Nov 09, 2021

Sustainable fashion made from Lyocell

The growing awareness of sustainability has also brought about a lot of changes in fashion. In order to implement fair fashion, the materials used must of course also change. There are many manufacturers who have been working for years to produce fabrics from renewable resources and use as little energy, chemicals and water as possible. This has led to many innovations. This includes the new trend: Lyocell. Lyocell fiber was developed in the 90s, but it has only really found its way into everyone's wardrobe in recent years.

What is Lyocell made of?

Lyocell is a regenerative cellulose fiber and is obtained from wood such as eucalyptus, birch or oak. This is a resource-saving alternative compared to the use of materials such as petroleum. We only work with manufacturers whose certified wood comes from sustainable forestry. Ecological, social and economic standards must be adhered to.

What is so sustainable about it?

What makes the fiber special is that it is 100% biodegradable and compostable. This means that Lyocell only needs a few months to decompose back into soil (in comparison , a plastic bottle takes several hundred years to decompose into particles and releases microplastics during the process).

Another advantage is the low consumption of chemicals and energy during the production process. In a so-called closed cycle, no harmful byproducts are created. The solvents are used again and again in the process and do not simply end up in the wastewater.

But how exactly does a tree become a dress?

The wood is processed into small pieces and cellulose is then extracted from them using solvents. The liquid cellulose pulp is heated, dried, broken, filtered and finally spun into a fiber using a simple spinning process. This sounds complicated, but the process is constantly being optimized and can take place with minimal use of energy, water and chemicals. The locell fiber is then spun into yarn, from which fabric can be woven.