Innovative Materials & Processes

CIRCULOSE® is a pulp, made from 100% textile waste that is used to produce man-made cellulose fibers (MMCFs). Fibers made of CIRCULOSE® differ from conventional MMCFs fibers, that are usually made from wood as a raw material input, because they use recycled post-industrial cotton textile waste. This pulp is blended with responsibly sourced cellulose fibres to create a yarn that can be used as an alternative to cotton. The CIRCULOSE® production process is powered by 100% renewable energy.

Textile waste can be either post or pre consumer waste which are defined as follows:

• Post-Industrial Recycled Materials: These are materials diverted from waste streams during the manufacturing process. For example, using leftover cutting scraps from manufacturing facilities.
• Post-Consumer Recycled Materials: Materials generated by households or commercial and industrial facilities. When these products can no longer be used for their intended purpose and are recycled, they are then determined to be post-consumer.

Infinna™, from the Infinited Fiber Company, is a MMCF made of textile waste. Instead of using wood pulp as a raw material, Infinna™ uses cotton-rich textile waste for fiber-to-fiber regeneration. The fibers are pre-treated and dissolved into powder using carbamation and responsible chemistry. Next, a wet-spinning process (like viscose) produces Infinna™ fibers that reduce the depletion of natural resources and textile waste.

Reycrom™ is a range of dyes made using recycled textile fibers from pre-consumer clothing and manufacturing waste. These fibers are transformed into a fine colored powder that can be used to dye new yarns, fabrics, and garments instead of conventional dyes.

• Pre-Consumer Recycled Materials: These are materials diverted from waste streams during the manufacturing process. For example, using leftover cutting scraps from manufacturing facilities when a garment is made.

Vegea® is an innovative coated fabric that uses oils extracted from leftover grape skins, leaves, and stalks from Italian wineries. These oils are combined with recycled materials to create a coated fabric alternative to polyurethane (PU).

Desserto is a partially biobased material that uses cactus leaves. The leaves are harvested, mashed, sun-dried, and ground into a fine powder that serves as the bio-resin that is applied to a recycled backing to form Desserto.

BLOOM® Algae is an innovative, environmentally preferred material designed to replace conventional EVA. Developed from algae biomass, BLOOM® Algae not only reduces the reliance on petroleum-based plastics but also helps lower our carbon footprint. By harvesting excess algae, this material contributes to the restoration of aquatic habitats, improving water quality and reducing harmful algal blooms. To date, Tommy Hilfiger’s Footwear team has used enough BLOOM materials , and thus algae, to clean over 50 million liters of water.

HyphaLite™ TC is an innovative material that uses leftover mushrooms from the agricultural industry along with certified natural rubber, and a viscose-lyocell blend to create a brand-new material similar to polyurethane (PU).  HyphaLite™ TC is certified 100% bio-based, meaning no petrochemicals are used in its production, which helps reduce the environmental impact that comes from the oil extraction needed for conventional polyurethane.