The Danish brand partnered with Infinited Fiber Company to make a T-shirt made entirely of old cotton waste. The fabric innovation is part of its Fabrics of the Future project.
Danish brand Ganni’s new T-shirt is a rare symbol of meaningful progress, made from textile waste and able to be recycled again into new fibres.
It’s the result of a new partnership with Infinited Fiber Company and is the latest glimpse of what circular fashion could look like in reality.
The grey Ganni branded graphic T-shirt, which depicts two dolphins under the Ganni logo, launches this week in the thick of Copenhagen Fashion Week as part of Ganni’s Spring/Summer 2023 collection. It’s tied to Ganni’s efforts to lead next-gen materials research and development, and reach its goal to reduce carbon emissions by 50 per cent by 2027, which it set in 2019. While it’s the only item in the collection to be made with biodegradable, recyclable and micro-plastic free textile waste fibre Infinna, which was developed by Infinited Fiber Company, the Danish brand says it plans to use it in more styles in upcoming collections. Infinna can be used to create a range of fabrics, from single jersey used in T-shirts to French terry, denim and woven fabrics, and requires less dye compared to cotton and viscose.
For Spring/Summer 2023, 97 per cent of Ganni’s ready-to-wear collection will consist of “responsible styles” – which the brand defines as meaning that at least half of the composition is certified organic, lower-impact or recycled. The company is working towards having 100 per cent “responsible styles” in the future.
“You have to involve your entire supply chain to make these innovations come to life. […] Introducing progressive materials requires amongst other things insights into your supply chain which we have own to Stage 4,” says Ganni founder Nicolaj Reffstrup. For this T-shirt, the brand has been monitoring how the yarn is spun and woven. “Starting out with a simple T-shirt construction allowed us to test and understand the fabric under controlled circumstances increasing the likelihood of us succeeding when we broaden the scope to include other product groups.”
Infinna and Infinited Fiber Company are part of the effort to make textile-to-textile recycling, a major gap in fashion’s sustainability ambitions, possible. Most of today’s recycled fabrics are made from materials other than old textiles — plastic bottles, for instance — while most companies that say they recycle old clothing are actually downcycling it into lower-value products such as insulation. While these have lower waste and carbon footprints than their conventional alternatives (i.e. virgin materials and sending clothing to landfills), they are far from a circular system. Recycling old textiles into new ones requires new technologies — a gap that startups such as Infinited Fiber Company are trying to fill. Other textile companies have been making headway and are working to bring these alternative materials to the mainstream: Renewcell’s Circulose fibre is a viscose substitute and began piloting with brands last year.
Infinited Fiber Company sources textile waste in Finland and converts the old cotton textiles to new fibres by breaking them down to the molecular level, which they say manages to avoid sacrificing the quality of the fibres. The company extracts the cellulose from cotton textiles, breaks it down into a stable cellulose carbamate powder using a chemical reaction with urea, and then dissolves that powder into a liquid, wet-spinning the liquid to create new fibres (known as Infinna). Cellulose is a basic building block of all plants, which is why Infinna can also convert viscose, cardboard and agricultural waste into new fibres using different pre-treatment processes for each raw material type. Clothes made with Infinna can be recycled again using the same production process. The company says it uses feedstock with at least 88 per cent overall cotton content to maximise output.
This is the fourth material innovation Ganni has launched as part of its Fabrics of the Future project which was announced during the Global Fashion Summit in June. The previous three collaborations were a limited-edition wallet and one-of-a-kind saddle bag made from mycelium-based leather alternative Mylo; a jacket, dress and trousers collection created with Danish startup Stem’s zero-waste production process; and two pairs of trousers made from 15 per cent Circulose, which is a pulp made from recycled clothing. In October 2021, the brand released Vegea shoes which are made from a grape skin leather alternative.
Ganni’s bet on next-gen materials hasn’t been without challenges. “Fabric innovations need a lot of testing and work to be able to bring them to market. There is no denying that,” says Reffstrup. “Short-term, behaving responsibly will cost you money and there’s no immediate return on investment, as the consumer isn’t willing to pay a premium for it.”
However, Ganni says the benefits outweigh the short-term setbacks, particularly as the Danish affordable luxury brand is able to help test and refine new technologies. For the Infinna T-shirt, Ganni had to blend Infinna fibres with certified organic cotton to match a fabrication that’s more similar to what the brand already offers, says Reffstrup. “Partnering with innovative material suppliers allows them to mature their offerings and help them to scale so they can achieve commercial viability.”
Source: https://www.voguebusiness.com/