Discover the newest developments from the fabric, fashion sportswear and footwear market.
LaMunt, a premium mountain sports brand part of Oberalp Group, has chosen to use post-industrial recycled cashmere as a sustainable padding for its insulated jackets. This material has high thermoregulating properties that are ideal for outdoor sports. Moreover, its ecological footprint is much smaller compared to conventional fill materials used within the outdoor apparel industry.
The breathable, recycled cashmere fibers are sourced from Italy, where they are processed through a patented process by LaMunt’s partner Imbotex. The recycled cashmere is produced in three steps: the recovered materials are collected and sorted in Northern Italy. Through a mechanical process, they are transformed into very fine fibers. The fibers are then blended with recycled polyester, creating a high-performance insulation that is turned into a wadding pad.
Camper is betting on a new inclusive and sustainable shoe line project - Kobarah. Recognizing that footwear is slowly breaking away from gender preconceptions, Camper’s new heeled sandal, now presents itself as a gender-neutral style with an expanded size range and four distinctive colorways.
A first drop of this model in white and in orange was launched in March, and a second drop will be unveiled in May.
Kobarah is made from a single EVA molded piece to reduce waste and energy consumption, and has an XL Extralight Organix outsole made from 30% bio-based sugar cane, a renewable resource that can help the industry become less dependent on virgin plastics and reduce its environmental impact.
Kobarah is manufactured using the closed-loop principle. This way, the sandal can be easily disassembled into its components after its last wear, recycled and transformed into some new product.
Levi's has launched Levi's Fresh, a new interpretation of the collection called "Fresh Produce," launched in the 1970s and inspired by natural products such as, for example, fresh fruits and vegetables. Levi's Fresh features a wide range of garments dyed with dyes derived from natural sources such as plants and vegetables.
Traditionally, natural-based dyes tend to be more subdued but, as Levi's Fresh applies new dyeing techniques, the result are more vibrant shades such as peach, lavender, pink and yellow. All of them are offered in a mix of yarn-dyed and garment dyed variant garments.
The responsible apparel brand Armedangels has recently launched a selection a new Summer dresses made with sustainable fibers made of 100% Lenzing Ecovero viscose and Carbon-Zero Tencel Lyocell.
Two dresses in particular are made from CO2 neutral Tencel Lyocell. They are characterized by a wide silhouette, feel pleasantly soft against the skin and support the body's natural thermoregulation. Whether as mini-midi or maxi dress, decored with abstract prints or cut-outs, these dresses are made with Carbon-Zero Tencel fibers. They are part of a series of climate protection projects by Armedangels supported specifically in some areas of India, Bangladesh and Thailand particularly affected by the negative impacts of the textile industry. The projects focus on helping production sites become more climate resilient, improve living conditions for their employees, and introduce new or more efficient sources of renewable energy.
Buffalo, the iconic footwear brand launched in the ’90s, has just launched Buffalo Raven, a new unisex model with chunky soles. The model is designed in order to pursue a responsible use of resources and help the living beings on our planet live better.
The entire Buffalo Raven collection is 100 % Peta-approved vegan, as it is made entirely without components made from animal parts. All the models from this selection are made from particularly soft and recycled materials. For the upper, sorted PET bottles are shredded, spun into yarn, woven into fabric and then dyed. Half of the sole is made from recycled materials. The inner lining, in turn, is made of pure organic cotton, for which no harmful pesticides are used in the cultivation process.
Rifò, a young brand offering sustainable and ethical fashion, has just launched a new mini-capsule collection made with a yarn obtained by regenerating 100% silk processing waste.
The new Rifò knitwear garments are created from the industrial waste of the European production of this valuable fiber, which, after recycling, is able to maintain its characteristics of softness and shine.
Thanks to this process, it is possible to reduce the use of chemicals and consume four times less water than the standard required to produce a similar garment under normal conditions. In fact, a sweater in regenerated silk consumes only four liters of water, while one in colored silk consumes about 16.
Saye, a Spanish sustainable sneaker brand, has created M'89 Polar Cactus, a white and vegan sneaker made with recycled bio-based materials and featuring a green stripe made of recycled cactus. The new sneaker was born in collaboration with Desserto, a Mexican organization that selects and uses cactus leaves and lets the rest of the plant live. These leaves are then treated to obtain a special vegan material with characteristics similar to those of leather.
Jamie Hunt is a professional triathlete from New Zealand who had co-founded his sportswear brand 2XU and had sold it to LVMH owned L Catterton Equity in 2018.
2XU had met international success selling to most NBA, NFL, and MLB teams and had signed collaborations with personalities including Kanye West, Yeezy.
After serving his restraint to trade, on March 15th, for s/s 2022, Hunt launched his next sportswear brand, Pressio.
Pressio is a compression based, sustainable, activewear label offering a full collection of biodegradable performance products including compression leggings, shorts and tops for men and women.
Its bottoms use BioSol Power 37.5 fabrication, a thermoregulating technology that combines natural active particles with enhanced biodegradation that allows the complete breakdown of the staple fiber to natural materials in less than a decade, whilst also working together to keep one’s body at the ideal core temperature of 37.5 Celsius.
The new collection of tops developed by Pressio’s engineers, instead, use Biofuze yarn technology to create the BioSol fabrication, a 100% biodegradable performance material that biodegrades rapidly once it reaches a landfill or a large body of water, returning to nature hundreds of times faster than ordinary polyester.
Outhere is a clothing brand designed for outdoor and urban lifestyle. For s/s 2022 some of its garments have been dyed using Wave Dye, a new ultrasonic dyeing technique.
Thanks to this particular technology, the fabric is subjected to the vibrations of powerful ultrasounds that, distributing the dye in a fragmented way, give the garment an irregular appearance in its coloration.
The result is a unique garment with a contemporary look added with military-inspired details, such as reflective inserts, adjustable hood, technical zippers and internal pockets.
The activewear brand Lafuma, born in 1930, has shown increasing attention for offering environmentally-friendly apparel in recent times. In 1993, it created the first backpack in recycled cotton and the first collections with an ecological design. Today, it estimates that 80% of its collection’s offer is environmentally friendly. In addition, products bearing the "Low Impact" certification label are high quality and durable garments, made with certified raw materials, obtained from responsible sources and that do not use harmful chemicals.
Part of its collection are hiking jackets and backpacks that are entirely made from100% recycled polyester, water-repellent and breathable, though treated without using DWR PFC.
Tela Genova, the historic Made in Italy jeans brand inspired by the textile tradition of the ancient cloths of Genoa, has chosen to use vegetable dyes and natural fibers for its s/s 2022 collection. For this collection, the organic cottons and denim used are GOTS - Global Organic Textile Standard - certified. In addition, the brand wanted to distinguish the garments of the collection with organic paper labels.
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