Invista is advancing its sustainable initiatives with its latest innovation, Lycra T400 with EcoMade technology fiber.
The development of this generation of the fiber with a strong sustainability aspect, came in response to requests from mills, brands and the company’s own environmental and sustainability goals, according to Jean Hegedus, global director of Invista’s denim business. The fiber is targeted toward firms in the value chain interested in developing sustainable fashion collections.
Lycra T400 with EcoMade contains two different polymers in each filament. “This creates differential shrinkage between the two polymers for excellent stretch and shape retention,” Hegedus said. “With EcoMade technology, one of the polymers is made from recycled PET, while a portion of the other polymer is made from plant-based material, such as corn.”
Overall, 50 percent of the fiber content is made from recycled PET and 18 percent is made from plant-based material, making 68 percent of the total fiber content sustainable. The fiber can be used to create stretch denim designed to appeal to the increasing number of environmentally conscious consumers, particularly millennials.
“As the denim industry continues to seek more sustainable solutions, we looked at how we could improve Lycra T400 technology, while maintaining the fiber’s desirable performance characteristics,” Hegedus said. “It has similar performance to traditional Lycra T400 fiber, but by using recycled PET, in this case plastic water bottles, it means less waste going to landfills.”
