wednesday. “Consumers and global brands are demanding products that perform at the highest level while reflecting modern environmental and wellness values, and Filium is uniquely positioned to help lead that evolution.”
Harrell was elected mayor in 2021 during the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic and following racial justice protests in Seattle and across the U.S. over George Floyd’s murder by Minneapolis police. A Seattle native and University of Washington graduate, Harrell is a former attorney and City Council president.
He lost his reelection bid last November to Mayor Katie Wilson, a democratic socialist who had never held elected office.
“Bruce brings a unique combination of visionary leadership, operational discipline, AI integration and relationship-building expertise,” Doug Lynch, president of Filium, said in a statement. “His leadership will be instrumental as Filium scales its global growth strategy.”
Filium says its technology has been featured in product lines carried by global retailers and brands including Bass Pro Shops, Cabela’s, O’Neill, and North Face.
