The Business of Fashion
Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
Athleisure brand Lululemon has taken a minority stake in Samsara Eco, an Australian company that uses enzymes to recycle plastics like polyester and nylon into new materials.
The investment is part of a multi-year collaboration with the recycling tech company as Lululemon looks to deliver on its environmental targets, part of a broader trend within the industry as big brands look to tech start-ups to help them achieve climate goals.
The two companies will work together to create new recycled nylon and polyester from apparel waste, Lululemon said in a statement.
The companies did not disclose the financial details of the deal.
Learn more:
Why Big Brands Are Investing in Sustainability Start-Ups
Ralph Lauren and Lululemon have joined the likes of H&M Group, Kering and Chanel in pouring money into innovations that could reduce the industry’s environmental impact.
After four decades of emotionally-charged campaigns, Peta founder Ingrid Newkirk can all-but declare victory in the war on fur. Taking on more widely-used animal-based materials will be harder, however.
The EU parliament has backed recommendations to toughen proposed measures to tackle the excessive production and consumption of fashion.
The next two years will be a critical test of whether the industry can translate pockets of progress into real change.
With 100 tons of clothing from the West discarded every day in Accra, ‘fast fashion’ brands must be forced to help pay for the choking textile waste they create, environmentalists say.