Execs believe that bringing “newness” into the market faster is critical for the industry and the individual consumer. “It’s a matter of how quickly we can get it to happen and how we can most efficiently help everyone adopt,” states Nava Esmailizadeh, head of brand at Ambercycle, a LA-based material science firm. “Brands, innovators, and supply chain systems work to make product, but on the consumer side, storytelling is important so people can understand why this is worth buying.” She adds, “Brands need materials to achieve their ambitious sustainability goals for 2025 and 2030.” And time is ticking.

Several factors determine whether to green light a new product, with sustainability, cost, scalability and integration into existing equipment topping the list. “Sustainability is the number one driver in innovation today,” states Scott Gress, president NA sales and marketing, Siddiqsons Denim Mills, who gets pitched new product concepts regularly. “We’ve come to a point now, where sustainability is mandatory. If you come out with a product with great performance but lacks sustainability, it’s not interesting. If it’s both sustainable and has performance, then it is super interesting.”  

Gress offers CleanCore as an example of a recent adoption, noting that the sustainable technology is cost neutral and very stable. CleanCore markets on-demand, no-rinse applications to quickly clean surfaces and remove odors. “The product saves time and chemicals and therefore water and energy in the garment finishing process. Saving all those things, saves money. So not only is it cost neutral, it’s cost beneficial.”

Back at Ambercycle, supply chain integration is currently paramount. Esmailizadeh explains that brands commit, but at the end of day, it’s the people making the product that’s key to getting material adopted and understood through all the different tiers of the supply chain. “We’ve been really focusing on that for the past couple years and working on scaling that out.” Founded in 2013, Ambercycle creates a circular polyester product regenerated from textile waste and lately has inked high-profile partnerships with Inditex, MAS Holdings, Hyosung and others.

The Cost of Shiny Pennies

“There are a million excellent ideas, the problem is commercializing them,” states Laura Thornquist, president of Fibre52, who adds, “Timing is everything and sustainability matters. We can get brands interested, go to mills, run trials and we’re told ‘everything is great,’ but then conversation turns to cost,” says Thornquist. “We’re talking pennies! We explain that it costs slightly more, but in the long run with resource savings you come out ahead. And you have to be able to back up your data, and give them no reason to say no.” She adds, “In my experience, it is always a struggle. But mindsets are shifting and progressive mills are receptive.”

Lengthy cost-related decision making will delay bringing innovation to market. “Being self-funded is an advantage,” says Thornquist, “It gives us flexibility and ability to make things happen.” Launched in 2022, Fibre52 has already formed good relationships with mills.  

Fibre52 cotton’s licensed process replaces harmful chemicals with bio-active products and uses lower levels of heat in the pretreatment process, saving up to 50 percent in water, energy use and process cycle time. Using Fibre52’s dye technology, the cotton retains its natural properties and allows moisture to be transferred away from the skin.  

“We see a lot of shiny pennies,” says Gress, describing new and improved sustainable textiles. “It’s up to us to sort through and see what we think is commercially viable, attractive to our customer base, affordable and additive to what we already offer.” He explains that bringing  a new fiber to market can be a six-figure investment. “A new fiber has to give you an attribute that you can’t get from cotton, poly, or existing fibers – that it’s super sustainable or is biodegradable. It has to be easy to spin, easy to mix, easy to dye and it’s got to be cost neutral. If it isn’t softer, or stronger and costs more, then it’s not going to work.”

Cool It

A team from University of Massachusetts Amherst recently presented a new, eco-friendly cooling product at the Fall meeting of the American Chemical Society designed to significantly lower body temperature.  The team had previously created a simple technique to apply durable polymer coatings on fabric called chemical vapor deposition (CVD). The method combines synthesis and deposition into the same step: grafting a thin polymer layer onto commercial textiles with fewer steps and less environmental impact.

Developing a textile coating that does the same thing using natural or environmentally-benign materials, came next. Inspired by traditional limestone-based plasters used to cool homes in hot climates, the UMass team coated fabric tiles with particles of calcium carbonate – the main component in limestone and chalk.

“When I assess a problem in my lab we always look at it with an eye on practicality,” explains Trisha Andrew, director, Wearable Electronics Lab and professor of chemistry, UMass Amherst Faculty, Materials Science & Engineering Program. “For example, making one change that can be part of an existing process of sustainable integration that promotes growth for the industry.” Adoption of a new product, according to Andrew,  depends if it “can stand up to fires of practicality.”

The new chalk-based cooling product can do just that. It uses the same material, but disperse is the differentiator. Using thinner film and less of it lowers cost and operational costs are the same or less. What sets this technique apart is that it can turn nearly any commercially available fabric into something that can keep people cool.

According to Andrew, academic ideas do not always align with  reality. “For research that is the most demanding challenge,” says Andrew. “The textile industry is the second most demanding industry in terms of manufacturing and cost. To scale, raw material needs to be violently cheap. The massive size of the industry presents a stumbling block.”