Swedish chemical company Polygiene is making headway in the denim sector. Brazilian denim mill Vicunha is the latest to apply its Stay Fresh technologies to fabrics, a suite of solutions designed to make garments feel clean and odor-free between washes.
The mill’s 2021-2022 collection is treated with combination of the Polygiene’s BioStatic and OdorCrunch technologies. Polygiene Biostatic is an antimicrobial technology that inhibits the growth of odor-causing bacteria thereby stopping the odor at the source. Polygiene OdorCrunch removes any environmental smells such as cooking fumes, cigarette smoke or body odor by encapsulating the molecules and cracking them, removing the offensive scent in the garment.
Though the technologies have been adopted by brands large and small like Diesel and Hiut Denim, Polygiene reports that Vicunha is the first Latin American mill to use the technologies. The products developed by Vicunha are available on denim and denim color bases.
“The partnership with Vicunha is a milestone for us in the denim segment and a breakthrough in the Brazilian market in general,” said Ulrika Björk, Polygiene CEO. “We are very proud to start working with this global leader and see it as a long-term cooperation for a more sustainable textile industry, and society.”
Products like Polygiene’s have been gaining in popularity as consumers adopt more responsible ways to maintain their closets. Along with providing odor control, the combination of technologies reduces the number of times a product needs to be washed, saving energy, time and money. An oft-touted Levi’s first lifecycle assessment from 2015 states that consumer care accounts for 23 percent of a jeans’ cradle to grave water consumption.
Fewer at-home washes also help extend the durability and indigo color of denim garments.
“Innovation and sustainability are key words in Vicunha’s business, and the partnership with Polygiene is a clear reflection of our positioning,” said German Alejandro, CMO of Vicunha.
“Offering to the fashion market solutions that allow consumers to save water and energy by washing their clothes less, brings so many positive impacts that it ends up being not only a good technology for the textile industry, but also a practical and fast solution for society, which increasingly demands sustainable solutions from the fashion chain,” he added.
