Courtney Goldstein Vice President, Human Resources
Dan Feinberg Vice President, Associate General Counsel
Danielle Levine Vice President, Associate General Counsel
Denise Tooman Vice President, Marketing, Strategic Solutions Group
Eddie Ko Vice President, Advertising Operations
Greta Shafrazian Vice President, Business Intelligence
Jamie Miles Vice President, eCommerce
James Kiernan Head of Industry, Agency Development
Jennifer Garber Head of Industry, Travel
Jerry Ruiz Vice President, Acquisitions & Operations
Joni Antonacci Vice President, Production Operations
Karen Reed Vice President, Finance
Karl Walter Vice President, Content
Katrina Barlow Vice President, Business Development
Kay Swift Vice President, Information Technology
Keir McMullen Vice President, Human Resources
Matthew Cline Head of Automotive Industry
Mike Ye Vice President, Strategic Planning & Acquisitions
Noemi Lazo Vice President, Customer Experience
& Marketing Operations
Richard Han Vice President, International Sales
Scott Ginsberg Head of Industry, Performance Marketing
Sonal Jain Vice President, Associate General Counsel
Richard Han Vice President, International Sales
Scott Ginsberg Head of Industry, Performance Marketing
Sonal Jain Vice President, Associate General Counsel
PENSKE
HOW COTTON CAN FULFILL THE INDUSTRY’S QUEST FOR INNOVATION
CCOTTON has been used for millennia, but with the help of new and innovative textile technologies, the familiar staple fiber is gaining performance powers that go above and beyond its natural benefits. Research and promotion organization Cotton Incorporated is among the innovators developing solutions that infuse cotton fabrics with sought-after traits like water repellence and durability.
Here, Cotton Incorporated executives Mark Messura, senior vice president, global supply chain marketing, and Mary Ankeny, vice president, product development and implementation operations, detail consumer-focused textile technologies and how brands can switch from synthetics to cotton.
SOURCING JOURNAL: Cotton Incorporated has created a range of performance technologies. How are brands and retailers using these in their collections?
Mark Messura: Everyone is looking for innovation, and cotton has it. Cotton Incorporated brings a wide range of innovations—such as moisture management, water repellency and durability—to brands and retailers around the world. One of our most popular innovations is TOUGH COTTON™ technology, licensed by major brands and retailers including Walmart, JCPenney, Target, Duluth Trading, Sitka and Fila. This technology provides real value through increased durability and product life while giving the industry a way to meet consumer desire for comfortable and durable cotton products.
Brands and retailers can find all our cotton innovations on Cottonworks.com. Hundreds of brands and retailers use CottonWorks™ for inspiration, technical assistance, and ideas for bringing innovative cotton products to market.
“EVERYONE IS LOOKING FOR INNOVATION, AND COTTON HAS IT.”
MARK MESSURA senior vice president, global supply chain marketing, Cotton Incorporated
What are the latest solutions out of Cotton Incorporated’s Dyeing and Finishing Applications Lab (DFAL)?
Mary Ankeny: Researchers at Cotton Incorporated have developed a finish that helps the wearer always look polished by masking the appearance of perspiration that can discolor a garment. Sweat Hiding technology, reformulated with non-fluorine technology and now available for woven and knit fabrics, does not trap moisture against the skin but allows it to pass through the garment.
Another development is RESTech COTTON™ technology, a performance finish for sheeting that helps hot sleepers stay cool and dry by enabling sheets to dry at least two times faster than untreated cotton sheets. Additionally, it provides greater durability and enhanced softness.
PUREPRESS™ technology, a non-formaldehyde durable press finish that provides equal smoothness and enhanced strength and abrasion resistance,
is now available for knit fabrics. This will help golf shirts or tees maintain their dimensional stability throughout multiple launderings.
As more studies emerge about the scope and harmful impact of microplastics, how can companies address this issue by swapping synthetics for natural materials like cotton?
M.A.: Renewable, recyclable and biodegradable cotton fiber can be used to replace petroleumbased synthetic fibers that shed microplastics and do not biodegrade. Before making the switch, designers should consider what properties they would like the garment to have and understand that cotton may perform differently. Factors such as the length of staple fiber and type of spinning system used affect the yarn properties, including weight.
Cotton can be blended with other natural or man-made biodegradable fibers to achieve different properties. There are non-fluorine technologies that help a cotton fabric perform more
like a synthetic by reducing its moisture absorbing capacity. Our technologies such as TransDRY™ or WICKING WINDOWS™ help to spread moisture and wick it away from the body, while STORM COTTON™ technology repels water.
Cotton Incorporated’s research team also created a solution that transforms cotton waste into glucose, introducing a new recycling path for textiles. What are the latest developments in this project?
M.A.: Cotton is composed of long-chain carbohydrates that can be broken down into glucose—or sugar—which can then be used in the creation of bio-based chemicals or to make acids that are components of other chemicals. This is an important recycling option for cotton blended textiles because no sorting is needed prior to this process. Cotton Incorporated has collaborated with a domestic chemical company and major U.S. brand to work on scaling this patented technology to a commercial level. Our scientists are also collaborating with other research organizations looking for ways to utilize the glucose from cotton to replace petroleumbased materials ■
From Left: Mary Ankeny and Mark Messura. Above: Dye machine at Cotton Incorporated world headquarters, Cary, NC
IF YOU WANT A HIGH-PERFORMANCE, SUSTAINABLE PRODUCT, IT COMES WITH A COST.”
Aniela Hoitink, Neffa
Cutting-Edge Catch-Up
Industry insiders weigh in on what’s most exciting in material innovation.
18
Tipping Point
A new study also calculates what an EPR-fueled ramp-up of polyester recycling would cost.
20
Innovation Tourism
A group of next-gen material makers talked with SJ to examine the difficulties in partnerships.
24
American-Made Hemp
A long dormant U.S. market is set to regain its footing on a global stage.
30
Recyclers Break Ground
Leaders in the space are planting worldwide roots.
34
Textile Takeback
Unifi puts a focus on all-polyester textiles, rather than poly-cotton blends and other amalgamated fabrications.
38
Nano Textiles
A new bio-material project also serves as a physical rebuke of the textile industry’s linear, cradle-to-grave model.
42
Closet Carbon
Cotton Incorporated’s research begins unraveling the climate benefits of temporary biogenic carbon storage.
46
Core Values
Jak Shoes reimagines a best-selling silhouette in AppleSkin, teaming with Italy’s Mabel Industries to bring fruit waste to the forefront.
52
Money Matters
After a couple of quiet years, venture capital is back in the next-gen space.
CUTTING EDGE CATCH-UP
Industry insiders weigh in on what’s most exciting in material innovation. by Sarah Jones
material innovation is constantly advancing. Each year, the industry moves a step further in scaling up solutions—such as circular technologies, bio based feedstocks, fossil fuel alternatives and performance-boosting fibers—supporting wider availability and adoption of these inputs. At the same time, consumers continue to ask for more from their apparel and footwear, seeking out sustainability as well as functionality. c Sourcing Journal asked leaders within brands and material firms to share what they are most excited about in the coming year. Read on for 11 insiders’ insights on which developments are worth paying attention to and investing in, how consumer demand for material innovation is evolving and what is driving their companies’ strategies.
KYLE BLAKELY
senior vice president, innovation, testing and development, Under Armour
I’m most energized by elevated consumer expectations. Consumers are more sophisticated and deliberate than ever. It’s not enough to tell them a product is better and expect them buy it. They are reserving their money for products that genuinely improve their lives, performance or appearance—and increasingly all three at the same time. I love this challenge because it’s naturally weeding out superficial tech and performance gear, and shining a light on real, transformative innovations—especially in the materials space. Under Armour was built for this opportunity— it’s in our DNA—so we are prepared to seize the moment with existing offerings and a jampacked pipeline.
SHAY SETHI
CEO and co-founder, Ambercycle
What excites us most is moving from pilot to commercial scale. Over the past decade, we’ve seen an incredible wave of innovation—new materials, new technologies, new ideas—but now it’s about translating that momentum into systemic change. The real shift occurs when these next-gen materials not only exist but also compete with—and ultimately replace— traditional inputs at scale.
With Cycora, we’ve proven that regenerated materials can match the performance and quality the industry demands. Through numerous product launches over the past nine years, we’ve built an ecosystem with partners who believe in that vision. The focus now is scale—bringing this to the world in a meaningful way. That’s where the opportunity lies: turning circularity from aspiration into infrastructure. And that’s what we’re building.
head of sales for the U.S., Thermore
At Thermore, we’re incredibly excited about the continued convergence of performance, sustainability and aesthetics in material innovation. As the demand for high-performing outerwear grows across fashion and sports markets, the challenge is to deliver comfort, warmth and functionality without compromising environmental responsibility or design freedom. Looking ahead, we see tremendous potential in advanced fiber technologies—particularly those that combine ultra-lightweight insulation with high thermal efficiency. These materials are not only incredibly soft and versatile but also engineered for easy application and recyclability, addressing both technical and end-of-life concerns.
We’re also exploring new ways to upcycle ocean-bound and post-consumer plastics, transforming them into premium insulations that rival traditional down in warmth and loft. These innovations allow brands to tell a compelling sustainability story while maintaining the performance their consumers expect.
What excites us most is the growing awareness in the industry: that sustainability is no longer a niche—it’s a baseline. And material innovation is at the heart of that transformation. At Thermore, we’re proud to lead that evolution with solutions that perform beautifully today and respect the planet for tomorrow.
RONI GAMZON
chief commercial officer, BioFluff
The innovation landscape is genuinely hitting its stride as we see more technologies transition from experimental phases to real commercial viability. Companies are scaling up production capacity and securing meaningful brand partnerships that go well beyond pilot
JOE DI GIROLAMO
H A textile made from Ambercycle’s Cycora regenerated polyester.
WE’RE WITNESSING GROWING CONSUMER INTEREST IN INNOVATIVE MATERIALS THAT EXTENDS BEYOND NICHE EARLY ADOPTERS.”
Roni GamZon, BioFluff
programs; this represents a significant shift toward genuine market adoption.
The alternative leather sector exemplifies this positive momentum, with companies successfully penetrating the fashion industry and displacing animal-derived or plasticbased products. The recent achievements of textile-to-textile recycling enterprises like Circ are particularly encouraging, as they move toward the operational capacity essential for meaningful environmental impact. We’re finally seeing these technologies move beyond proof-of-concept toward systems that can address real-world demand.
What’s most exciting is the emerging consumer adoption phase. We’re witnessing growing consumer interest in innovative materials that extends beyond niche early adopters. This grassroots demand is essential because it creates the market pull needed to sustain the scaling efforts we’re seeing on the supply side.
From BioFluff’s perspective, we are really excited about expanding into other industries such as toys and interiors while maintaining our efforts within the fashion industry. It is allowing us to continue developing our material offering for a variety of applications.
MARIA INTSCHER-OWRANG
CEO, Simplifyber
More and more plastic products are getting replaced by plant-based materials and paper, and what I’m most excited about is seeing this trend expanding into new territory over the next year.
While the transformation began with singleuse items like cups, lids and containers, now we’re seeing better and broader examples globally every day. Simplifyber is combining this idea of cost-effective, efficient production with our own material breakthroughs to create products that are not disposable, but high-value, durable products like shoes, bags, accessories— even car interiors—all molded directly into 3D shapes from a liquid slurry of plant fibers.
What I love is that the latest plant-based replacements for plastic are more than just a one-to-one stand-in. These new products have a distinctive look and feel—and they are a step forward in design and technology—made using bio based materials that scale without waste.
This year, Simplifyber will run pilot production for our first commercial products, enabling us to make sustainable, durable products for a price that allows natural materials to compete with plastic. And the products we make won’t just be a replacement; they’ll be better.
FRED MARTEL
senior vice president of sales and brand development, MycoWorks
At MycoWorks, we’re most excited about how biomaterials are reaching new heights in performance and scalability. 2025 is a tipping point for the industry, where innovation is no longer just exploratory, but consistent and implementation-ready across industries like fashion, automotive and interiors.
Biotechnology is unlocking materials that meet the highest standards for quality and sustainability, while respecting legacy craftsmanship. Biomaterials are not an alternative, but rather the future of materials. Reishi is the flagship material of MycoWorks, a new category of material that is grown, not made. It is not bio-based or synthetic but cultivated by nature itself through our proprietary Fine Mycelium platform. We’re seeing what’s possible when nature and engineering work together to deliver the strengthw, hand feel and finish of luxurygrade materials.
This year, it’s not just about proving a concept. Reishi is already in use in interiors and is attracting a growing community of designers and architects who are creating a new generation of design.
INKA APTER
director, material sustainability and integrity, Eileen Fisher
We are enthusiastic about two key material innovations for 2025—Naia Renew and Circ. Our upcoming Fall 2025 collection features new fabrics incorporating Naia Renew, paving the way for future iterations. By driving demand for Naia Renew, we are helping Eastman—developers of the material—to innovate, diverting plastic waste from landfills into biodegradable fibers. These advancements pave the way for a sustainable future, where materials align with our circularity ethos.
Circ, while not yet in our lineup, is under exploration via our collaboration with the Fiber Club initiative. Our goal is to elevate the usage of fibers sourced from waste materials, reducing our dependence on virgin feedstocks. Circ, specifically, represents a breakthrough in textile-totextile circularity, potentially transforming multi-blend recycling—a challenge of today—into tomorrow’s standard. I am also excited about innovations in bio-based stretch fibers, which are hopefully poised to replace fossil fuelderived materials in the future.
E BioFluff specializes in plant-based faux fur, shearling and plush materials.
MARTIN EKENBARK
Circular Innovation Lab lead, H&M Group
Looking ahead, one of the most exciting developments in material innovation is the scaling of textile-to-textile recycling, particularly through our investment in Syre, a co-founded venture that aims to scale recycled polyester, one of the most widely used materials in fashion. In 2025, all of the polyester used in our products will come from recycled sources, with the main part of that still coming from PET bottle recycling. Our aim is to shift into textile-to-textile recycling, and Syre is key to accelerating this shift. Our $600 million offtake agreement over seven years underscores our commitment to building a circular supply chain and reducing reliance on virgin resources.
Recycling post-consumer textiles presents numerous challenges, including mixed fiber types, dyestuff removal and the valorization of all fibers in the blend. That’s why we’re actively supporting innovations across multiple areas.
In collaboration with Huminly, we’re applying enzyme-based methods to separate cotton and polyester without compromising cotton quality. We’re also advancing elastane recycling together with Qingdao Amino, and within mechanical recycling we’ve been reviewing Re&Up’s blended post-consumer textile waste technology, whereby our sorting partner Looper Textile Co. provides waste as a feedstock into the process, and we use the output in our products.
These are just a few of the promising new technologies that have the potential to improve the future of textile recycling.
co-founder and chief creative officer, Houdini Sportswear
My greatest hopes in material innovation lie in following three pathways.
Investments in technology and infrastructure development for chemical recycling of polyester, which in the short term should enable a shift away from PET bottles as a source for recycled polyester and also make the case for brands to finally adopt monomaterial design principles. In the longer term, this could allow a frontrunner like Houdini to design its polyester cycle within “techno biomes,” mimicking nature’s biomes.
The emergence of regenerative technologies sprung from the belief in the intrinsic value of nature and the acknowledgement of nature’s intelligence. With the realization that nature is the greatest innovator of all—with a track record of 4 billion years of natural innovation—we are finally tapping into that wisdom, starting to innovate with nature rather that working against nature.
Collaboration across sectors and disciplines is my third example of something that excites me. The cross pollination that happens when different perspectives, ideas and methodologies merge supports innovation processes to become less restricted and more creative with an improved systems perspective. With that comes the opportunity to accelerate, leapfrog and innovate at systems level.
MYA LI FRANKLIN
North America business operations director, LifeLabs
What people are looking for in the next generation of materials is ultimately about finding the right answer for customers in the post-pandemic era. While “comfort” is still a common response, its meaning has expanded to include temperature regulation, energy efficiency, lightweight feel and adaptability. Today’s consumers and innovation teams are seeking garments that balance functionality with design. Recent advances, including those involving nanomaterials, are exploring ways to meet these evolving demands—for example, by pairing cooling base layers with insulating outer layers. In one case I observed, an athlete testing such a combination during backcountry skiing reported notable comfort, highlighting how material science can help apparel perform more effectively in real-world conditions.
DR. SEDEF UNCU AKI
CEO, Gozen
In the world of nanocellulose, there are no farms, no fields, no need for lengthy processes to have a finished surface to produce products from. With Gozen’s advanced biomaterial Lunaform, for example, a nanocellulosic surface can be grown in just seven days, compared with years for traditional leather.
Looking ahead, integrating biomaterials into the mainstream is imperative. In the early days of introducing new fibers like Tencel, it took years of presenting, testing and waiting until we finally cracked the right formula, and suddenly, it became a mainstream material. If we’re not clear in our vision about where we want to go, it’s easy to get lost in the noise.
G Simplifyber’s additive manufacturing system molds cellulose-based liquid into fabrics, such as shoe uppers.
Creating new material categories should be our collective vision. This emerges from the right formulation of design, performance and price, which needs to be at the core of next-gen materials. First, make the product desirable, then ensure it performs, then price it right. Brands are more ready than ever to adopt biomaterials, if the formula is there. We must also collaborate more across our industry to amplify the bio based content of the products, scale impact and harness artificial intelligence to accelerate biological innovation. The tools are here, the urgency is real and the moment is now. Let’s make it happen!
BIOTECHNOLOGY IS UNLOCKING MATERIALS THAT MEET THE HIGHEST STANDARDS FOR QUALITY AND SUSTAINABILITY, WHILE RESPECTING LEGACY CRAFTSMANSHIP.” Fred Martel, MycoWorks
EVA KARLSSON
TRACEABILITY TRANSFORMED: THE FORENSIC ADVANTAGE
AAS A LEADER in supply chain traceability, Oritain uses forensic testing and data science to analyze the natural elements in products and raw materials to verify their origin. This can be achieved to country and regional levels, and in some cases even specific tracts of land. By not introducing any external substances or tracers, this testing preserves the integrity of the original manufacturing process. Here, Ben Tomkins, vice president retail sales, Oritain, further discusses the solution’s advantages.
SOURCING JOURNAL:
How does Oritain’s forensic technology compare to traditional traceability solutions in the market?
Ben Tomkins: Traditional traceability solutions rely on “traceability by proxy,” such as documentation, supply chain mapping or blockchain. They also primarily focus on documenting the journey of packaging—not products— which makes it difficult for businesses to identify issues or noncompliance at the product level. Oritain provides a stronger, more reliable solution by scientifically verifying the true origin of goods.
As more bio-based fibers, recycled textiles and other innovations hit the market, how has Oritain adapted to ensure traceability across emerging material categories?
B.T.:As the market evolves, Oritain continues to scale our resources, broaden our service offering and accelerate our mapping coverage. Our source mapping already includes complete coverage of all core cotton producing territories, and we’re well advanced in other commodities like wool and leather.
We’ve also made significant investments in expanding our global lab network, which will increase our testing capabilities across diversified and emerging products.
How has Oritain’s verification processes influenced brands to make more ethical and sustainable material decisions?
B.T.: Consumers, governments and investors increasingly care about the origin of products and the human and environmental cost of production. However, they have a low tolerance for greenwashing.
If a brand claims that one of its products originates from a specific location that meets certain sustainability and ethical standards, Oritain can employ scientific analysis to verify the truth of this. If we find the product is inconsistent to this origin claim, this indicates to the brand that their product may have been substituted or adulterated.
This empowers brands to implement focused corrective actions and secure their supply chain with more robust measures that protect natural ecosystems. With legislation like the EUDR coming into effect soon, businesses are telling us that this is increasingly important so they can assure end customers of their ESG credentials.
“[JUST] SHOWING WHERE A PRODUCT HAS BEEN DOESN’T PROVE WHERE IT, OR ITS RAW MATERIALS, ORIGINALLY CAME FROM. THAT’S A HUGE BLIND SPOT.”
BEN TOMKINS , vice president, retail sales, Oritain
How do you encourage brands and manufacturers to adopt forensic traceability? What are the challenges?
B.T.: One of the biggest challenges we encounter is with companies that believe their embedded paper-based or digital traceability tools are ‘good enough.’ There’s a perception that being able to show their product’s supply chain journey ticks the box for compliance.
But showing where a product has been doesn’t prove where it, or its raw materials, originally came from. That’s a huge blind spot which can invite scrutiny and tough questions from regulators later.
By verifying product origin through a forensic process that is independent of any other existing traceability tools, Oritain removes this doubt. When businesses have shipments worth millions of dollars at risk of detention at the border, this scientific validation is essential.
Our solution also seamlessly complements any existing traceability tools to tell a much fuller, and more accurate, story.
How can Oritain help companies comply with trade regulations, particularly in the context of tariffs and import restrictions?
B.T.: Oritain’s testing verifies whether the origin of a product is consistent with a defined region of the world, including regions identified as high risk for forced labor. Legislation like the UFLPA requires that no product be made either wholly or in part in the defined risk region. Therefore, it’s become essential that businesses implement consistent testing and traceability programs throughout their supply chain. With this information, our customers can effect positive changes to their supply chains to eliminate unethical practices and improve regulatory compliance. ■
KNOWING THE
As the industry leans into textile innovation many of its terms are used more freely than precisely. Ecofriendly phrases and greenified language appear across marketing materials and regulatory filings, yet their meanings can vary widely depending on who’s using them. Here’s a handy cheat sheet to cut through the noise. by Alexandra Harrell
BIOBASED MATERIAL
Wholly or partly derived from material of biological origin, excluding materials embedded in geological formations and/or fossilized.
BIODEGRADABLE
Capable of decomposing rapidly by microorganisms under natural conditions. Most organic materials, such as food scraps and paper are biodegradable.
BIODIVERSITY
The total variety of all Earth’s species (above and below ground), their genetic variation and the ecosystems they form.
BIOFABRICATED PROTEINS
Man-made fibers produced from protein polymers which are biofabricated by genetically modified microbes. The polymer is extracted, purified, dried and then the protein polymer solution is spun into fibers.
BIOGENIC
Produced by living organisms or biological processes.
BIOMASS
The biodegradable fraction of products, waste and residues from agriculture (including vegetal and animal substances), forestry and related industries, as well as the biodegradable fraction of industrial and municipal waste.
BIOPOLYMER
A polymer is comprised, at least in part, of building blocks called monomers, produced from renewable feedstocks such as corn.
CIRCULAR ECONOMY
A systems solution framework that tackles global challenges like climate change, biodiversity loss, waste and pollution. It is based on three principles, driven by design: eliminate waste and pollution, circulate products and materials (at their highest value), and regenerate nature.
THE MATERIAL
DOWNSTREAM
All activities that are linked to the sale of products and services produced. This includes the use and re-use of the product and its end of life, including recovery, recycling and final disposal.
FEEDSTOCK
A general term for the raw materials used as input for recycling processes and new textile generation.
FIBER FRAGMENTATION
The process of fiber loss from a textile product during its life cycle or through its subsequent breakage in the natural environment. This is also referred to as fiber shedding.
MAN-MADE CELLULOSIC FIBER (MMCF)
A group of fibers that are derived primarily from wood, and in some cases other sources of cellulose, such as bamboo or other plant matter. In the majority of MMCF production, wood is mechanically chipped and chemically processed into dissolving pulp, The solution is then dissolved into a viscose solution extruded through spinnerets into a chemical bath which reconstitutes the solution into individual MMCF fibers.
MICROFIBER
A microfiber is a synthetic fiber that is very fine, typically less than one denier, making it thinner than a human hair. It’s commonly made from polyester and/or polyamide (nylon).
MICROPLASTIC
A small piece of plastic debris measuring 5 mm or less, found in the environment from the disposal or breakdown of consumer products and industrial waste. These particles can take various shapes, including spheres, pellets, foam, and irregular fragments.
NEXT-GENERATION (NEXT GEN)
Novel and innovative fibers and materials with desired improved environmental and/or social outcomes when compared with conventional options.
PREFERRED FIBERS AND MATERIALS
Fibers and materials that deliver consistently reduced impacts and increased benefits for climate, nature and people compared to conventional equivalents through a holistic approach to transforming production systems.
REGENERATIVE PRODUCTION
Regenerative production provides food and materials in ways that support positive outcomes for nature, which include but are not limited to: healthy and stable soils, improved local biodiversity and improved air and water quality.
SCALE
Solutions that are commercially viable with a proven go-to-market strategy
VALUE CHAIN
All entities involved in the circular life cycle of a product. E Wool. H Acrylic. G Nylon.
HOW US D&F IS DEVELOPING FUNCTIONAL, FASHIONABLE FABRICS THAT ‘TREAD LIGHTLY ON THE PLANET’
AAS THE FASHION INDUSTRY moves toward more sustainable sourcing, US Dyeing & Finishing Mills (US D&F) is doubling down on its commitment to delivering luxury, performance-driven fabrics that align with both brand values and evolving consumer demands.
Here, Yasir Khan, senior manager of business development at US D&F, discusses why the Pakistanbased textile manufacturer is investing in climate-responsive technologies like TruTemp365® and 37.5® and how these innovations help deliver next-gen fabric that’s both comfortable and functional.
SOURCING JOURNAL: What raw material innovations do you currently have in the works?
Yasir Khan: At US D&F, we’re focused on sustainable raw materials that blend ecological responsibility with highperformance quality.
We incorporate global recycled standard (GRS)-certified recycled polyester and recycled cotton sourced from post-consumer and post-industrial waste, reducing our reliance on virgin resources and supporting circularity. In the realm of natural fibers, we’re innovating with next-gen blends that combine Tencel™ lyocell and modal—derived from forest stewardship council (FSC)-certified wood pulp—with hemp and banana fiber. The result is a range of biodegradable fabrics that offer ample softness, drape and comfort.
To ensure comfort across changing conditions, our thermoregulating textiles feature adaptive technologies consisting of both fiber and chemical-based options such as TruTemp365®, 37.5®, and HeiQ Smart Temp. The final (finished) products respond to body temperature and deliver climate-responsive comfort—all while remaining aligned with our commitment to sustainability.
US D&F recently unveiled its Spring/Summer 2026 collection, Riviera Retro. What sets this collection apart in terms of design?
Y.K.: Riviera Retro channels the effortless charm of coastal summers through minimalist designs, curated finishes and a timeless palette of navy, blue and white, making it an ideal choice for premium resort wear. What sets the collection apart is its thoughtful material innovation. Fabric blends of cotton-hemp, cotton-Tencel™ and cottonlinen-Tencel™ deliver natural breathability, a soft drape and everyday comfort. These materials are selected not only for their feel and function but also for their lower environmental impact. Additionally, by using low-impact dyes and a water-efficient dyeing process, the mill has achieved a 40 percent reduction in water usage since 2022. These practices result in vibrant fabrics that tread lightly on the planet.
Amid growing expectations for transparency, how are you supporting supply chain traceability at US D&F?
Y.K.: We ensure transparency through full traceability—from raw materials to finished fabrics—by working with certified suppliers
“AT US D&F, WE’RE FOCUSED ON SUSTAINABLE RAW MATERIALS THAT BLEND ECOLOGICAL RESPONSIBILITY WITH HIGH-PERFORMANCE QUALITY.”
YASIR KHAN , senior manager, business development, US D&F
and third-party auditors. Our environmental impact is tracked by the Higg Facility Environmental Module (FEM) platform, which covers energy use, water, chemicals and waste. We also utilize Inditex’s Green to Wear (GTW) program to monitor greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. These systems reinforce our commitment to a traceable and responsible supply chain, supporting both our and our partners’ sustainability goals.
Brands and consumers are increasingly focused on the waste generated by fashion production. How is your company working to reduce the industry’s waste problem?
Y.K.: Our operations prioritize water reuse, chemical recovery and the reduction of fabric waste. We also support more responsible production by offering low minimum order quantities,
enabling brands to make only what they need. In parallel, we’re partnering with circularity-focused organizations to reintegrate postindustrial waste into the supply chain, helping move the industry closer to a closed-loop model.
What challenges or limitations, if any, have been holding material innovation back lately?
Y.K.: One of the biggest challenges we face in material innovation is finding the balance between scalability and sustainability. There are some incredibly promising materials out there, but many of them aren’t commercially scalable yet or fall short of meeting the customer’s performance requirements. We’re addressing this challenge by customizing our processes to help bridge that gap, making it possible for new materials to perform within high-demand, realworld production cycles. ■
circ is building its first industrial-scale textile-to-textile recycling plant in France. Reju is doing the same in the Netherlands. Two decades since Teijin launched the first commercial chemical textile-recycling process in Japan—and amid the planet’s growing deluge of clothing waste—is polyester recycling in Europe finally approaching a long-anticipated tipping point? c A preliminary and heavily caveated yes, according to a new report by the so-called “system change” advisory and investment company Systemiq. Despite advances in textile recycling technologies in recent years, adoption is still frustratingly embryonic, said the first-of-its-kind study, which was conducted in partnership with the likes of Arc’teryx, Eastman, Interzero, Textile Exchange and Tomra. To wit: A breakthrough in scale could happen, even ramp up the continent’s depolymerization output from textiles by nearly tenfold by 2035, but not without significant policy action that can overcome two significant—if not downright intractable— constraints, Clara Luckner, director and fashion lead at Systemiq said.
The first is accessibility. While chemical recycling promises to squeeze more value out of clothing waste when reuse and mechanical recycling prove inadequate, touting virgin-equivalent outputs at a time when clothing castoffs are spiking in volume yet deteriorating in quality, access to suitable feedstock is a challenge because the current infrastructure is set up to divert textile waste in a mostly linear fashion: landfill, incineration or export to the Global South. The second involves affordability. Producing recycled polyester from post-consumer textile waste in Europe costs roughly 2.6 times more than pumping out a virgin version in Asia. Even employing used PET bottles still comes out the better deal, fiscally speaking.
The lack of incentive to change is why, despite a flurry of innovation
funding rounds, demonstration projects and technology partnerships, the uptake of textile-to-textile recycling has remained recalcitrantly in the pilot stage. So, how does one break free of this incremental growth pattern? It’s all a matter of gaining critical mass, Luckner said. The uptake of new technology, she said, typically follows an S curve. History suggests that once a positive tipping point is reached, the new technology will be exponentially embraced.
Take cars, for instance. In 1900, just 4,000 cars were sold in the United States. Ten years later, the number hit 400,000.
“So a tipping point had clearly been reached,” Luckner said. “A positive tipping point occurs when a clean technology meets three conditions: It’s more affordable, more attractive and more accessible
A POSITIVE TIPPING POINT OCCURS WHEN A CLEAN TECHNOLOGY MEETS THREE CONDITIONS: IT’S MORE AFFORDABLE, MORE ATTRACTIVE AND MORE ACCESSIBLE THAN A CONVENTIONAL ALTERNATIVE. Clara Luckner, Systemiq
than a conventional alternative, and accelerating the scale-up of clean technologies leads to lower environmental impact and earlier economic benefits for companies and regions.”
So far, only the last has been met by environmentally attractive and technologically sophisticated depolymerization technologies. And unless several things shift, the 1 percent of old clothing that goes on to be used to make new clothing will stay stuck at 1 percent, exacerbating a textile waste crisis that has already placed Europe’s collection, sorting and reuse businesses under considerable operational and financial strain. Systemiq identified levers across four “essential” areas of intervention— improving access to appropriate feedstock, bolstering market demand, reducing production costs and closing the remaining cost gap—that can increase the European Union’s annual 30,000-metric-ton depolymerization capacity to 340,000 metric tons.
“While this would still only meet about 15 percent of Europe’s projected polyester demand in that year, it does mark a breakthrough and a sort of shift from pilot scale to a functioning, scalable recycling system,” said Leonard von Boetticher, a Systemiq associate.
The first area is within reach, he said, because the European Union requires all member states to establish separate textile waste collection systems, which can better funnel quality materials into reuse and recycling if the right standards are set. So’s the second if both brands and policymakers work together to send reliable signals that recycled polyester will be used at scale, allowing sorters and recyclers to “invest with confidence.” Even the third can be accomplished by lightening the burdens of energy and capital—perhaps through tax reliefs or lower grid fees—to make sorting and recycling in Europe more attractive than the disposal or export of textile waste. A heavy lift, but not impossible. Together, they could close 40 percent of the cost gap.
But the fourth area—narrowing the remaining 60 percent cost differential—can only be tackled through an ambitious extended producer responsibility, or EPR, scheme that is “really the linchpin” of all the levers because it can bridge some 55 percent of the affordability gap between recycled and virgin polyester, von Boetticher said. An additional “green premium” can cover the shipping costs needed to transport recycled polyester to yarn producers in Asia, where the bulk of them reside, and help bridge the final 5 percent.
“An unresolved cost gap can remain a critical threat in the scale-up because, in essence, it could reduce brand uptake to the bare minimum needed for recycled content compliance, and it could also shift away investment from Europe toward cheaper, less regulated markets,” he said. “Our finding is that the EPR scheme is really essential to make the business case work.”
Earlier this year, EU legislators adopted a requirement that all member states establish an EPR scheme, one that mandates that all domestic and international businesses placing textiles on their national markets shoulder the financial responsibility of collecting, sorting and recycling their products. Crunching the numbers, Systemiq proposes a 250 euro ($283) per metric ton EPR fee by 2028, increasing to 330 euros ($374) per metric ton by 2035 to cover the net costs of collection, sorting and recycling, plus a 55 euro ($62) per metric ton “green premium,” for a “cost uplift” of up to 385 euros ($436) per metric ton.
“It would actually only increase costs by 15 cents for a 400-gram jumper,” said von Boetticher, using the British term for sweater. “And I think this is quite a modest price, given that it could finally enable textile-to-textile recycling at scale.”
But more than a math exercise, Systemiq’s report is also a call to action, Luckner said. And not just any action but collective action to address the 125 million metric tons of material that are consumed by the global textiles industry every year.
“Why do we care about this in the first place? What’s the matter with recycling textile waste? It matters because the global textile system remains extremely linear, and the waste crisis is worsening as volumes grow and quality declines each year,” she said. “2035 might seem a long time away, but we really need to start to see action right now.”
The price of doing nothing, like the stakes themselves, is high, Luckner added.
“In the absence of policy or other mechanisms—so without targeted policy and industry action to address both affordability and accessibility barriers—depolymerization will remain stuck in pilot purgatory, and the breakthrough to mass adoption will not happen,” she said. “The linear status quo will continue to deepen Europe’s and the world’s textile waste crisis.”
INNOVATION
for the material innovators reshaping the industry’s understanding of sustainability, brand interest is often abundant. Commitment, less so. Welcome to innovation tourism: where the best intentions meet the cold economics of the market, rife with minimum order quantities and biotech that takes more than a seasonal cycle to scale.
Behind the scenes, a few emerging biotech firms are trying to make the brand partnership work. As a result, startups report spending unexpected, finite resources on relationships that rarely translate into scalable enterprise.
Still, no one’s throwing in the terry towel— recycled or not. Instead, these next-gen founders are calling for collaboration models spun from transparency, education and mutual respect.
The next-gen space can feel more like a roadside attraction than a final destination, according to Uncaged Innovations’ cofounder and chief executive officer, Stephanie Downs. Recognizing the toll of indecision and exploratory work is one of the reasons the New York-based team now opens every conversation with the same question. How a brand responds, per the sales executive, is a good litmus test for potential follow-through.
“We’ve learned to ask right up front: ‘What are you solving for? What are your targets? Are you looking for plastic-free, 100 percent bio-based, or something else?’” she said. “If they can’t tell me that, I know they’re just curious, not committed.”
By demanding clarity on sustainability goals and performance metrics from the jump, the firm filters out otherwise weak commitments from companies that cannot articulate precise
objectives or ask about Uncaged’s nonstarters. Downs equated it something like window shopping.
“They come into the store, try on 100 outfits, don’t hang anything back up, and leave without buying,” she said. “Meanwhile, we’re left holding the FedEx bill.”
This failure to translate curiosity into actual products on shelves can arise from the “too many cooks” syndrome—instead of a symphony, it’s a cacophony of competing voices.
“We’ve seen projects die even after the product was developed,” one executive said. “Just because corporate didn’t like the margin math. Things can end there, even when the products are already on sale.”
Another innovation insider who requested anonymity has a similar tactic, now asking brands to rank priorities—cost, sustainability, scale—before getting too far down the road. It’s a quick way to weed out tourists from would-be residents.
Another innovator shared a quiet terror: if the first product made with her next-gen material is bad, it could doom the whole idea’s future. That’s why she walked away from a brand partnership—the design was so off-base, she feared it would flop and taint the next-gen material’s reputation.
“One brand wanted our first product in a color that was, honestly, urine yellow. I gave them a few better options; luckily, they liked one,” a separate startup said. “That first product matters. If it flops, it’s not just bad for us—it’s bad for all of us in this space.”
As it is when brands default to legacy sourcing habits. Most corporate players are accustomed to options of options. When those expectations
G Hydefy leverages a “small yet mighty” microbe to grow its fungi, Fy, used to make vegan textiles.
carry over to a next- or new-gen supply chain, the absorption rate doesn’t quite translate, but it accrues all the same. In turn, the margins stretch and costs rise, effectively knee-capping an already cash-constrained cohort.
Pushing institutional inertia aside, Hydefy general manager Rachel Lee, for one, is focused on the opportunity at hand: education.
The Fynder Group startup leverages a “small yet mighty” microbe to grow its fungi, Fy. The novel, NASA-backed material is then combined with other nature-derived inputs— like sugarcane—to make vegan textiles.
“If we start to talk about development agreements or go beyond sampling fees, I straight up ask, ‘Who is your decision maker?’ And, interestingly, it catches a lot of brands off guard,” Lee said. “It just goes to show that we’re in this new territory.”
New territory or not, corporate brands still skew collaborative-averse. Most expect responsiveness without co-development or risk-sharing, which undermines long-term innovation.
One founder contrasted fashion with the automotive industry, where R&D efforts are deeper and more supportive than meets the eye. Fashion brands, meanwhile, tend to approach material innovation like kids in a candy store—wanting options, asking for new “flavors” from a distance.
“They walk in and say, ‘Do you have a green candy?’ They don’t realize they could be helping us invent a new kind of candy,” Hannes Schönegger, co-founder and CEO of Bananatex, said. “But that takes commitment, not just the position of the buyer.”
A 100 percent banana-fiber fabric, made entirely from abacá hemp, was launched in October 2018 by Swiss brand Qwstion, which Schönegger also co-founded, back in 2008. A decade later, the label launched its durable and biodegradable fiber as an open-source project. It’s since been used by the likes of Stella McCartney, Balenciaga and MCM Worldwide.
“If a brand genuinely understands its material impact and wants to scale long-term replacement—not just launch a capsule— then meaningful partnerships are possible,” Schönegger said. “But that intention must be real, and it must be company-wide.”
A group of next-gen material makers talked with SJ, both on and off the record, to discuss the difficulties in partnership
E Bananatex is 100 percent banana-fiber fabric, made entirely from abacá hemp.
To that end, Downs asked the group if anyone had seen progress in how brands treat suppliers. In her experience, nothing’s really changed. Despite trade shows and industry events highlighting these pain points, many brands still treat innovators like traditional mills.
Brands tend to give directions—a hanger in hardwood or a swatch with shimmer—that remove collaboration from the equation. And every season brings a fresh wave of teams unfamiliar with how to work with each other.
Such turnover, per Schönegger, keeps the cycle of treating startups like vendors (and not partners) all too familiar.
“From working with all these different brands, it really revealed how they are used to working with their suppliers, and it’s not on an eye-to-eye level,” Schönegger said, noting it’s just the way this business works—or, at least, has. Why not try something else?
“We have to make the point [clear] that we are not a normal supplier contributing to this whole situation,” he said. “We are actually trying to be the solution, and that’s why we have to work on a different kind of relationship with the brands.”
Even when internal teams align with a startup, corporate politics and bottom-line math can kill momentum. The product might even make it to market—but without buy-in from leadership, it can get buried.
Biofurworld was born with that pain point in mind, according to founder Kym Canter.
“We very intentionally set out to make a drop-in solution, right? Because we knew that was going to be significant in getting adoption,” she said. Canter founded the startup in 2022 to develop compostable, biobased fur alternative in partnership with Senbis Polymer Innovation.
The former J. Mendel designer’s tactic makes sense: drop-in compatibility reduces friction. Innovators who build with existing supply chains in mind report faster adoption, especially among volume-heavy brands who can’t afford to retool systems.
“So much comes down to supply chains— the complexity of supply chains and how difficult it is to change even tiny things in supply chains,” an anonymous executive added. “Unless it’s an exact drop-in solution, it’s more challenging—especially right now; R&D budgets are slashed, and everyone’s concerned about margins.”
The hardest solves tend to happen in the 11th hour: after an unpaid custom order is received. Only then, it seems, are brands interested in collaboration. It wouldn’t be so bad if it was a legacy—or otherwise widelyavailable—fabric. But for Uncaged, BioFuze runs $3,000 a roll.
Granted, there’s no expectation of a signedand-sealed deal for every sample sent. A prototype or proof-of-concept, though, would be ideal; that kind of commitment signals seriousness and gives startups marketing fuel and/or internal momentum.
“Most brands don’t understand that an agreement, ramp-offs or not, can mean real funding for us,” Downs said. “But it shows traction, and that matters when you’re raising.”
TOURISM
and navigating the old business models. by Alex Harrell
When early-stage innovators inherit these expectations, projects drag on and costs pile up; evaporating any limited cash runway.
“I feel like we’re always stuck in this ‘you have this, so can you make this?’ cycle— that’s just going to plague us forever,” Canter continued. “To some degree, that’s human nature. But to another degree, we probably need to get together and draw a line in the sand.”
Weighing in with the designer’s perspective, she reiterated that brands aren’t trying to harm startups. They’re just stuck in an old system—one where suppliers are seen as lesser, and design whims reign supreme. Until that power dynamic shifts, Canter said, startups will keep getting steamrolled.
“Designers ask for everything because that’s how the system works,” the House of Fluff founder said. “You think you have a brilliant idea, but you don’t know if it works until you see the sample. It’s the real nature of the beast.”
On the surface, many corporate-startup engagements look like alignment: sustainability goals, innovation targets, shared ambitions. But beneath that, Lee considered, there’s room for disconnect—one rooted in how brands are accustomed to working with suppliers versus how they could work with innovators.
“What takes 12 months at a legacy supplier can kill us in two,” she said.
It’s a shared belief that most brands want to do better, and that they just don’t know how. In turn, next-gen startups are ultimately (perhaps unwittingly) expected to act like fully-scaled mills. This disconnect (between good intentions and outdated systems) can upend (and undermine) progress. More specifically, the operational pace between brands and startups is mismatched; Downs likened the dynamic to a speedboat trying not to get crushed by a container ship.
Granted, these are the same brands that have been burned before. Early alt-material pioneers were not perfect.
“Let’s be honest,” one executive said, “some of us are paying for the sins of the last generation of innovation.”
On the other hand, some brands reach out with no intent to follow through. One told Downs they’d only consider lab-grown leather once it was cost-equivalent to conventional—a timeline some decades ahead that one exec called more akin to an avoidance plan than innovation goal.
“We’re not trying to beat up on brands,” Downs clarified. “But the old system is the real enemy—and it’s got to go.”
Consider that the old model in question makes material decisions based on price, not planetary impact. Which means new-gen materials are often priced by analogy, valued in comparison to traditional materials. The trouble is, those legacy fibers—let’s say, leather and polyester—are seriously subsidized.
“At the end of the day, we compete with material that is not sold at its real cost. There’s a price, but it is much lower than the real cost,” Schönegger said. “The real cost—that’s paid by nature, farmers, future generations.”
Until regulation raises the cost of unsustainable options, margins will
dominate—what Schönegger called the final challenge the next-gen space must overcome.
“There are champions within companies— creative teams or innovation teams—who get it. But the project still dies when it hits the corporate layer,” he said. “Maybe the product exists. Maybe it’s for sale. But margin logic takes over and it never gets pushed. The issue is how much of the company has actually made the mindset shift.”
While attending a recent bio-conference, Aniela Hoitink of Dutch startup Neffa came to a similar realization. Neffa focuses on automated 3D manufacturing using circular mushroombased biomaterials—Mycotex—with zero-waste robotics by German firm, Desma. Hoitink, also Mycotex’s founder and CEO, noticed the next-gen sector is competing against legacy materials that don’t meet sustainability demands yet cost loss.
WE’RE NOT SUPPLIERS. WE’RE COLLABORATORS. IF YOU WANT CHANGE, MEET US HALFWAY.” Hannes Schönegger, Bananatex
“Brands want to be carbon neutral by 2030 or 2050, cut water use by 50 percent—all great goals. But someone has to pay: us, nature, the farmers—but never the brands,” Hoitink said. “If you want a high-performance, sustainable product, it comes with a cost.”
No one is calling for brands to lower standards. They are calling for honesty, accountability, and a shared understanding of what it takes to build something new.
“We’re not suppliers,” as Schönegger put it. “We’re collaborators. If you want change, meet us halfway.”
Despite everything, next-gen’s inbound interest is massive. Jaguar, for instance, recently reached out to Uncaged via LinkedIn, where the company receives regular inquiries from global names. Demand isn’t the problem, Downs said. The problem is the funnel from inquiry to production. For the next-gen movement, it’s fundamentally fractured. She’s never seen anything like it.
“It’s not like we’re out here knocking on doors and peddling our wares, trying to drum up interest,” Downs said. “But something about getting the project to fruition is broken, between the first call and the store shelf.”
E A Stella McCartney + Hydefy bag.
E Bananatex x Balenciaga footwear.
HYOSUNG TRANSITIONS ITS BIO-BASED SPANDEX TO SUGARCANE FEEDSTOCK
HHOW SWEET IT IS! Korea-based fiber manufacturer Hyosung, the world’s largest spandex manufacturer by market share, has found a sweet solution to scaling up its bio-based spandex. Here, Simon Whitmarsh-Knight, global sustainability director –textiles, Hyosung, discusses the benefits of sugarcane.
SOURCING JOURNAL: Why did Hyosung decide to transition its plant-based feedstock for the regen™ BIO Spandex from dent corn to sugarcane?
Simon Whitmarsh-Knight:
For this second generation of our bio-based spandex, there are three main benefits to upgrading from corn. Sugarcane has a higher yield per hectare than corn; it is more effective at sequestering carbon than corn; and sugarcane’s byproduct, bagasse, can be used as a renewable energy source, further reducing its carbon footprint. There is no change in the characteristics or the bio-based content of the bio spandex itself. The only difference lies in the feedstock used to produce BDO. Transitioning from dent corn to sugarcane-based bio-BDO is part of our plan to support the textile industry in reducing carbon emissions by moving to more circular business models. Manufacture of our bio-based spandex will be focused on our plant in Vietnam. We’re currently adding the bio-BDO facilities to this plant and expect to start production in the first half of next year, with the potential of producing up to 50,000 tons of bio-BDO by the end of 2026.
What’s the benefit of producing both the bio-BDO and Biospandex in Vietnam plants?
S.W.K: It’s our aim to grow the biobased proportion of our spandex sales, and producing the bio-BDO
“WE’RE PIONEERING THE USE OF SUGARCANE IN SPANDEX, SO THIS GAVE US THE OPPORTUNITY TO CREATE A NEW VALUE CHAIN FOR THIS PRODUCT.”
SIMON WHITMARSH-KNIGHT global sustainability director, textiles, Hyosung
in Vietnam means that for the first time the industry will have an integrated supply of bio-based spandex in one region, from raw material to fiber. This provides faster speed to market, reduced development times and a more robust supply chain.
Last year, Hyosung partnered with sustainable materials leader, Geno, to start construction at its Vietnam plant to produce BioBDO derived from sugarcane, powered by Geno’s proprietary BDO technology. For more than two decades, Geno has been developing and scaling technology to enable the production of sustainable materials derived from plant- or waste-based feedstocks instead of fossil fuels.
From next year, we will work closely with our customers and their value chains to transition from our Gen 1 corn-based spandex to our Gen 2 sugarcane-based version. Ultimately, our bio-BDO
will not only be used in textiles, but also in footwear, packaging and automotive. Hyosung is the largest purchaser of BDO, so moving to bio-BDO will represent a significant saving in carbon emissions across multiple industries.
What opportunities has Hyosung found in securing a sustainable and reliable sugar cane supplier for the new regen™ BIO Spandex?
S.W.K: We’re pioneering the use of sugarcane in spandex, so this gave us the opportunity to create a new value chain for this product. Having researched the market in depth we decided that CZ (Czarnikow) offered the optimum balance of direct connections with farmers, logistical experience and sustainability know-how. In addition, their VIVE platform provides well-established structure and processes to trace the product from farm to manufacturing facility.
Pangaia was your first brand partner to launch regen BIO Spandex and is now adopting the new regen BIO Max Spandex for a June collection. What does this continued partnership signal?
S.W.K: PANGAIA, the materials science company at the intersection of science, purpose and design, has proactively tested and studied our regen™ BIO spandex, successfully bringing it to commercial use. Starting from women’s activewear, expanding to men’s, and now extending into their new 365 Seamless range with regen™ BIO Max, this continuous adoption highlights PANGAIA’s deep understanding and trust in bio-based products as part of their innovative sustainability strategy.
The ongoing use of biobased materials by such a pioneering brand demonstrates that the bio story resonates strongly with consumers. Adoptions of regen™ BIO spandex are increasingly rapidly as our brand and retail customers see the benefit of adding this to fabric blends with other biobased fibers or as a renewable stretch engine with natural fibers such as cotton and merino wool. Further collaborations coming this year! ■
INSIDE PANDA BIOTECH’S PUSH TO BRING U.S.-GROWN HEMP INTO
MASS PRODUCTION
The long dormant U.S. market is set to regain its footing on a global stage. by Kasi Martin
the denim and larger apparel industries have long flirted with hemp as a sustainable alternative fiber, but commercial-scale supply chains in the U.S. remained elusive—until now. This spring, Panda Biotech and TDMI Twin Dragon debuted the first Made in the Americas hemp denim collection at Kingpins Amsterdam—a harbinger that hemp, once an afterthought in the U.S. textile market, could become a viable material for American mass production again. c Powered by mechanically cottonized, Americangrown hemp fiber—produced without chemical degumming or water-intensive processing—the collaboration underscores Panda’s emergence as the only U.S. player currently delivering traceable, high-performance hemp fiber at commercial scale. c “Our hemp fiber today is as good as, if not better than, degummed fiber—without the chemical waste stream,” said Scott Evans, chief operating officer at Panda Biotech. “We brought it back and we made it better. That’s what will make hemp take off again.”
H E Hemp fiber at different stages of production.
FROM FIELD TO FIBER, NOW AT SCALE
It’s no secret that U.S.-grown hemp has had a slow, uneven climb into the textile market. Most domestic production has skewed toward consumables, construction materials like hempcrete, or animal bedding. But creating hemp fiber that could compete with global players—chiefly China and Europe—in quality, scale and price has remained largely out of reach.
This wasn’t always the case. Hemp was once a primary American textile—during World War II, it was classified as a strategic material and widely used to make rope, canvas and webbing for the U.S. Navy. But the industry was dismantled twice over: first by the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937, then by the Controlled Substances Act of 1970. As China and Eastern Europe advanced their processing technologies and built world-leading fiber supply chains, American infrastructure never caught up. Even after cultivation was legalized again in 2018, that gap remained. Without industrial-scale processing in place, brands had little choice but to rely on overseas suppliers.
Panda Biotech set out to change that
equation. Its 500,000-square-foot facility in Wichita Falls, Texas—a dusty North Texas town better known for cattle and cotton than cutting-edge manufacturing—now operates four industrial decortication lines, giving it unmatched capacity to produce mechanicallycottonized hemp fiber. All four lines are running, though not around the clock; the company can scale output to match demand.
Founded by energy executive Bob Carter and led by President Dixie Carter, Panda Biotech emerged from a family legacy in largescale infrastructure. The Carters previously built one of the country’s largest privately held natural gas power portfolios before shifting focus to hemp in 2019. That background in industrial systems and capital-intensive projects positioned them to bring scalable fiber processing to a U.S. hemp market still largely operating on mom-and-pop farms and as pet projects.
Crucially, Panda understood that fiber processing couldn’t be separated from farming. In earlier U.S. pilot projects, farmers were often forced to haul bulky hemp stalks hundreds of miles to reach a processor—a system that proved both uneconomical and unsustainable. Panda flipped this model, embedding itself
directly in the grower network and building tight, regional supply chains. Its Pay-to-Grow program anchors this approach. The model reduces risk for farmers by providing free seed, guaranteed payments at planting and harvest, and per-pound fiber payouts—giving growers both upfront security and a clear market for their crop. It also allows Panda to directly influence cultivation practices, ensuring that harvested fiber meets its quality specs and reaches the Wichita Falls gin in optimal condition. Today, about two-thirds of Panda’s acreage operates under Pay-to-Grow, with farmers clustered in North Texas and Southern Oklahoma.
That integrated strategy also informed a deliberate shift this year. “We initially targeted 25,000 acres, but after a strong first year we chose to dial that back to around 17,000 acres—our growers planted 15,000 this spring, and have another 2,000 planned for the fall,” said Mark D’Sa, senior vice president of business development at Panda Biotech. “We’re prioritizing feedstock quality and fiber yields from each acre. That shift hasn’t limited our ability to meet new demand—it allows us to scale more intelligently in step with what buyers want.”
THE PROOF IS IN BUYER DEMAND
The April debut of Twin Dragon’s hemp denim collection at Kingpins Amsterdam was a strategic turning point. The global factory behemoth produced the collection in its Mexico facility, using Panda fiber supplied in commercial quantities. The line includes both rigid and comfort-stretch styles, ranging from 20 to 50 percent hemp blends.
E Inside the Wichita Falls, Texas mill.
F This spring, Panda and TDMI debuted the first Made in the Americas hemp denim collection at Kingpins Amsterdam.
Feedback from Kingpins was immediate and encouraging. “One of the brands we’ve worked with selected the fiber specifically because it matches the aesthetic they’ve been running for years,” Evans said. “The mills were taking orders at the show—we’ve already started shipping fiber to Twin Dragon to fulfill those.”
Brands showing active interest include Patagonia, which has long sourced its hemp from China but is now exploring Pandasupplied yarn through Twin Dragon’s Mexico operations to diversify within the Western Hemisphere. Jungmaven, an early U.S. hemp apparel brand known for its laid-back basics and commitment to hemp-forward fabrics, is also looking to shift its sourcing from imported to American-grown.
“We are creating high-performance, ecoconscious fabrics that meet the demands of today’s consumers and tomorrow’s planet,” said Twin Dragon CEO Dominic Poon. “This partnership marks a pivotal step forward in redefining what sustainable fashion can be.”
What makes Panda’s fiber compelling in denim? According to Evans, it’s a mix of durability, pliability and superior handfeel compared to typical chemically degummed hemp. “You’re getting a fiber that mills can spin efficiently, with fewer process losses and a handfeel that aligns with premium cotton denim.”
For comfort-stretch applications, spinners are experimenting with lycra and spandex blends, tuning yarn construction and loom settings to optimize performance. Consumer preferences appear to be following typical patterns: men’s jeans favor rigid or lightstretch styles, while women’s styles lean toward greater stretch.
MECHANICAL COTTONIZATION: THE INNOVATION DRIVING THE SHIFT
Aside from leading the charge on industrial-scale processing of hemp, Panda’s biggest materials breakthrough is its proprietary mechanical cottonization process—an innovation that allows the fiber to slot seamlessly into existing cottonbased textile systems.
Where most global hemp textiles rely on chemical degumming—a water- and chemicalintensive method that strips the fiber—Panda achieves comparable softness and spinnability without that step. And that difference matters: chemical degumming not only generates significant waste*, it also strips hemp of some of its most prized qualities, including its natural luster, tensile strength and inherent antimicrobial properties.
“Our goal from the outset was to deliver a textile-grade fiber that doesn’t require chemical treatment,” Evans said. “It’s been gratifying to see that come to life.”
Panda backs its word up about waste with serious commitments. Its facility is certified to zero discharge of hazardous chemicals (ZDHC), and holds both Oeko-Tex Standard 100 and USDA Certified Biobased product certifications. Managing effluent is one of the hardest parts of traditional hemp processing; but Panda’s process sidesteps that entirely.
The company is also benchmarking its fiber against the physical characteristics of upland cotton—by far the most common variety grown in the U.S., prized for its short-staple length, minimal herd content and consistency in large-scale spinning operations. “The closer we can get to the look, feel and performance of cotton, the easier it is for mills to integrate
hemp into existing systems,” Evans said.
Beyond denim, Panda is running trials with finer yarn counts and exploring applications in twills, canvas, shirting, and knits. U.S. and Central American partners are being prioritized for these next-gen developments, in keeping with Panda’s effort to maintain a Western Hemisphere value chain.
SUPPLY CHAIN READINESS AND COMMERCIAL POSITIONING
One of Panda’s key advantages is its ability to offer consistent, traceable fiber at a cost competitive with European imports—without demanding a significant premium.
“If you can buy the same quality at the same price, and know it was grown and processed here, why wouldn’t you?” D’Sa said.
Panda’s internal traceability system currently allows it to track fiber down to the farm level, and while not yet rolled out to brands in consumer-facing formats, that capability is being developed. “We’d love for brands to be able to say ‘Texas-grown’ or ‘Oklahoma-grown,’” D’Sa noted.
The company is also positioning its supply chain to weather potential trade shifts. “We invested here long before the new tariff landscape emerged,” Evans said. “That’s not why we’re competitive. We’re competitive because of the proprietary mechanical process and the quality at scale we can now deliver to factories.”
OUR GOAL FROM THE OUTSET WAS TO DELIVER A TEXTILE-GRADE FIBER THAT DOESN’T REQUIRE CHEMICAL TREATMENT.” Scott Evans, Panda Biotech
To build long-term viability, Panda is looking for volume commitments—but the fiber is already selling rapidly. Fiber yield runs between 18 and 22 percent of feedstock input; Panda is also commercializing herd and micronized dust outputs, with applications in vacuum insulation panels and advanced plastics under development.
FROM ASPIRATION TO OPERATIONAL
For D’Sa, the numbers tell a compelling story. “Cotton plantings are down to around 6 million acres this year; hemp was about 54,000 acres nationally,” he said. “There’s nowhere to go but up. As we grow acreage and processing capacity in sync, the potential for this market is huge.”
Evans, the pragmatist, sees it in operational terms: “We’ve now produced fiber that’s equal to or better than degummed, across multiple product categories. And mills are validating it.
That’s the real proof point.”
The resilience of the crop itself is also encouraging. “Last year we had drought; this year we had monsoons—and we still grew good hemp,” Evans said. “It’s a sturdy fiber crop with real soil health benefits. We’re seeing its potential across a range of conditions.”
The seed mix is evolving, too. Panda continues to trial Asian, Australian and domestic varieties, with an eye toward optimizing fiber quality for its process.
Ultimately, Panda’s leadership team believes U.S. hemp is ready to move from aspirational to operational—filling a real sourcing need for brands navigating the twin pressures of sustainability and supply chain resilience.
“Today, our mechanically-cottonized hemp is the best on the market,” D’Sa said. “Hemp’s return to American mass production is no longer a question of if—but how fast.”
SATERI SCALES FIBER INNOVATIONS AND INDUSTRY PARTNERSHIPS TO ADVANCE MMCF ADOPTION
AAS FIBER PRODUCERS navigate mounting demands for circularity, transparency and climate accountability, Sateri—one of the world’s largest manmade cellulose fiber (MMCF) manufacturers—is ramping up its innovation efforts across the textile value chain.
Here, WenBin Huang, senior sustainability manager at Sateri, discusses how the company is advancing low-impact technologies and pushing for broader downstream adoption of sustainable solutions—from recycled fibers like FINEX® to closed-loop production fibers like lyocell.
SOURCING JOURNAL: How is Sateri expanding the versatility and global reach of its lyocell products, and what role does collaboration across the value chain play in driving innovation?
WenBin Huang: In 2025, Sateri’s Lyocell expanded its business in Jiangsu Changzhou and Shandong Yutai in China. Sateri’s Lyocell end products were also exported to 28 countries across six continents, reinforcing its commitment to developing a more diverse range of lyocell products spanning both textile and nonwoven applications.
To realize the ambition of bringing lyocell fiber into every household, Sateri has partnered with industry leaders to broaden the material’s applications, enabling its use beyond spring and summer and paving the way for autumn and winter innovations.
Meanwhile, through collaborative innovation with upstream and downstream partners across the value chain, Sateri has leveraged lyocell’s fibrillation—the splitting or fraying of fibers into smaller, finer threads or fibrils—characteristics to develop fabrics with a variety
“WE’RE CONSTANTLY EXPANDING THE APPLICATION OF CELLULOSE FIBERS, ENSURING MORE PEOPLE CAN EXPERIENCE THE BENEFITS OF SUSTAINABLE, WOOD-BASED MATERIALS.”
of styles, achieving differentiated innovation. For example, for fabric types requiring suppression or elimination of fibrillation, Sateri introduced three low-fibrillation solutions—both at the fiber level and during the dyeing process. These include cross-linking fibers, in-bath cross-linking—in collaboration with dyeing mills— and post-finishing cross-linking technologies developed with additive suppliers.
How is Sateri advancing its sustainability goals through clean energy adoption and circular fiber innovations?
W.H.: Sateri has significantly improved energy efficiency and reduced reliance on fossil fuels by adopting clean energy initiatives like biomass and photovoltaic (PV) power generation. Notably, biomass power at Sateri’s Lyocell Rizhao, China factory accounts for over 80 percent of its total energy use, showcasing a strong commitment to low-carbon energy adoption.
Additionally, Sateri further reduced the carbon footprint of its products to 1.83 tons so far this year—maintaining its industryleading position in low-carbon emissions. And in 2024, the Changzhou factory generated more than 6,700 MWh of PV electricity, saving the equivalent of over 2,000 tons of standard coal and reducing CO2 emissions by approximately 5,000 tons. Beyond lyocell, Sateri offers a full spectrum of sustainable fiber solutions across the value chain. These include EcoCosy®, a sustainably produced viscose fiber, and FINEX®, a recycled fiber. The company’s 2030 Vision strategy focuses on four core pillars: “Climate and Ecosystem Protection,” “Closed-Loop Production,” “Innovation and Circularity” and “Inclusive Growth.” Sateri’s FINEX® recycled fiber technology advances circular economy practices through innovative material regeneration. In partnership with pulp suppliers, the company transforms post-
consumer textile waste—including discarded denim, cotton garments and mixed fabrics—into highquality recycled fibers. These fibers have received Recycled Claim Standard (RCS) certification and have been used to produce products with up to 50 percent recycled content.
Consumers are increasingly focused on the environment. How is your company working to reduce the industry’s waste problem?
W.H.: Sateri will continue to strengthen its commitment to the cellulose fiber value chain, refining each fiber with meticulous care. We are dedicated to delivering high-performance, eco-friendly products to an even broader range of consumers. At the same time, we’re constantly expanding the application of cellulose fibers, ensuring more people can experience the benefits of sustainable, woodbased materials. ■
RECYCLERS BREAKING GROUND GLOBALLY
by Kate Nishimura
the foremost innovators in the textile-to-textile recycling space are evolving from startups to scale-ups— and manyare taking their operations global.
Over the course of the past year, pilot projects have begun the metamorphosis to commercial scale, generating new partnerships and backing from industry stalwarts, manufacturing experts and forward-thinking brands.
CIRC
The Danville, Va.-based polycotton recycling innovator announced this spring that it’s launching its first commercial-scale facility in Saint-Avold, France, with construction to begin in 2026 and operations targeted to commence in 2028.
The new facility will employ 200 and, once running at full speed, will be able to recycle 70,000 metric tons of blended polycotton textiles each year, separating the polyester and cellulose into usable regenerated materials.
The project has some high-profile backing. First announced by French President Emmanuel Macron’s administration at the 2025 Choose France Summit, it will be supported by national, regional and European Union incentives and supported by engineering partners including Worley, GEA, and Andritz. A robust industrial base and progressive policymaking surrounding circular advancement attracted Circ to the region, its leadership said.
The French facility will serve as a commercial flagship—and just the first outpost in what will become a global network, according to the American company. In the coming years, Circ said it’s looking into North America and Asia as its next destinations for growth.
REJU
France-headquartered textile-to-textile regeneration firm Reju broke the news in May that it had decided on the Chemelot Industrial Park in the Netherlands for its first industrial-scale facility, following the opening of “Regeneration Hub Zero” in Frankfurt, Germany this October.
Regeneration Hub One, as the facility will be called, will help Reju reach its goal of scaling by allowing the innovator to leverage the industrial park’s existing infrastructure. It will be capable of recycling the equivalent of 300 million garments each year, resulting in a production capacity of 50,000 tons of rBHET that will be repolymerized into Reju PET. Derived from textile waste, the new material offers 50 percent lower carbon emissions than virgin polyester, and will be introduced into the supply chain for products like apparel.
The Netherlands Foreign Investment Agency (NFIA), the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management and the Ministry of Climate Policy and Green Growth collaborated with Reju on planning for the facility and its location at Chemelot.
AMBERCYCLE
The Los Angeles, Calif.-based blended textile recycler in January announced that it’s expanding the reach of its upcycled Cycora material in China through a partnership with polyester manufacturer Shenghong Holding Group.
The two companies have worked together since last year to develop regenerated filament yarns using Cycora material, which is made of upcycled polyester. The new partnership will allow the companies to scale production of those yarns in China, an essential production hub for much of the fashion sector.
Leaders in the space are planting worldwide roots.
Ambercycle leadership said the partnership would enable it to scale production, as Shengdong possesses advanced manufacturing capabilities and partnerships with global brands.
The company has employed the strategy before, with the apparent goal of integrating its material seamlessly into international supply chains. In 2023, the company joined forces with Taiwan-based textile manufacturer Shinkong Synthetics, providing pelletized polyester to be extruded into performance and specialty yarns. And in August 2024, Shinkong invested $10 million in Ambercycle for its first state-of-the-art facility.
Ambercycle also partnered with Sri Lanka conglomerate MAS Holdings in 2024, providing enough regenerated polyester to make roughly 10 million garments. Days after entering that agreement, Ambercycle teamed with South Korea-based Hyosung TNC—which is known for its corn-based Creora Spandex—to incorporate Cycora in its supply chains.
E E Reju’s Regeneration Hub Zero material regeneration plant in Frankfurt, Germany.
E The process of creating Ambercycle Cycora, from shredded poly-cotton fabrics to resin pellets and finally, new fiber.
H Recover pioneers its cotton recycling technology in Vietnam.
SYRE
Stockholm, Sweden-based polyester textile recycling company Syre and specialty polyester supplier Selenis announced last fall that they would be teaming up to open a textile-totextile recycling facility in Cedar Creek, N.C., which is slated to open sometime this year.
When fully operational, the plant’s output will reach up to 10,000 metric tons of circular polyester annually, the company said.
A relative newcomer to the space, Syre launched in early 2024 with the goal of establishing a number of textile-to-textile gigascale plants that will produce circular polyester around the world. Syre is building an adjoining facility to Selenis’ Cedar Creek plant to allow for a continuous production flow, with the operations capable of performing a number of processes, from depolymerization to polymerization and PET-chip production.
Zara-owner Inditex, Patagonia and H&M Group have committed $600 million to material produced by Syre.
LOOP
Canadian circular plastics and fiber recycling firm Loop Industries teamed with one of India’s leading manufacturers of specialty polymers to form a new joint venture last year—and construction is underway for a production launch in 2027.
Loop, which recycles plastic waste and polyester textiles into new materials, entered into a 50-50 strategic partnership with Ester Industries to form a new entity called India JV in 2024. The partners said they planned to build and operate a facility to produce low-carbon recycled dimethyl terephthalate (rDMT), recycled mono-ethylene glycol (rMEG)—materials that can be applied across different industries, including textiles.
Known as “Infinite Loop,” the platform will bring together the two companies’ complementary technologies and skill sets. Loop said it would bring the innovative processing capabilities while Ester would provide expertise in sourcing PET and polyester waste feedstocks from the Indian market.
The rDMT and rMEG products created at the Infinite Loop facility will add to Loop’s existing PET and polyester fiber manufacturing business, allowing the company to access new markets and clientele within industries like textiles, automotive, electronics and packaging.
With production scaling up, India JV will be able to bring prices down for interested parties, making them more accessible to a broader market. Together, the partners invested about $165 million into the new venture, and they anticipate that construction will be completed by the end of next year with operations slated to ramp up in early 2027.
RECOVER
Spain-based Recover, which regenerates cotton fibers and cotton fiber blends, announced in December that it would open its latest manufacturing facility in Vietnam, to be operational in 2025.
The facility is the third to be opened in recent years, following a plant launched in Pakistan in 2021 with Artistic Denim Mills and a factory in Bangladesh opened a year later. The Vietnam outpost aims to service the Vietnamese textile production market, the company said.
The factory’s location in the Dong Nai province was chosen strategically for its proximity to apparel and textile production— as well as waste streams—with Vietnam representing the world’s third-largest textile exporter. In December, the firm said the factory would measure about 14,000 square meters and, once operational, produce about 10,000 metric tons of recovered textile fibers.
The facility’s primary output will be RMix, a regenerated cotton-polyester blend. The recycling process eliminates the need to separate the fibers from each other—a consistent hurdle in the textile-to-textile recycling space.
HOW POLARTEC’S FABRIC INNOVATIONS REDUCE IMPACT WITHOUT SACRIFICING PERFORMANCE
TTO ACHIEVE true circularity, the fashion industry must work toward a unified ecosystem— one that begins with designing recyclable fabrics and closes the loop through committed brand and supply chain partnerships. Polartec—a Milliken & Company brand known for its premium, innovative and increasingly sustainable textile solutions—has developed a suite of lower-impact materials, non -PFAS technologies and circularenabled fabric platforms like Shed Less™ and Power Shield™ to help the industry get there.
Here, Karen Beattie, director of product management at Polartec, discusses how the textile manufacturer’s fabrics are pushing the boundaries of performance and sustainability and why it will take all stakeholders to make a real, sustainable change.
SOURCING JOURNAL: Starting from the top, what raw material innovations do you currently have in the works?
Karen Beattie: Over the past year, our steadfast focus on environmental impact has seen Polartec expand its adoption of its Shed Less™ technology to reduce fiber fragment shedding during home laundering across our global line of fabrics. Over the course of this coming year, we will be rolling out raw material developments that enable us to further break away from water and energyintensive jet dyeing to achieve color. Our fabrics—which already use this platform—have achieved a 30 percent reduction in carbon footprint from reduced energy consumption and saved over two gallons of water per yard.
On the topic of material innovations, Polartec recently unveiled an enhanced version of its Power Shield™ fabric. What improvements have been made?
K.B.: Many of our expanded Power Shield™ family of waterproof shell fabrics are crafted from preferred materials like recycled polyester, partially plant-based nylon and non-per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (aka PFAS) membranes and fabrics.
In fact, by removing PFAScontaining materials and switching to recycled or biobased inputs, we are helping lower both our carbon footprint and fossil fuel dependence while offering the durability and technical performance that elite athletes, premier brands and environmentally conscious companies demand.
Power Shield™ RPM represents our next generation of soft-shell innovation. It delivers waterproof, windproof and highly breathable protection using a 100 percent recycled polyester construction on solid colors. It also features a non-PFAS durable water repellent (DWR) treatment, which addresses critical concerns around the use of persistent chemicals without sacrificing performance. Finally, Power Shield™ RPM is designed to be recyclable on
“DRIVING CIRCULARITY REQUIRES ALL STAKEHOLDERS…TO MAKE DIFFERENT CHOICES AND BEHAVE IN DIFFERENT WAYS SO THAT WE CAN FORM A TRUE CIRCLE TOGETHER.”
KAREN BEATTIE , director of product management, Polartec
solid colors provided a collection infrastructure exists, like when a brand partner offers to take back worn-out garments for recycling.
What is the importance of having brand and supply chain partner buy-in to drive circularity forward?
K.B.: We currently offer over 200 fabric styles made from 50 to 100 percent fibers derived from postconsumer recycled (PCR) plastic bottles and are very careful about the materials and treatments we use. Our rigorous commitment to ensuring the highest quality standards so that garments crafted with Polartec materials can be built to last is also important. Supply chains have historically been linear: take, make, use, dispose. Driving circularity requires all stakeholders to
bend toward the center to make different choices and behave in different ways so that we can form a true circle together. When our partners build circularity into their product development from the outset, we’re able to engineer solutions that support end-oflife recovery without sacrificing performance. Without a common systems thinking approach in the industry, however, it will be difficult to move toward more scalable circular models.
Overall, we are constantly innovating material inputs and processes with our footprint in mind. Whether it’s mono-material designs, non-PFAS treatments or circularity-enabling constructions, we are committed to making sure that long-term durability and technical performance are always paired with consideration of environmental impact. ■
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TEXTILE TAKEBACK READY FOR A LEAP FORWARD
is focused on all-polyester textiles, rather than poly-cotton blends and other amalgamated fabrications like some of its competitors. by
since launching its Textile Takeback program three years ago, Unifi has recycled 750 million T-shirts’ worth of fabric and yarn waste into new fibers. c The Yadkinville, N.C.-based maker of sustainable synthetic materials—chief among them its plastic-bottle-based Repreve—is well on its way to reaching a lofty goal of giving new life to 1.5 billion T-shirts’ worth of discarded fabrics by 2030, according to CEO Eddie Ingle. c The textile-totextile-recycling segment of the business represents a “huge opportunity” for Unifi as it steps into a next-gen material future, Ingle told Sourcing Journal. The company aims to see Repreve represent half of its overall revenue in five years, and Ingle wants to see Repreve Takeback fibers—derived mostly from cutting room scraps, but some post-consumer waste—represent up to 30 percent of those earnings. c “We have the ability to scale the production capacity very quickly. We know we’re going to do that as these big brands and retailers gain traction with their adoption,” he said. “That’s what’s going to drive the growth, and we’re ready for that growth.”
The industry-wide movement toward transforming fully formed textiles into viable new fibers and yarns has been underway for several years now, but momentum has been middling and meandering for many innovators, who have run into several challenges. Like its contemporaries in the space, Unifi has struggled with a lackluster publicly or privately driven infrastructure for the collection of textile waste, which is why it’s still relying chiefly on amply available fabric discards sourced from Asian manufacturers.
The company is focused on all-polyester textiles, rather than poly-cotton blends and other amalgamated fabrications like some of its competitors. According to Ingle, that specialization poses very few limitations; 100-percent polyester garments represent about one-quarter of global apparel output. The global polyester yarn market is expected to exceed 90 million tons by 2030.
“We’re focused on getting this fabric that’s on the cutting room floor to be the primary supply initially, as collections programs improve and post-consumer polyester garments become available,” he said, and feedstock is hardly in short supply. Many of the firm’s operations are carried out in Asia— including the Textile Takeback program’s recycling process, which takes place at an undisclosed location convenient to an apparel sourcing hub. It shortens the supply chain for brands that are producing in Asia, Ingle said. Plus, “We know the provenance of the product, and that helps us make sure we have very high yields in our process.”
The company’s thermo-mechanical recycling process has undergone evolutionary improvements since Unifi launched Textile
Unifi
Kate Nishimura
E Stages of the fiber regeneration process, from shredding to pelletizing and extrusion.
H Repreve Takeback yarn.
Takeback in earnest over a year ago. “We’re getting better and better at it; every quarter that goes by, we increase our production levels, there’s less and less waste, our yields are better with more consistency in the whiteness. We know in a year from now, we’ll be even further along in the continuum,” Ingle explained.
When it comes to the formulation, 50 percent regenerated output is blended with 50 percent regular Repreve to ensure the new fibers’ integrity and dyeability. “Plastic bottles are so consistent—they’re clear, they’re very homogeneous,” he said, but working with discarded textile waste makes the formulation a bit trickier, as colored textiles must be sorted out. Those are used to make black recycled fibers, also in high demand from brands.
Currently, Repreve Takeback is available to producers in the U.S., Central America, Asia and Brazil, and the company aims to see its availability expand in the coming months. “We don’t know how the reciprocal tariffs are going to impact that,” the CEO acknowledged, but plenty of brands from across the globe will continue to source from countries that face heavy U.S. duty burdens, like China, so he doesn’t believe adoption will be hampered by America’s trade scuffles.
Unifi is still experiencing both strong intrigue and adoption from its existing customer base—including American brands and retailers—though the price point on the fibers is higher than Repreve and cost-cutting is on everyone’s mind.
According to Ingle, companies typically begin by integrating the material into simple products; California lifestyle brand Faherty recently launched a version of its men’s All Day short made with Repreve Takeback, explaining on its social media that the integration will help it achieve its goal of using 80 percent responsible materials by the end of the year.
Meanwhile, Walmart is perhaps probing more widespread adoption, having launched a single sock style through its Joyspun private intimates line using Repreve Takeback in April. During the first week after its launch, the style became the second-best selling in the Joyspun sock assortment.
Ingle believes these preliminary projects are simply a jumping-off point for most brands—a way of testing the appeal of the material before rolling out more products.
Unifi is also feeling out different categories and sectors as it looks to scale its Textile
a benefit to prioritizing regenerated inputs—a need, even. New environmental regulations in Europe are on the minds of many global brands, and extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) programs are taking hold across markets, from the EU to California.
“The fact that those regulations are going to be European Union-wide very shortly, in the next 12 to 18 months, is driving interest,” Ingle said. “We’re going to be right front and center, and be able to provide a product that can meet the needs of those new regulations in Europe, which will translate eventually to the U.S.”
With companies increasingly on the hook for their ecological output, investments in better materials may end up saving brands money on taxes and fees associated with these new laws, the executive added. “They’re trying to figure out how to do things in the most economical way, and we have an offering
WE HAVE THE ABILITY TO SCALE THE PRODUCTION CAPACITY VERY QUICKLY.” Eddie Ingle, Unifi
Takeback output. There are opportunities in footwear and in automotives; for example, strobels—the fabric component that makes up the bottom of a shoe’s upper— and insulation in cars. The company’s ThermaLoop insulation is made with Repreve Takeback fibers, which are also gaining in popularity with makers of outdoor gear. Despite a cost differential with other virgin and recycled materials, Ingle believes there’s
that is real, that’s scalable, that’s trusted, that’s traceable,” he said. Filament yarns, staple fibers and spun yarns are embedded with the company’s FiberPrint proprietary tracer, allowing their provenance to be verified through Unifi’s certification program.
Such a tool that could help companies prove their sustainable progress. And with transparency becoming a bona-fide business objective, Unifi conducted a third-partyverified Life Cycle Assessment of Repreve Takeback fibers and ThermaLoop last year. It showed that both products reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 42 percent to 77 percent compared to virgin polyester production, and slash energy consumption by 47 percent to 84 percent.
As the company moves forward with introducing the innovation to a broader market, Ingle said, “We’re trying to figure out those places where we can help brands start the Repreve Takeback journey, very similar to what they did 17 years ago to start the Repreve journey.”
“It was a very, very slow ramp up—as people sampled and sampled—but then it suddenly took off,” he added. “We’re still sampling and [moving toward] that endgame. And we’re expecting it to take off.”
E H Textile waste being processed.
E Repreve resin before extrusion into new fibers and yarns.
H A jacket stuffed with ThermaLoop insulation.
Countering Chaos
YOUR CLOTHES, LIVE FROM THE LAB
A new bio-material project also serves as a physical rebuke of the textile industry’s linear, cradle-to-grave model.
by Jasmine Malik Chua
it’s flame-retardant, renewable, compostable and has the mechanical strength and flexibility of cowhide. To hear
Theanne Schiros, an associate professor at New York City’s Fashion Institute of Technology, speak about the “bio-leather” that originated from her lab, you would also swear that it was alive, which it is—or was.
The secret ingredient? A species of bacteria known as Acetobacter xylinus, which gobbles up the sugar in a kombucha-like cocktail to synthesize an organic scaffolding chemically identical to plant cellulose. It’s this resulting microbial nanocellulose, made the way nature knows how to make things, that served as the starting point for a “superstrong, supernatural” material that shuns the heavy land, water and chemical use intrinsic in the production of wood-pulp cellulose.
But more than that, the project also serves as a physical rebuke of what Schiros describes as the textile industry’s linear, cradle-to-grave model—one that is pumping out carbon emissions, befouling waterways with toxic chemicals, and creating mountains of waste in a world that can no longer afford them.
As arguments over fossil fuel-based versus natural textiles continue to heat up, the New York Fashion Innovation Center advisory board member suggests that people think smaller. Microbes, she said, can stoke the ultimate “rapidly regenerating” decentralized manufacturing system, rendering moot the vast distances that materials and components must traverse as part of a highly complex, carbon-intensive global supply chain.
“There’s no hemicellulose, there’s no lignin, there’s no pectin; they just spin nanocellulose,” she said. “And what we’re doing in our lab is really learning a lot about how they do that, so that we can actually have the bacteria spin textiles with programmed-in performance from the bottom up.” Schiros is an old hand at biomaterials.
She is the co-founder and the former scientific director of Algiknit, a startup that is developing a kelp-based bioyarn in a closed loop. She also co-founded Werewool, which uses engineered proteins to create biodegradable textile fibers with DNAprogrammed color and performance. The microbial nanocellulose, a collaboration with Columbia Engineering’s Helen Lu, doesn’t have a snappy name yet, but it faces the same challenges of acceptance, financing and scale before it can cease being a novelty and go toe-to-toe with its incumbent counterparts.
Even so, it’s still early days, with kinks that are only just starting to be worked out. Microbial cellulose tends to absorb moisture, for instance, making it tricky to translate into textile applications without the stabilizing effects of heavy metals or synthetic plasticizers. Frankensteining the material with polyurethane or polychlorinated chemicals, however, would no longer make it “good,” Schiros said. One of the early efforts to circumvent the problem involved tapping into the “ancestral knowledge” of nontoxic tanning of skins using the animal’s brains or other organs.
“We started off actually using a brain from the butcher,” she said. Later, her lab developed a sunflower seed-based analog that produced the same results without compromising the material’s biodegradability. Next came experiments with soy-based bio-inks to stay “within the nature framework.” Then the researchers thought: Why limit themselves to mimicking animal leather?
“The application is immense, but for us, our focus is textiles and circumventing a lot of the drawbacks in terms of meeting both the functional criteria and the sustainable criteria of reducing footprints,” said Romare Antrobus, a post-doc scientist at FIT who has been working alongside Schiros and Lu to hone the material. “We see a lot of
companies out there trying to do leathers, but I think textiles are a good bet since they are one of the main challenges that everyone’s facing right now.”
A silk-lined prototype overcoat that Schiros and company tapped New York/L.A. suitwear designer Ash Owens to design and construct has more in common with waxed cotton canvas than anything bovine-related. Indigo blocks and pinstripes were screenprinted on to recall their stock-in-trade and give the garment more of a macintosh feel.
Owens, who identifies as non-binary, knew instinctively not to box the microbial cellulose into preexisting notions of what a textile is and how it should behave. Instead, they let the material speak for itself, a process which they described as akin to playing jazz—“you play a note and then I play a note.”
“This is allowed to be something that I’ve never experienced,” Owens said, noting that one panel of material could have quirks that another might not, even in terms of something as foundational as accepting a needle and thread. (The thread, they found, had to be waxed to make its progress smoother.) “Instead of expecting it to do something, it was instead being like, ‘O.K., what happens when we do this?’ In the construction of the material, that’s where I think there’s a lot of discovery yet to be made.”
Antrobus knows that getting the industry to embrace innovation requires more than meeting material standards. People, he said, don’t like change.
“I think we know that people want something that brings them comfort. They want something to remind them of that luxury or that feel that they’re used to,” he said. “As a material scientist, I’m thinking about performance, but I’m also thinking about can I give you that?”
Cost is another overwhelming factor. Schiros did the math: the biggest cost lever is the media—that is, what you feed the
WE SEE A LOT OF COMPANIES OUT THERE TRYING TO DO LEATHERS, BUT I THINK TEXTILES ARE A GOOD BET SINCE THEY ARE ONE OF THE MAIN CHALLENGES THAT EVERYONE’S FACING RIGHT NOW.” Romare Antrobus, FIT
F A silk-lined
bacteria—which can be obtained from local beverage waste streams with the added benefit of eliminating food excess. The next is the energy that goes into running a factory. With a few tweaks here and there, she thinks the microbial nanocellulose could hit close to cost parity with traditional and alternative leathers. At the same time, getting brands to understand this would only be the first step. There’s still plenty of socializing to do in the supply chain to integrate new materials and processes in a way that would essentially be plug and play.
“Personally, as an educator, I love this storytelling aspect,” she said. “It’s this ultimate food and fibers narrative, right? When you’re done with your food, you feed that to a microorganism that makes you more fibers. And when you’re done with your textiles, it becomes food again. I’d love to see more of the material in the world, but it’s also the thinking that I’d love to see more of in the world, too.”
prototype overcoat designed by Ash Owens using the material.
SUSTAINABLE STRETCH: BIO-DERIVED LYCRA® FIBER PREPARES FOR ITS COMMERCIAL DEBUT
TTHE LYCRA® FIBER that the industry and consumers frequently turn to for high-quality stretch, comfort and performance will soon be available in a new bioderived formulation.
In 2022, The LYCRA Company announced a strategic collaboration with Qore® to bring to market the world’s first large-scale production of bioderived LYCRA® fiber made with QIRA®. A key ingredient in LYCRA® fiber is BDO (1,4-butanediol), which today is produced from fossil-based resources. QIRA® is the brand name for a next-generation BDO from Qore® that is made from dent corn. Soon, nearly 70 percent of the LYCRA® fiber content will be derived from this annually renewable resource, thereby helping to reduce the spandex’s carbon footprint.
Ahead of the fiber’s market launch later this year, Steve Stewart, chief product officer at The LYCRA Company, shares how the fiber maker is working to scale up volumes and how brands and retailers can soon integrate bioderived LYCRA® fiber made with QIRA® into their own products.
SOURCING JOURNAL: Bioderived LYCRA® fiber is launching this fall. What are the final steps in your journey toward commercialization?
Steve Stewart: The 65-kiloton Qore® site producing QIRA® BDO came online in May and is now fully operational. In its final form, QIRA® will be shipped to our partner Dairen, who converts it into bio-derived polytetramethylene ether glycol (PTMEG). The PTMEG is then
sent to our manufacturing facility, where it’s mixed with other ingredients to create bio-derived LYCRA® fiber. From there, the fiber is shipped around the globe to mills, yarn processors and garment makers, who turn it into stretch fabrics, garments and personal care products.
As we gear up for full-scale commercialization, we are working closely with early adopters on volume commitments and finalizing our marketing activity to promote our goto-market launch across the apparel value chain.
What do manufacturers and brands need to know about using LYCRA® fiber made with QIRA®?
S.S.: Bio-derived LYCRA® fiber is a drop-in solution. It delivers equivalent stretch, strength and durability as traditional LYCRA® fiber, with no re-engineering of fabrics, processes or garment patterns required. It can be blended with the same companion fibers used today to make a variety of garments.
Bio-derived LYCRA® fiber made with QIRA® has the potential to reduce carbon emissions by up to 44 percent* versus traditional LYCRA® fiber. This product will likewise enable our customers including mills, brands and retailers to help reduce their own product footprints.
“COLLABORATION ACROSS THE SUPPLY CHAIN IS CRITICAL TO ACHIEVING OUR COLLECTIVE SUSTAINABILITY GOALS.”
STEVE STEWART , chief product officer, The LYCRA Company
You’ve worked with some mills and manufacturers to preview LYCRA® fiber made with QIRA®. What has been the industry response so far?
S.S.: The response has been overwhelmingly positive. Our customers appreciate the level of transparency and traceability we’ve provided in the process of making a bio-derived offering. Several leading brands, retailers and mills have even visited the Qore® site in Iowa and have met some of the farmers who grow the corn that will be sourced to make QIRA®.
Given this industry interest, how are you preparing to meet the current and future demand for this sustainable innovation?
S.S.: The Qore® site will deliver consistent, commercial-scale volumes. Our long-term goal is to transition all LYCRA® fibers to bioderived versions. In the near term, we’re targeting about one-third of our production, with plans to scale up as Qore® expands operations.
What is one piece of advice you would give to the industry for improving the material development process?
S.S.: Collaboration across the supply chain is critical to achieving our collective sustainability goals. Our partnership with Qore® is a perfect example of the vital importance of such collaboration. To accelerate sustainable material innovation in the industry, fiber innovators, mills, brands and recyclers must work together to significantly reduce their environmental impact and build a more responsible industry. No single player can drive change alone; we need to share data, align goals and invest in scalable solutions together. ■
*Estimate from Cradle-to-Gate Screening LCA for a representative LYCRA® fiber manufacturing facility, June 2022, prepared by Ramboll Americas Engineering Solutions, Inc.
CARBON CAUGHT IN THE CLOSET
Cotton Incorporated’s research evaluating cotton apparel with dynamic life cycle assessment begins unraveling the climate benefits of temporary biogenic carbon storage. by
Alexandra Harrell
is your closet a carbon treasure trove? It’s possible, according to a new study from Cotton Incorporated. Sourcing Journal got in the weeds with Steven Pires, the notfor-profit’s associate director of sustainability, to clear the air.
Conducted by Cotton Incorportated with the Cotton Research and Development Corporation (CRDC) of Australia and North Carolina State University (NSCU), the research considered cotton’s previouslyunaccounted-for biogenic carbon storage ability. That research—titled “Evaluating Cotton Apparel with Dynamic Life Cycle Assessment: The Climate Benefits of Temporary Biogenic Carbon Storage” as published in NCSU’s international journal, BioResources—found that cotton apparel provides a climate benefit of 22 percent over 10 years.
“It’s not like I’ve unlocked some new research,” said Pires, an author of the peerreviewed article. “It’s essentially always been happening.”
SJ: Can you help define biogenic carbon—and how it relates to cotton and climate impact?
Steven Pires: Biogenic carbon is just any carbon atom stored within a biomaterial for any length of time. In this case, it’s a cotton plant that pulls carbon dioxide from the atmosphere during the growth phase via photosynthesis. That carbon is then metabolized and becomes part of the plant’s cell wall as cellulose; cotton lint is about 95 percent cellulose, and roughly 44 percent of that is carbon. Life cycle assessment, or LCA, is the environmental accounting framework we use to capture the full picture of inputs and outputs in a product system. Most LCAs use a static model, which assumes all emissions
occur within the first year. But for a biobased material like cotton, that doesn’t reflect reality. The carbon in my shirt, for instance, was pulled from the atmosphere when it was a plant, and now it’s stored in the garment for potentially years. A dynamic LCA accounts for the timing of emissions—how carbon is released slowly over the course of a product’s life rather than all at once. In our study, we used cumulative radiative forcing to measure the climate benefit over time. It’s essentially a way to quantify how much additional warming each greenhouse gas contributes to the atmosphere, year by year.
SJ: How long is carbon actually stored in cotton garments, and how do you model that through the product’s life cycle?
S.P.: We used the Global Cotton Life Cycle Assessment that Cotton conducted in 2017 as our case study. It models the cradle-to-grave journey of a cotton product—in this case, a pair of woven pants—across an estimated eight-year lifespan. That timeline breaks down into about a year each for production and manufacturing, four years for the use phase— based on our consumer research—and another two years for end-of-life. That last stage includes landfilling, incineration and what’s referred to as ‘wild landfill,’ meaning discarded items that end up as litter and biodegrade over time. What our research explored was how carbon enters the system as the cotton plant grows and then gradually re-releases over those eight years. We also evaluated different scenarios—such as incentivizing regenerative agriculture or reusing garments as insulation—to see how turning up certain variables could amplify the climate benefit. All of it was benchmarked against a baseline LCA scenario where the product is simply discarded at end-of-life.
SJ: What are the differences between static and dynamic LCAs? Any benefits to taking a dynamic approach?
S.P.: The main difference is timing. A static LCA works under the assumption that all emissions occur in year one versus what we know is a little more true, that it slowly trickles through time. That’s the main thing this scenario was comparing. We converted the static LCA to a dynamic one and compared the difference: an up to 22 percent difference over 10 years. The other benefit to this dynamic approach is you can model emissions across any time horizon—10, 12, 15 years—because it’s integration through time; it lets you get a little more nuanced with the actual results. Most published LCAs—including this one we published in 2017—use a 100-year global warming potential: the GWP 100. And while that result is interesting, our climate targets today are much shorter-term. Biobased products like cotton are being undervalued because those short-term climate benefits aren’t being accounted for. This isn’t new or speculative. It’s already happening—every cotton garment is storing carbon temporarily, and yet there’s no current framework that allows brands to take credit for that.
SJ: What happens to the carbon stored in cotton when the garment is disposed of—landfilled, composted, incinerated?
S.P.: The climate benefit comes from temporarily storing carbon that would otherwise be in the atmosphere—and cumulative radiative forcing allows us to quantify that benefit over time. The longer the carbon is stored, the greater the benefit. But at end-of-life, if the garment goes to a landfill, the carbon is eventually re-emitted. And because natural materials degrade anaerobically in the landfill—meaning there’s no oxygen—it doesn’t just release carbon dioxide; it produces methane as well, which is a far more potent greenhouse gas. That’s why landfill diversion is so important. Composting,
IT’S NOT ONE-SIZE-FITS-ALL. YOU’VE GOT TO ADAPT AND EXPERIMENT. THE MORE STRATEGIES YOU LAYER—REGENERATIVE AG, LONGER PRODUCT USE, SMART END-OF-LIFE DECISIONS—THE MORE OPPORTUNITY YOU CREATE TO REDUCE CLIMATE IMPACT.” Steven Pires, Cotton Incorporated
for example, still results in emissions, but if it’s done aerobically and correctly, you can avoid methane during decomposition. Incineration with energy recovery, which we also modeled, isn’t ideal but does have some benefits by generating bioenergy. And using cotton as insulation—like in the Blue Jeans Go Green program—extends carbon storage even further. If we can show that our choices change these outcomes, then carbon programs should recognize that. And many already do, especially when it comes to avoiding methane emissions from landfill diversion.
SJ: How do regenerative practices improve cotton’s climate performance?
S.P.: Regenerative practices—like cover cropping, no-till and nutrient management— amplify the upfront benefit. They increase soil carbon sequestration and reduce emissions from inputs like fertilizer. But you don’t need regen ag to get the benefit—cotton already
sequesters carbon just by being a plant. These practices simply turn up the dial. Same with durability. In one scenario, we modeled what happens if you double a garment’s lifespan from four to eight years. That alone showed a 28 percent reduction in cumulative radiative forcing. But right now, brands have little incentive to prioritize longevity. They’re not allowed to count that benefit. That’s part of what’s frustrating. The short-term climate benefit exists—but current accounting frameworks don’t recognize it. If brands had visibility across the life cycle of their products and were rewarded for making climatebeneficial decisions, it could change behavior throughout the supply chain.
SJ: Are brands starting to validate carbon storage or experimenting with different end-of-life pathways?
S.P.: We’re starting to see brands get interested—especially those focused on circularity and avoiding traditional endof-life routes. Our research shows clear environmental benefits from diverting cotton from landfills, whether that’s through composting, denim-to-insulation programs like Blue Jeans Go Green, or even turning textile waste into biochar. One additional emerging idea we’re exploring is biomass burial and bio-sequestration—essentially encapsulating garments and burying them so they don’t biodegrade. That’s more long-term, but things like composting and insulation can happen right now. These aren’t just theoretical scenarios—they’re real, tangible options for reducing climate impact today.
SJ: Do other natural or cellulosic fibers offer similar benefits, or is cotton uniquely positioned because of scale?
S.P.: Synthetic fibers, like polyester, are petroleum-based; there’s no biogenic carbon in them at all. That’s fossil carbon—it doesn’t biodegrade, which means it can persist in the environment for hundreds of years. Other natural fibers, like wool or manmade cellulosics, do store carbon, but they come with their own environmental tradeoffs— especially in how they’re processed. Cotton stands out because of its global scale and its simpler processing pathway. Could hemp or others play a role? Sure. But if we’re talking about scalable carbon storage potential, it makes sense to focus on cotton. That’s where the most meaningful climate benefit can be made right now.
SJ: Is there a risk this gets greenwashed? Could brands overstate or misuse the climate benefit?
S.P.: There’s always a risk of bad actors misrepresenting the science, and that’s what greenwashing is—intentionally misleading claims about environmental benefits. But in this case, the science is clear: cotton does store carbon, and storing it longer increases the benefit. If you can prove you’re doing things like growing cotton regeneratively or diverting garments from the landfill, why not talk about it? Transparency should be the bar—not perfection. We shouldn’t let the fear of greenwashing stop legitimate progress. Right now, no one’s quantifying this benefit. But it’s happening. Every cotton garment in every closet is storing carbon, and there’s a real opportunity to amplify that through better decisions.
H
Calik offers tailored comfort with the Leisure Luxe collection.
BIO-BASED BRAS: HOW GELMART IS CLOSING INTIMATE APPAREL’S SUSTAINABILITY GAP
MMANY MATERIALS that intimates brands rely on for functionality—such as polyurethane foam for bra pads— are produced from fossil fuels and come at an environmental cost: high emissions, water use and energy consumption.
Seeking an alternative, Gelmart International developed the sugarcane-based sugarcup™ that has a smaller environmental footprint than conventional foams with comparable performance. Here, Eve Bastug, chief product officer at Gelmart International, discusses why sugarcane was the right fit and how the manufacturer designed the sugarcup™ for accessibility.
SOURCING JOURNAL: Why did Gelmart set out to create a plantbased bra cup?
Eve Bastug: It stemmed from a combination of environmental responsibility and industry innovation. As sustainability has become a growing focus in fashion, intimate apparel has lagged in adopting ecoconscious practices. Gelmart recognized this gap and took it as an opportunity to lead change in a space that historically relied heavily on synthetic materials like polyurethane foam. Rather than responding to a single external pressure, the move was driven by internal goals to innovate sustainably, while aligning with evolving consumer values and retail expectations for greener product offerings.
How did you land on sugarcane as the bio ingredient? Could you share how you developed and engineered the sugarcup™?
E.B.: Sugarcane emerged as the ideal candidate due to its renewability and minimal
“BY OFFERING AN ECO-CONSCIOUS OPTION AT A MAINSTREAM PRICE POINT, GELMART HELPED REMOVE A KEY BARRIER TO ADOPTION.”
EVE BASTUG , chief product officer, Gelmart International
environmental footprint. Gelmart collaborated with Braskem to use their proprietary I’m green™ bio-based EVA and PE—a plastic derived from sugarcane ethanol. Sugarcane can capture carbon dioxide during cultivation, contributing to lower lifecycle emissions compared to fossil fuel-based plastics. However, incorporating bio-based materials into performance products like bra cups isn’t without challenges. Bio-EVA/PE must replicate the comfort, flexibility and durability of traditional foam, all while maintaining consistency at scale. There’s also the complexity of integrating these materials into
existing manufacturing lines, which often requires retooling or creating new processing techniques.
The sugarcup™ was the result of over three years of dedicated research and development. We invested in developing a sustainable foam that wouldn’t compromise on functionality, and Braskem’s expertise in green plastics allowed us to create a bio-based EVA/PE foam that could match the support, shape retention and softness required in lingerie. This partnership exemplifies how cross-industry collaboration can bring eco-friendly solutions to traditionally less sustainable product categories.
The sugarcup™ debuted at Walmart under Gelmart’s Kindly brand. How and why did you develop the sugarcup™ for affordability?
E.B.: One of Gelmart’s core goals with the sugarcup™ was to make sustainable lingerie accessible to the average consumer. We developed a cost-effective production model by leveraging economies of scale, strategic material sourcing and efficient manufacturing techniques. Braskem worked directly with a supplier of scalable biobased materials, reducing overall costs. This affordability has played a major role in the product’s success. Consumers are increasingly interested in sustainability but are often deterred by high price tags. By offering an eco-conscious option at a mainstream price point, Gelmart helped remove a key barrier to adoption. The positive response to the Kindly brand— and the sugarcup™ in particular— signals a growing appetite for sustainable innovation in everyday apparel.
Looking ahead, what other material innovations are in the works at Gelmart?
E.B.: Building on the success of the sugarcup™, we are exploring new bio-based alternatives to replace traditional synthetics across more product components. A key focus area is circularity— designing products that are not only made from renewable resources but also easier to recycle or reuse at the end of their lifespan. This forward-thinking approach is helping redefine what sustainable lingerie can look and feel like, without sacrificing quality or performance.
Additionally, Gelmart’s subsidiary, Fullstride Ventures, is expanding its sustainability mission beyond intimates, investing in innovation across other lifestyle categories, including footwear, activewear and sporting goods. These efforts are rooted in the same principles of reducing reliance on fossil-based plastics, incorporating renewable materials and building more responsible supply chains. ■
CORE
Jak Shoes reimagines a best-selling silhouette in AppleSkin, teaming with Italy’s Mabel Industries to bring fruit waste to the forefront.
VALUES
by Alex Harrell
it’s tough to make an apples-to-apples comparison between bovine leather and its plant-based counterparts, yet the alternative leather market is ripening fast. According to Business Research Insights, plant-based vegan leather is sprouting into a multi-billion-dollar business, growing from $2.5 billion in 2024 to a projected $8.2 billion by 2033. c Portuguese footwear label Jak is the latest to take a bite. Its first vegan sneaker, made with apple leather, just landed at Selfridges London—marking both a material milestone and the brand’s retail debut in the United Kingdom. c “At Jak, we’ve always believed in designing products that are not only aesthetically timeless but also ethically conscious,” said co-founder José Maria Reffoios. “We’ve seen growing interest from our community in alternatives to traditional leather; introducing a vegan sneaker felt like a natural step forward.”
To make it happen, Jak partnered with Italian manufacturer Mabel Industries, reworking a best-selling silhouette in AppleSkin—a biobased material made from waste generated by the fruit juice industry.
“The idea behind AppleSkin is to transform this waste into new sustainable raw materials for the production of leather-like fabrics,” said Umberto Bacenetti, CEO of Mabel Industries. “Every ton of apple waste that we save from the incinerator’s flames means a ton less of polyurethane used in our production.”
Just outside of Florence, AppleSkin is produced through a coagulation process that swaps out 50 percent of (what would otherwise be) fossil fuel inputs with biobased inputs—the apple industry’s trash.
“We were fascinated by how AppleSkin repurposes food waste—specifically, apple peels and cores—into something durable,
stylish, sustainable,” Reffoios said. “It aligns beautifully with our ethos: taking something organic and giving it new life through design.”
AppleSkin comprises 20-plus products, each made with different processes, per Bacentti, produced in compliance with REACH regulation. With up to 24 percent apple content and 19 percent cotton, this biobased material mitigates the amount of polyurethane (PU) needed, saving around 12 pounds of carbon dioxide per kilogram of apple residuals used.
“AppleSkin is made entirely in Italy. The apple waste is sourced from the food industry in South Tyrol, where apples are processed for juice and other products,” the compay said. “We transform this waste into usable material in Italy, where it’s mixed with polyurethane and applied to a backing for durability.”
To recap: The process begins in the country’s apple-producing province, where an estimated 30,000 tons of waste are reused for fruit leather production. These byproducts are recovered by Frumat, a Bolzano-based company that pulverizes the apple castoffs into powder. Mabel uses this powder in place of oil derivatives (such as polyurethane foam) to create what it bills as a vegan swap for bovine leather.
“Consumers often assume ‘vegan’ equals ‘100 percent natural,’ but most vegan leathers today still contain synthetic elements—like polyurethane—to ensure performance,” the company said. “Our goal with AppleSkin is to reduce reliance on petroleum-based ingredients by incorporating waste and biocontent, not to suggest it’s fully biodegradable or compostable.”
That was fine by Jak.
“The industry is becoming more receptive to material innovation; we think this shoe will show that you can create premium products without relying on animal leather,” said Reffoios.
It’s worth repeating that AppleSkin, like virtually all non-animal leather alternatives, is produced with a PU coating. The organic substance is used as a substitute for oil-based derivatives like the staple ingredient for much of the alt-leather available on the market.
“The composition is approximately 20-30 percent apple waste and 70-80 percent PU and textile support, depending on the variant and intended use,” according to Mabel. “We’re always working to increase the bio-content and reduce fossil-based inputs, but maintaining durability—especially for footwear—requires that balance, for now.”
The Jak S01 Vegan AS White model trainers feature an AppleSkin and cotton upper, as sourced from India, Turkey, Portugal and Spain. Also originating from Spain is the shoe’s microfiber lining—Grupo Morón’s onSteam— which has an absorption capacity of eight times its weight in water.
“We expect positive reception, especially from conscious consumers looking for quality vegan options,” Reffoios said. “The fact that it’s made in Europe, close to home, also means we can trace its environmental footprint more closely.”
The recycled, vegetable-tanned leather midsoles and semi-recycled (up to 70 percent) rubber soles provide sustainable durability, while removable coconut fiber insoles offer natural support. Complete with cotton laces, the trainers are about 30 percent lighter than the animal incumbent.
While AppleSkin mimics leather in feel and look, it’s its own material with different strengths; it shouldn’t necessarily be judged by traditional leather standards.
“While AppleSkin is a strong material, it behaves differently from leather—especially during lasting and stitching,” Reffoios said.
“We had to make subtle design adjustments to ensure the final product lived up to our comfort and durability standards.”
Jak’s shoes are handcrafted in Felgueiras, a northern Portuguese region known for its rich shoemaking tradition, Reffoios continued, as evidenced by Jak’s relationships.
“We work with a family-run factory that we’ve partnered with since the beginning of Jak,” he said. “Their expertise has been essential in helping us transition to working with alternative materials like AppleSkin.”
All to say, this is just the beginning for apple (among others, perhaps) Jaks.
“Mabel is constantly evolving their materials; we’re already in conversations about future collaborations with them along with other material science innovators,” Reffoios said. “As they develop new innovations, we want to be right there exploring what’s possible.”
WE’VE SEEN GROWING INTEREST FROM OUR COMMUNITY IN ALTERNATIVES TO TRADITIONAL LEATHER; INTRODUCING A VEGAN SNEAKER FELT LIKE A NATURAL STEP FORWARD.” José Maria Reffoios, Jak
HOW SUSTAINABILITY, SCALABILITY AND TRANSPARENCY ARE SHAPING TECHNICAL TEXTILES
TTHREE TIMES A YEAR, trade show platform Functional Fabric Fair convenes performance textile makers and buyers to showcase the latest developments. With a bird’s eye view from the exhibition floor, the show’s event vice president Steve McCullough has seen three major sustainability trends on the rise: circular materials, bio-based alternatives— from pineapple to algae and beyond—and materials with builtin traceability technology.
As McCullough discusses below, sustainability has become a nonnegotiable for consumers, and their performance expectations are escalating. He also shares how the industry can better collaborate to bring new innovations to market and why performance fabrics are best positioned for a potential Made-in-America comeback.
SOURCING JOURNAL: What is the most pressing issue for the industry to address with material R&D?
Steve McCullough: Scalability.
I see incredible innovations on our show floor every edition, but too many of them are stuck in the lab or can only produce tiny quantities. We’ve got breakthrough materials that perform amazingly but can’t get to market because nobody’s figured out how to make them at scale without breaking the bank. The gap between “this is amazing” and “this is commercially viable” is still way too wide.
My advice? Start building relationships with brands early, even before you’re ready for market. Get them involved in your development process. And don’t underestimate the power of small batch partnerships to prove your concept.
It can be daunting for brands to switch inputs. What are some best practices to make the swap more seamlessly?
S.M.: Start small and test everything. Pick one product line or even one colorway to pilot with. Also, bring your manufacturing partners into the conversation early. Too many brands fall in love with a material only to find out their factories can’t work with it. And here’s something people forget: Communicate the change to your customers. If you’re switching to something better, tell that story. Consumers appreciate transparency, and it helps justify any price adjustments.
What top attributes are consumers seeking in performance attire? And how does this compare to five years ago?
S.M.: Five years ago, it was all about moisture wicking and stretch. Now, consumers are way more sophisticated. They want multifunctional pieces that work for the gym, the office and everything in between. And sustainability isn’t just nice to have anymore; it’s expected. The biggest change is temperature regulation. People want fabrics that adapt to their body and environment—cooling when they’re hot, warming when
“THE GAP BETWEEN ‘THIS IS AMAZING’ AND ‘THIS IS COMMERCIALLY VIABLE’ IS STILL WAY TOO WIDE.”
STEVE MCCULLOUGH , event vice president, Functional Fabric Fair
they’re cold. It’s not just about performance anymore; it’s about intelligent performance.
How are you building your show experiences to meet the textile market’s needs?
S.M.: We’re continuing to get more hands on, providing lounges, events, activations, demonstrations and learning opportunities. Our returning Trend Forum area features industry expert-curated displays of 12 essential sustainabilityfocused fabric categories, providing a comprehensive look at innovative materials.
Attendees can deepen industry connections at networking events and stay informed via the Expert Talks educational sessions addressing topics such as color and trend forecasting, emerging textile technologies, garment and design and tariff navigation. New to our upcoming July New York City edition is the Day 0 Sustainability Workshop, a full-day conference dedicated
to sustainable strategy with expert-led seminars, hands-on workshops, case studies and roundtable discussions.
Do you expect the trade environment to spark more Made-in-America textiles and sourcing?
S.M.: I’m cautiously optimistic. The tariff situation is pushing brands to look closer to home. But realistically, we’re not going to rebuild a complete textile ecosystem overnight.
We’ll see the biggest gains in technical textiles and performance materials, where the U.S. can compete on innovation rather than just cost. Plus, when you’re dealing with specialized materials, having your R&D and production in the same time zone makes a huge difference. The infrastructure is coming, but it’s going to be selective. We’re not bringing back commodity textile production, but we’re definitely building capabilities in the high-value, high-tech segments. ■
FASHION with a Conscience
SUSTAINABLE FABRICS REDEFINING ACTIVE LIVING
Discover What’s Next in Performance Fabrics
Join us at Functional Fabric Fair Summer 2025, the premier textile tradeshow in North America, where cutting-edge performance textiles meet fashion-forward innovation. Explore the intersection of style, function, and sustainability in outdoor, lifestyle, and activewear design. Experience tomorrow’s trends today and discover the materials, technologies, and textures that will shape the Spring/ Summer 2026 season and beyond.
From high-performance textiles engineered for movement and durability to trend-driven fabrics that blend fashion and function, this must-attend event is where designers, product developers, buyers, and materials managers come together to source the latest innovations. Engage in oneon-one conversations with industry leaders, experience exclusive special events, and gain invaluable education and training to stay ahead of the curve.
NEW! Day 0 Sustainability Workshop – July 21
Kick off your Functional Fabric Fair experience with our debut of the Day 0 Sustainability Workshop on July 21, one day before the exhibit hall opens. Join industry experts as they explore key sustainability topics with a practical, real-world approach. Throughout the day, manufacturers will share insightful case studies, showcasing sustainable textile innovations in action.
Attendees and exhibitors will engage in interactive roundtable discussions and hands-on activities, gaining valuable insights and actionable strategies to integrate sustainability into their business models.
Be part of the future of performance-driven fashion and textiles—join us in New York City this July!
THE GREEN RUSH
After a couple of quiet years, venture capital is back in the next-gen space. by Alex Harrell
biomaterials startups pulled in $392 million during the first quarter of 2025 alone, per Net Zero Insights—a sign that investors are coming back. After peaking at $1.7 billion in 2022, the sector cooled in 2023, per World Bio Market Insights, and then saw just $583 million in new funding through 2024.
If quarterly investment holds steady for the rest of the year, 2025 could close with roughly $1.5 billion poured into biomaterials— rivaling its previous high.
The reason? Fashion’s footprint isn’t shrinking fast enough, and established fabrics are part of the problem. Textile Exchange’s 2023 Material Market Report placed more
than half of global fiber production as fossilfuel-based. The climate crisis has created an urgent need—and a clear market opening—for scalable, low-impact alternatives.
“The way clothes are manufactured touches nearly every part of the industrial supply chain, and the environmental impact is massive. Many consumers are still unaware of the true environmental cost of not just creating, but then disposing of even one T-shirt,” said Sabriya Stukes, a partner at SOSV and chief scientific officer of its IndieBio life sciences program. “Now, with the rise of fast fashion and new regulations (potentially) on the horizon—as we see it, the future of
fashion isn’t just about style, it’s a critical frontier for climate action.”
As a global venture capital firm giving deeptech founders multi-stage investments, SOSV operates its various programs in New York City and San Francisco (aka the IndieBio accelerator) and in Newark (aka HAX). The endeavor’s ecosystem spans the globe, with 800-plus startups operating across 40 countries.
“At SOSV, we believe biology, chemistry and engineering can create a better process— whether that’s creating new materials, rethinking production infrastructure, finding novel ways to reuse waste,” Stukes said. “But, we also know that new materials alone won’t
After securing $85 million in a Series B round in 2022, Natural Fiber Welding’s Mirum material was featured in Melina Bucher’s “Money Moves” collection.
solve the problem. That’s why we back the startups developing the machines and tools needed to bring these innovations into the real world—and our daily lives—as well.”
From Abercrombie to Zara, brands need alternatives that scale. As venture capitalists continue funding efforts to turn green experiments into mainstream fabrics, tomorrow’s wardrobe could be grown in a lab rather than pumped out of a petrochemical plant.
One executive believes material innovation in fashion is “stronger than ever,” especially as the environmental impact of the industry becomes more urgent and visible.
“From the start, we’ve focused on supporting disruptive ideas that can fundamentally change the industry,” Vanessa Cheung, founder of The Mills Fabrica, said. “That commitment hasn’t wavered. We truly believe that, disruptive, science-driven, scalable solutions are the only way to create real impact for the industry, consumers and the planet.”
The Hong Kong-based innovation accelerator has seen “real momentum” toward dyeing, developing next-generation materials, new ways of manufacturing and a serious push for circularity, Cheung continued. She noted that Fabrica has focused on upstream innovations in recognition that approximately 70 percent of the industry’s environmental impact originates from the upstream side of the supply chain.
THE WAY CLOTHES ARE MANUFACTURED TOUCHES NEARLY EVERY PART OF THE INDUSTRIAL SUPPLY CHAIN, AND THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT IS MASSIVE.”
Sabriya Stukes, SOSV
“By focusing our efforts here, we aim to address the root causes of environmental harm and drive meaningful change at scale. That’s why we continue to invest our energy and resources into supporting innovations in the materials space,” Cheung said. “The journey is ongoing, but our belief in the power of material innovation to drive sustainable change has only grown stronger over time.”
Scaling disruptive technologies in Asia’s manufacturing hubs requires a “fundamental reorganization” of existing supply chains, which inevitably brings both technical and economic barriers.
“Technically, new ways of dyeing often demand new machinery, while recycled fibers require extensive testing to ensure they meet structural and quality standards,” Cheung said. “Bridging this technological gap is not easy— it requires capital, close collaboration, and time—especially from startups trying to break into established networks.”
Economic challenges will naturally follow.
“New materials and technologies usually come with a higher price tag, which can slow adoption in a highly cost-sensitive industry,” Cheung said. “This is where regulation has a vital role to play: by properly pricing in the environmental externalities of traditional processes, regulation can help level the playing field and encourage investment in innovation.”
Cultural acceptance is also a key factor.
“Increased awareness of sustainability is critical to shifting consumer preferences, encouraging more people to pay a small premium for innovative products,” Cheung said. This, in turn, signals to manufacturers and brands that there’s market demand for sustainable solutions, motivating them to invest further in developing and scaling new technologies. In this sense, she added, demand and supply are two sides of the same coin.
“Ultimately, these barriers must be addressed from all three angles, Cheung said. “Success will require openmindedness toward upfront investment, strong partnerships across the value chain, supportive regulation and continued efforts to drive consumer awareness.”
Navigating the supply chain “valley of death” is often one of the toughest hurdles for startups—especially those aiming to disrupt the textile and apparel industry, Cheung said. She’s seen many founders reach this daunting stage—providing support through that process is a big reason why the solutions platform accelerating tech-enabled ESG innovations exists.
“Collaboration over competition is what’s going to help us all win,” Stukes said, advocating for holistic approaches, like investing in both infrastructure and new materials, to address concerns from different perspectives. “For every next-gen materials company we back—like Gozen, Tom Tex and Keel Labs—we want to support the future of manufacturing with investments—like Smartex, Unspun and Silana.”
To evaluate scalability for novel materials, investors usually consider performance, production and price parity.
SOSV’s limited partners—ranging from corporates to sovereign wealth funds to mission-driven family offices—are united by the mutual desire to back high-impact innovation with real commercial potential.
“They turn to us to identify and invest in companies that can ultimately generate both strong financial returns and measurable climate outcome,” she said.
GREEN SHOOTS
Notable portfolios in the SOSV ecosystem.
GOZEN BIOWORKS
The Istanbul-based developer of Lunaform, an animal-free leather alternative that debuted in Balenciaga’s Summer 2024 collection at Paris Fashion Week. SOSV invested $525,00 in preseed in 2022 and $400,000 in seed in 2023.
“There is a lot of competition now in animal free leather,” Po Bronson, managing director of IndieBio, Gozen’s first investor, said in a statement. “But I believed that Gozen’s approach could surpass all others in both performance and economics.”
KEEL LABS
The Morrisville, North Carolina-based minds behind Kelsun, an ocean-powered solution used by Stella McCartney and Outerknown. SOSV invested $100,000 in pre-seed in 2017, $280,000 in seed in 2018 and $1.2 million in Series A in 2022.
BIOFLUFF
The world’s first 100 percent plant-based alternative to fur based out of Paris, France, since collaborating with Ganni on Savian-made bags. SOSV invested $300,000 in pre-seed in 2022 and $200,000 in seed in 2023.
MYCOWORKS
The Reishi maker based in San Francisco. SOSV invested $250,000 in pre-seed in 2016, $50,000 in Series A in 2019, $510,000 in Series B in 2020, $250,000 in Series C in 2022, and $320,000 in Series D between 2024 and 2025.
BLOOM LABS
A New York startup focused on oil-free plastics made from melt-spun polyester fiber replacement. SOSV invested $375,000 in seed in 2023.
NOVOLOOP
Also known as the Lifecycling company, turns packaging waste into virgin quality drop-in resin and is located in Menlo Park, California. SOSV invested $100,000 in pre-seed in 2015, $100,000 in seed in 2020, and $1.6 million in Series A between 2021 and 2022.
TÔMTEX
A New York-based biomaterial platform beginning with leather made from food waste (shrimp shells, mushrooms) that’s since partnered with Peter Do and collaborated with Collina Strada. SOSV invested $525,000 in preseed in 2021 and $227,000 in seed in 2023.
“Approximately 65 percent of our fund is allocated to companies advancing climate and industrial independence solutions, and materials innovation plays a role in that category,” Stukes said. “Our portfolio reflects this interdisciplinary approach with the capacity to take on one of the most urgent environmental challenges we face today.”
MATERIAL INNOVATION INITIATIVE MAKES A COMEBACK
The next-gen material innovation think tank is back with a renewed commitment and continued emphasis on communal collaboration. by
Alexandra Harrell
the material innovation initiative (MII) is back. After the think tank board’s not-fiscally-motivated decision to shutter operations in September, the blinds are back open. And, much like MII’s goodbye speech, the nonprofit organization’s encore also came way of an email.
“Since that announcement, an outpouring of support from our community reminded us just how vital this mission is. It also sparked deep reflection among our leadership,” reads an email, penned by co-founder and CEO Nicole Rawling, last month. “We are thrilled to share that the board has reversed its decision. The Material Innovation Initiative is relaunching with renewed commitment, energy and purpose.”
Amid global uncertainty, one thing remains clear: the demand for sustainable and scalable solutions is surging. The hole left by the MII’s fold was only compounded by stalled legislation and delayed climate commitments.
“A rising tide lifts all boats,” Rawling told Sourcing Journal. “I really do strongly believe in that. But when you have limited resources, your focus is on your own business. It’s on your own revenue, it’s your own connections.”
So, what happened to warrant such a reversal? A “generous offer,” per Rawling, championing community-driven collaboration. A few months after the closure, a (currently anonymous) philanthropic patron promised MII a $100,000 donation if it can raise a matching $100,000 from its community.
“We are creating a collaborative ecosystem for the development of next-gen materials that are high-performance, animal-free, more sustainable and that are considered true replacements for some of the most damaging materials on the market,” the MII’s website landing page now reads.
Clicking that button leads inquiring minds to a handful of options; outside of namingyour-price, possible donors can send a onetime or recurring pledge of their number of choice (with suggestions of $5, $50 or $100) as an individual or as a company, as well as a dedicated gift.
“At MII, we envision a future where all materials used in the fashion, automotive and home goods industries are good for the planet and compassionate to its inhabitants,” reads the reason-to-donate’s virtual request. “But we are still a long way from next-gen materials being a promising trend to a viable economic future.”
What’s going to be different? MII plans to increase its use of automation and artificial intelligence—including generative AI—to
streamline the science (and secure the sanity) needed for the MII to do the work it wants to.
“I’m working with some consultants to develop some programs to make us more efficient and effective—and [because] I don’t have a material science background,” said Rawling. “Our former scientist, Dr. Sydney Gladman, is coming on as a consultant to review our material science work. If we’re able to raise more, we’ll go back to hiring material scientists.”
What’s on the horizon? The beloved state of the industry report, for starters.
For Rawling, the nucleus of MII’s work is that there simply isn’t enough innovation; if there were, next-gen materials would be on the market. But the majority aren’t ready just yet and cannot meet the brand’s needs, thus evading consumer awareness while infecting investor confidence.
“This the exact time that we need the social sector,” said Rawling, especially considering the United States’ arrested development of funding innovation.
“I do expect some pullback around the world in these areas, and that’s where the social sector fills that void—especially, and this was my experience in the food industry— especially when you’re talking about
AT MII, WE ENVISION A FUTURE WHERE ALL MATERIALS USED IN THE FASHION, AUTOMOTIVE AND HOME GOODS INDUSTRIES ARE GOOD FOR THE PLANET AND COMPASSIONATE TO ITS INHABITANTS.”
Material Innovation Initiative
startups,” she continued. “A lot are extremely cost conscious; they don’t have the expertise in a lot of different areas. That’s where we can come in and really serve a role and connect with industry; I had so many people reaching out after we made the decision to close, and they were devastated.”
To that end, a couple companies in the community have come together, creating groups and clubs to fill the void. But it’s not their business, necessarily, to carry that can.
“Organizing that is really hard,” Rawling said. “So, we’re going to step back in and play that role.”
