Ralph Lauren invests in upcycled performance materials company
Ralph Lauren has made a minority investment in sustainable material science company Natural Fiber Welding (NFW) to boost the start-up’s development of performance apparel made from plant-based, upcycled materials. The investment is also intended to help create and scale a new industry standard for natural fibre recycling.
NFW has developed a process for welding short fibres into longer fibres to create high-performance cotton yarns that can incorporate cotton and other plant-based waste fibres, allowing the reuse of post-consumer cotton waste to bring performance characteristics into the fibre. The resulting upcycled material, according to the company, “outperforms synthetic fabrics while still retaining the comfortable feel of cotton”. ?
Through the investment, Ralph Lauren hopes to expand its own use of recycled post-consumer cotton and to ultimately “replace and reduce its reliance on non-biodegradable synthetics, such as polyester and nylon, while scaling the use of more sustainable and upcycled materials”.
