Kering and Johnstons of Elgin join Spiber circularity solution

Luxury giant Kering, as well as Johnstons of Elgin, Eilen Fisher and DyStar have joined forces with Spiber “to build a global circularity solution to transform end-of-use textiles and agricultural by-products into new materials.”

They said last week at the Biofabricate Summit in Paris that their goal is to “drive society towards the creation of fully circular textile products that can be regenerated on an industrial scale into Spiber's innovative Brewed Protein materials at the end of their life cycle.”

Kering is participating through its Material Innovation Lab (MIL) and has joined Spiber's “revolutionary” biosphere circulation project that is “dedicated to transforming unused clothing and textiles, as well as agricultural byproducts, into nutrients for fermentation.” microbial and the production of new protein materials. The end result should be a new series of fibers that can be turned into textile garments.

Spiber is also calling on other industry stakeholders to join the project following the arrival of the latest quartet of companies, joined by Goldwin and Pangaia, which signed up last June.

He said the brands' participation in the project “will provide multi-faceted support, including through the provision of samples for laboratory-scale testing.”

The tests will allow the accumulation of valuable data to analyze and help determine how various types of textile chemicals, such as finishing agents and dyes, affect the conversion of cellulose and protein-based materials into nutrients that can be used in the fermentation process, like like sugars and amino acids.

Spiber intends to compile the results of these tests into a database that will indicate the efficiency of different materials in combination with textile chemicals when converted into nutrients for fermentation. This database should serve as a resource that the industry can turn to when designing products for circularity and products that will be compatible with circularity solutions like Spiber's biosphere circulation system in the future.