Spring/Summer 2025 Preview: Mills Ramp Up Use of Recycled Fibers, Regenerative Cotton
Kingpins Amsterdam, taking place Oct. 18-19 at SugarCity, signals the start of the Spring/Summer 2025 season in the denim world.
New ingredients and fiber technologies equip mills to offer customers more circular products this season, while support for regenerative cotton places farmers in the spotlight.
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Recycle This
Artistic Milliners (AM) is teaming up with Lenzing for 32MM. The project allows the denim manufacturer to add an extra level of softness while also increasing its recycled content mix at Circular Park, its fabric recovery facility.
Circular Park is also home to AM’s collaboration with Circular Systems. A new collection of fabrics will feature Circular Systems’ Texloop RCOT recycled cotton fiber that’s blended at the facility.
Meanwhile, AM’s collaboration with Lycra results in garments that are comfortable to wear and have a super-soft hand feel. Called Double Beam, the fabrics are durable, thanks to the warp strength being maximized through a mix of synthetic with cotton.
Matte Tencel technology gives Naveena Denim Ltd.’s (NDL) fabrics a vintage ’70s aesthetic while enhancing softness. “It represents a groundbreaking innovation for denim designers who yearn for the timeless denim aesthetics while also desiring that extra level of softness for a premium and comfortable experience,” Rashid Iqbal, NDL’s executive director of marketing, said about the fiber.
Other NDL fabrics use Lenzing Refibra and Recover fibers sourced from pre- and post-consumer textile waste.
Lenzing’s Matte Tencel is featured in Advance Denim’s collection as well. “We feel strongly that Matte Tencel is the perfect fiber to elevate the wide-leg silhouettes of today,” said Mark Ix, Advance’s director of North American marketing. He added that the fiber gives fabrics an appealing drape and softness and the “wash down of true vintage indigo.”
Advance Denim is looking to raise the bar on both innovation and sustainability for S/S ’25. The mill uses Naia Renew, a soft silk-like fiber that is cool to the touch and wicks moisture away from the skin. The circular fiber is made from 60 percent sustainably sourced wood and 40 percent recycled material.
Global Denim introduces new constructions made with cotton and Lycra. Others include Tencel. “We are taking comfort seriously and bringing some of our rigid best-sellers into this new product category, keeping the same look and feel,” said Anatt Finkler, Global Denim’s creative director.
The mill is adding a higher percentage of recycled cotton to fabrics. Finkler said the cotton comes from Global’s post-industrial and pre-consumer waste, and waste bought from customers’ cutting tables.
US Denim Mills is introducing Tex2Tex to its menu of ingredients. Made with a high-capacity, cost-effective and BPA-free process, the mill reports that using 1 kilogram of Tex2Tex fibers can reduce energy consumption by 97 percent, water 99.7 percent and CO2 emissions 84 percent.
Siddiqsons uses Creora Regen for the first time. The spandex is made with reclaimed post-consumer waste materials. Every ton of 100 percent waste used to produce Creora Regen cuts carbon dioxide emissions by about 66 percent compared to regular spandex production, and has a carbon absorption effect equivalent to approximately 889 pine trees that are 30 years old, Siddiqsons said.
Raymond UCO Denim is focused on using more fibers that are locally available and that offer benefits to the end user. For example, the Indian mill uses kapok, a natural hollow fiber, and jute as alternatives to hemp or linen. Raymond is also using banana fiber upcycled from agricultural waste.
For the first time, Naveena Denim Mills’ LINO+ fabrics use Smart Linen fiber created by post-industrial waste. The Karachi, Pakistan-based mill reports that the breathable, moisture-wicking and GRS-certified fiber is three times stronger than cotton.
Linen is part of DNM Denim’s collection, chosen for its natural and sustainable production conditions, said Zuhal Karacayir, DNM Denim’s marketing assistant manager. “At the same time, it’s a fiber that’s air permeable and keeps you cool, thanks to its shiny, moisture-retaining, and porous structure. Therefore, linen fiber was a perfect option for our summer collection,” she added.
Cone Denim’s Remastered capsule focuses on scalable sustainability and denim fabrics designed for longevity. The fabrics encompass a range of recycled content from 5-100 percent, all RCS certified.
“They are designed to be timeless and will go the distance regarding wash range and versatility in end use. They are all in a classic denim construction,” said Pierette Scavuzzo, Cone’s design director. “Even a small percentage of recycled fiber in a denim program can significantly impact the reduction of virgin fiber in circulation.”
Circulose Ramps Up
The presence of Renewcell’s Circulose is growing in S/S ’25 fabric collections. The raw material derives from the recovery of cellulose found in worn-out clothing and transformed into a dissolving pulp made from 100 percent recycled textiles. The pulp serves as a foundation for various types of regenerative fibers.
Advance Denim will be the first textile mill globally to create a collection with viscose fiber made of half Circulose and half wood pulp from Yibin Grace. Additionally, the mill has a fabric collection made with a blend of cotton and viscose made with 50 percent Circulose.
Cone, the first North American mill to join the Circulose Supplier Network, will release a fabric collection using Circulose fiber blends later in the season.
Artistic Denim Mills introduced variations of denim made with Circulose, spanning non-stretch (60 percent cotton, 20 percent Recover, 20 percent viscose made with Circulose) to versions made with Lycra EcoMade, Lycra dualFX and Tex2Tex.
Along with growing its assortment of fabrics made with kapok, Tat-Fung’s primary focus on sustainability for the season is Circulose. “This exceptional fiber plays an important role in expanding our lineup of sustainable products. By combining Circulose with cotton, we aim to decrease our dependence on conventional cotton and to offer as many options as possible,” said Tim Huesemann, Tat-Fung director.
Regenerative Rages
Orta engineered its S/S ’25 fabrics with several ingredients like regenerative cotton, recycled cotton, Tencel and viscose made with Circulose. “The beauty of blending the Renewcell material into denim is that it can be recycled again and again with this technology,” said Sebla Onder, Orta’s sustainability chief.
The Turkish mill added Kiss the Ground Cotton from the U.S. to this ecosystem this season as well. The cotton is part of the mill’s regenerative denim approach based on three main pillars: longevity, circularity and regenerative.
“First of all, our fabrics should look good and be durable so that you can feel emotionally and physically [connected to them] and create new memories while you wear [them]. Secondly, the fabric should be potentially recyclable and/or contain recycled contents. And lastly, if we need to use virgin materials, they [must] be engineered with a regenerative mindset and systems,” Onder said.
Good Earth Cotton (GEC) regenerative cotton is also featured extensively from Advance Denim’s Sico mill in Nah Trang, Vietnam. GEC uses modern regenerative farming practices that minimize the environmental footprint of cotton while maximizing soil health. It is also the first climate-positive cotton backed by FibreTrace technology.
Sapphire Finishing Mills Ltd.’s most sustainable product for the season is a blend of Circulose and Good Earth Cotton.
Vichuna offers a wide range of fabrics manufactured through more environmentally conscious processes, with a special highlight on certified and traceable cotton from Brazilian farms that follow regenerative agricultural practices. Vichuna has a five-year partnership with Scheffer to supply the mill with regenerative cotton with the Regenagri certification.
Additionally, Vicunha adds products to its collection made with recycled yarn that require no dyeing or water in their finishing processes. The result is a significant reduction in water and chemical usage and no effluent discharged into the environment. The product has a distinctive appearance, as the color is derived from the recycling process of indigo waste yarn from Vicunha’s production, which is a 100 percent closed-loop recycled yarn system.
