The Era of Recycled Textile Materials in Fashion

As environmental awareness grows, sustainable textile innovation is redefining the creative landscape. At the heart of this shift, recycled textile materials are emerging as ingenious solutions — proving that style, quality, and sustainability can go hand in hand.

The brands represented in The Clothette showroom have embraced this movement, incorporating next-generation recycled textiles into their collections. Explore these diverse and innovative approaches.

Recycled polyester in the creations of Knowledge, Elliker and Opérasport.

Plastic Transformed – Recycled Polyester and Nylon

The challenge of plastic waste is enormous, yet fashion is responding with creative solutions. Bottles, packaging, and even fishing nets can be reborn as high-performance, aesthetically compelling textiles.

Recycled Polyester (rPET): The Intelligence of Second Life

Recycled polyester, often sourced from plastic bottles (rPET) or industrial waste, is an impactful innovation. Once collected, sorted, and transformed into fibers, rPET reduces dependence on virgin petroleum and lowers energy consumption. It also reroutes plastics from landfills into new fashion applications.

Opérasport beautifully integrates recycled polyester from both consumer and industrial waste, with care instructions that preserve the fabric’s softness.

Elliker uses 100% GRS-certified rPET in its rugged backpacks and technical outerwear, free from PFC/PFAS.

KnowledgeCotton Apparel offers soft, post-consumer recycled polyester scarves as a vegan alternative to wool.

Hunter incorporates recycled polyester into its sock collections.

Baracuta uses Thermore® padding (made from recycled bottles) for the thermal insulation of its jackets.

The Thermocore® is used for the padding of certain Baracuta jackets.

Recycled Nylon: Strength with a Conscience

Recycled nylon, sourced from fishing nets, fabric offcuts, or carpets, retains the durability and lightness of virgin nylon with a significantly lower environmental footprint.

Elliker uses recycled nylon in its Kex technical T-shirt, prized for its lightweight performance.

Norse Projects features “Hauge Recycled Nylon Swimmers,” quick-dry swimwear with reduced environmental impact.

Belstaff applies recycled nylon in stylish yet sustainable outerwear pieces.

Minimum also demonstrates increasing use of recycled plastics in its collections.

N.B.: nylon is a type of polyamide, therefore different from polyester, used in particular for its resistance to abrasion.

Quick-drying and protective, recycled nylon is ideal for outerwear.

Reimagined Natural Fibers – Recycled Cotton and Plant-Based Innovations

While conventional cotton has a well-known environmental cost, recycled cotton and other innovative plant-derived fibers offer more sustainable alternatives.

Recycled Cotton: Responsible Softness

Recycled cotton, derived from production offcuts or post-consumer garments, significantly reduces water consumption and pesticide use. Once shredded and re-spun (often with a small amount of virgin fiber for strength), it returns to life as a soft, responsible textile.

Thinking Mu incorporates recycled cotton in pieces like the “Top Trash Turkana,” pairing sustainability with transparency via QR-coded labels.

KnowledgeCotton Apparel’s Reborn™ range uses at least 65% certified recycled cotton in T-shirts and even 100% recycled cotton denim for its “REBORN™ denim” jeans, cutting water usage by up to 95% and energy use by 40%.

These jeans from the Reborn line are made from 100% recycled cotton.

Eco-Conscious Plant-Based Fibers: Viscose and Cupro

Innovation extends to plant-based fibers too:

Viscose ECOVERO™, used by Rita Row and Thinking Mu, is produced from wood sourced from sustainably managed forests (FSC/PEFC certified) in a less impactful process than traditional viscose.

Cupro, found in Rita Row pieces, is a “vegetable silk” made from cotton linters, short fibers usually discarded, offering a biodegradable, breathable, and luxuriously soft textile.

Chic Ecovero viscose tops from Rita Row and Thinking Mu.

Beyond Fiber – Global Initiatives for a More Circular Fashion

Sustainable fashion also manifests through broader initiatives and specialized materials.

Cleaning the Oceans, Styling with Purpose: SEAQUAL™

The SEAQUAL™ initiative transforms ocean-recovered plastic waste into high-quality fabric, a circular solution that supports marine cleanup while delivering stylish products.

Sunspel has adopted SEAQUAL™ for chic swim shorts, an elegant example of circular design in action.

A range of chic swim shorts made from marine plastic waste, a great example of a circular economy.

Ethical Warmth: Recycled Wool

Recycled wool, sourced from production waste or post-consumer garments, reduces the environmental impact linked to sheep farming.

Colorful Standard champions recycled wool in its essentials, offering warmth and durability across a wide palette of colors.

Recycled wool is used for the essentials, available in over 40 colours from Colorful Standard.

A Holistic Vision of Sustainability: Another Aspect

Some brands take engagement even further. Another Aspect uses “exclusively recycled fibers, deadstock fabrics, and organic materials to minimize their carbon footprint,” a comprehensive approach that embraces transparency and traceability, key pillars of circular fashion.

Shirts and ties from Another Aspect collections, sourced using a holistic and sustainable approach.

Choosing Recycled Fashion - A Step Toward the Future by The Clothette

Recycled textile materials are no longer just an alternative; they are now a key component of smarter, more responsible fashion. The brands highlighted here are active contributors to this transformation, and The Clothette is proud to support and promote them.

For retailers, integrating these brands and materials into your selections aligns with consumer expectations and market momentum. We warmly invite you to discover these innovative, committed collections at The Clothette showroom; together, let’s foster fashion that matters and drives positive impact.