He says his clothes won't bug people.

• Position: Buzz Off Insect Shield LLC - Brief Article

For more than three decades, Richard Lane has been a high-profile innovator in textiles. But his latest venture is sure to generate the most buzz--or maybe the least. Lane is president of Buzz Off Insect Shield LLC, a Greensboro-based company that has developed the first insect-repellent apparel to receive approval from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Lane, 54, spent seven years developing the process, which he is trying to patent. The active ingredient is permethrin, a man-made version of a repellent found in chrysanthemums. Though not effective when applied to the skin, permethrin binds to fabric and repels insects. Colorless and odorless, the repellent lasts through at least 25 launderings.

Lane, a sailor and a sports-car racer, got a bachelor's in textile technology from N.C. State in 1971. In 1974, he founded Lane's Commercial Prewash, which developed a now common process to prewash garments. From 1989 to 1996, he worked from Greensboro as director of technical research and development for New York-based Polo Ralph Lauren.

Lane formed Buzz Off in 2001 with his friend Haynes Griffin...