It was a busy year for Lenzing’s brands in 2019.
The Tencel brand launched several brand campaigns and projects and hit milestones to promote sustainability. The fiber company said the sustainable initiatives were in line with more eco-conscious brands and consumers demanding sustainable collections and ethically made clothing.
“On the trade side, apart from participating in trade shows and fashion week events across regions, we continue to connect industry partners across the value chain through the Tencel brand,” Robert van de Kerkhof, chief commercial officer of the Lenzing Group, said. “The team made an effort to focus on technological innovations to improve industry standards and upgrade technology to further drive eco-footprints. Leveraging consumers’ increasing awareness of eco-fashion, we found ways to enhance the consumer experience and create greater mindfulness among the wider audience.”
Most recently, Lenzing unveiled Refibra technology strengthening the commitment to the circular economy in textiles. The breakthrough featured the first successfully scaled production of virgin Tencel lyocell fibers using post-consumer cotton waste. The fibers can now feature up to 30 percent recycled raw material content, where some post-consumer cotton waste can be mixed into pre-consumer cotton waste.
Tencel Luxe fibers were featured in an Under Armour and Virgin Galactic spacewear collaboration. The exclusive technical spacewear for the “Future Astronauts of Virgin Galactic” marked a milestone for Lenzing, as the spacesuit incorporated Tencel Luxe lyocell filament yarn as a key fabric.
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Fashion designer Christie Orlando collaborated with Lenzing to launch the Tree-Climate collection for activewear. The collection consists of pieces ranging from sweaters and jerseys to jackets and undergarments.
Guess launched Guess Eco, a collection for men and women made with environmentally conscious materials, including Tencel fibers with Refibra technology through a low-impact manufacturing process. The collection offers products such as denim jeans, knitted tops and dresses.
Lenzing Ecovero debuted a line with Mehtap Elaidi, a fashion designer in Turkey, under the campaign “Don’t Let the Colors of Nature Disappear.” It featured Ecovero viscose fibers, and was inspired by Turkey’s rare and endemic plants, harmonizing with mustard, tile red and petrol blue shades.
Also this year, a collaboration with fashion brands Global Desi and AND from The House of Anita Dongre marked Ecovero’s debut into one of India’s leading fashion firms.
Another highlight was the launch of the Veocel co-branding certification criteria. This is a new approach in the nonwovens industry to establish the fiber as a label of trust and help consumers identify sustainable products. Veocel also introduced Eco Care technology that features an eco-responsible production process for Veocel specialty viscose fibers. The amount of CO2 emissions and fossil resources used in the production process is approximately half of the industry average, making the viscose fibers more environmentally friendly than generic ones.
The Veocel team also looks forward to exploring new opportunities with brand partners in 2020 to jointly bring the nonwovens industry to new heights.