Eastman unveils traceable, transparent, circular Naia™ Renew portfolio
Image credit: Eastman
This week,
Eastman
— producer of sustainably sourced Naia™ cellulosic fiber — has introduced its
new Naia™ Renew portfolio of fabrics and
filaments, sourced from 60 percent wood pulp and 40 percent recycled waste
plastics. Eastman
says
Naia Renew cellulosic fiber is traceable, biodegradable and captures the value
of hard-to-recycle materials that would otherwise be destined for landfills.
Fully circular, Naia Renew is produced with a low carbon footprint in a
closed-loop process where solvents are safely recycled back into the system for
reuse. The fiber is made from wood pulp sourced from certified forests, and the
recycled plastics feedstock is generated via Eastman's patented carbon renewal
technology (CRT).
CRT is an integrated, molecular recycling technology that breaks down waste
plastics, such as post-consumer carpet fiber and plastic packaging materials,
into basic molecular building blocks for the manufacture of new products
including fibers — a truly circular solution creating value from waste.
Available as both a filament yarn and a staple fiber, Naia Renew offers clear
advantages over other materials. Naia Renew filament features a silky hand, rich
luster and fluid drape and is used to create fashionable womenswear garments;
while Naia Renew staple fiber is inherently soft and quick drying, with reduced
pilling properties, making it ideal for everyday casual wear.
Transforming fashion through materials innovation
Join us as leaders from Crocs, Hilos, Marchon Eyewear, Planet FWD and Target discuss real-world examples, practical strategies, and supply chain considerations for developing eco-friendly clothing, shoes, and accessories that minimize waste and protect the planet — Tuesday, Oct. 15, at SB'24 San Diego.
"Our vision is to make sustainable fashion accessible for everyone. Naia Renew
enables a circular economy for the fashion industry and helps brands meet their
eco-conscious goals," said Ruth Farrell, global marketing director of
textiles for Eastman. "We're transforming what a fabric can be and do to meet
the sustainability demands of our customers and to create a world where brands
and consumers can be in fashion without compromising on quality and
performance."
Naia™ is actively collaborating across the value chain for Naia Renew and will
have announcements regarding brand partnerships soon.
* Naia Renew recycled content is achieved by allocation of recycled plastics
through mass balance accounting.
ASOS launches first circular fashion collection
Image credit: ASOS
British online fashion and cosmetics giant ASOS
launched its first circular collection this week — it features clothing and
accessories all designed and made to meet industry-leading circularity
principles, with no compromise on product or price. With this collection,
the brand aims to challenging the misconception that circular and
sustainable clothing can’t be fashionable.
The launch follows the company’s commitment at the Copenhagen Fashion
Summit
in 2018 to train all of its designers on circular design by 2020. Since
then, ASOS — one of the world’s leading online fashion retailers — has
created and launched a training programme with the Centre for Sustainable
Fashion, part of London College of Fashion, which has since been rolled out
to all ASOS designers. ASOS is also a participant in the Ellen MacArthur
Foundation (EMF)’s Make Fashion Circular
initiative,
which drives collaboration between industry leaders and other key
stakeholders.
To create the collection, ASOS defined eight bespoke design principles:
-
Zero-waste design: Using zero-waste pattern-cutting methods to ensure
all fabric is used in the most efficient way as possible.
-
Minimised waste: Using manufacturing techniques that minimise waste.
-
Recycled input: Selecting materials with a recycled input to lower the
impact of materials and to drive uptake of recycled materials within the
fashion industry.
-
Durability: Selecting materials and construction methods that will allow
garments to endure wear and care, so they last longer.
-
Versatility: Designing products that can adapt and be styled in multiple
ways.
-
Mono-material: Using the same recyclable material throughout a garment,
so that its main fabrications can be easily recycled at end of life.
-
Disassembly: Designing products that can be easily taken apart at the
end of their life, which makes it easier to reuse or recycle.
-
Upcycle: Using design and product modifications to remanufacture and
upcycle something old into something new.
These eight principles are aligned to EMF’s three foundations of a circular
economy: designing out waste and pollution; keeping products and materials in
use; and regenerating natural systems. Each product in the collection must apply
design principles that meet a minimum of two of these foundations in order to be
considered circular — meaning they will remain in use for as long as possible,
can be reused or repurposed at the end of their lives, and create minimal waste.
Each product will feature a QR code on its garment tag, which customers can scan
to visit and learn more about our
circular design principles and how the product was made.
Learn
more
about ASOS’ first circular collection …
Borobabi introduces circular clothing model for kids
Image credit: Borobabi/Facebook
Meanwhile, Borobabi — a clothing company that
rents new and pre-loved children’s fashions — has launched its debut fall lineup
of high-quality, ethically produced garments.
Created by two cousins who recognized an opportunity to address the 63
million pounds of children’s clothing going into landfill daily, Borobabi
offers parents items from popular ethical children’s apparel brands — such
as Nui, Mori, Nature Baby, Liilu and more — that meet
specific environmental and social standards. Through its unique “borrow”
model, parents can select and keep items until children outgrow them, or
they’re out of season. Borobabi’s circularity model optimizes the inputs,
usage and end-of-life of each garment it offers.
The $16B children’s clothing market suffers from massive underutilization. On
average, parents spend more than $700 a year on kids’ clothes, only to see them
grow out of them within months, resulting in over two billion pounds of clothing
going into landfill each year.
“We recognized an opportunity to address multiple problems with a single
solution,” said Borobabi co-founder and CEO Carolyn Butler. “With Borobabi,
parents get affordable, high-quality, modern, stylish clothing; our shared
economy model unlocks higher profit potential than a traditional linear business
model; plus Borobabi diverts waste from landfills.”
Butler, a chemical engineer turned entrepreneur, teamed up with her cousin —
designer Meris Butler — to create Borobabi. With approximately 100 beta
customers and initial funding from friends and family, Borobabi is ready to
scale with the launch of its fall lineup — and it’s looking for more ethical
clothing brands to partner with.
“Borobabi has high standards for brand partners. We look for companies that use
organic fibers, integrate sustainability into their design process, and align
with our social values,” Meris Butler says. “Because we are so discerning, parents can
trust we’re offering both cute and stylish items, and that they’re durable,
chemical-free and produced with ethical labor practices.”
In addition to children’s clothing, Borobabi will introduce a maternity wear
line in August 2021.
Meet Covalent™: The world’s first regenerative, carbon-negative fashion brand made with AirCarbon®
Images credit: Covalent
Another noteworthy debut comes from Covalent — a
new, direct-to-consumer fashion brand from parent company Newlight
Technologies — which marries high-quality craftsmanship with cutting-edge
biological carbon-capture technology to create the world’s first regenerative,
carbon-negative fashion products made with
AirCarbon®.
Newlight first burst onto the scene in 2013 with its groundbreaking
process
that extracts carbon molecules from methane gas and turns them into plastic.
AirCarbon was quickly picked up by brands such as Sprint and Dell, and
turned into products such as iPhone
cases
and
packaging,
respectively.
Now, Covalent is using AirCarbon as an alternative to acetate in eyewear, and
leather in handbags, wallets and other accessories — the company bonds AirCarbon
with other carefully selected materials to maximize each product’s strength,
flexibility and utility.
Each Covalent product generates a net carbon-negative footprint, and
demonstrates the utility and beauty of carbon in greenhouse
gas.
To help increase transparency and traceability, Covalent shares the exact
negative carbon footprint of every product it makes, as verified through LCAs
created by third-party carbon accounting firms that are available for review.
“We think that to help empower change in the fashion industry, consumers should
have actionable information about the carbon impact of the products they use,”
said Newlight CEO Mark Herrema.
With the launch of Covalent, Newlight has opened a new, commercial-scale
AirCarbon production facility in Southern California; the company has
simultaneously launched a brand of regenerative foodwear made using AirCarbon,
called Restore™. Products from both brands
are expected to begin shipping in Q4.
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Sustainable Brands Staff
Published Sep 29, 2020 2pm EDT / 11am PDT / 7pm BST / 8pm CEST