Stella McCartney and Adidas unveil circular garments

Stella McCartney and Adidas are making strides to create circular sportswear, and their latest collaboration sees a unisex hoodie made from garment waste that is 100 percent recyclable. Called the Infinite hoodie, it is produced with NyCycl finer by Evrnu, a textile innovations company that invented a fiber made from discarded clothing called NuCycl.

The collection also features a tennis dress, still in prototype phase, made with Bolt Threads, a company that specialises in bioengineered sustainable materials and fibres. The dress is the first of its kind, made with cellulose blended yarn and Microsilk, a protein-based material that is made with renewable ingredients, like water, sugar, and yeast and has the ability to fully biodegrade at the end of its life.

An estimated 92 million tonnes of textile waste is produced every year, a dire figure which fuels the inspiration behind the sustainable efforts of both companies to create product that not only performs for the athlete, but also for the world at large. By the end of 2019 adidas will make 11 million pairs of shoes using Parley Ocean Plastic. The sportswear giant has also pledged to use only recycled polyester in products by 2024.

James Carnes, Vice President of Strategy Creation at Adidas, said in a statement: “Creating products with upcycled plastic waste was our first step. The next challenge is to end the concept of waste entirely. Focusing on three core areas, we will explore ways to create products that can either be fully recyclable or biodegradable. We don’t have all the answers and we know we can’t do it alone. By collaborating with partners who share our same vision, as we’ve done with Evrnu and Bolt Threads, we can combine adidas’ sports industry expertise with specialist knowledge to bring about a waste-free world.”

“Fashion is one of the most harmful industries to the environment. We can’t wait any longer to search for answers and alternatives. By creating a truly open approach to solving the problem of textile waste, we can help empower the industry at large to bring more sustainable practices into reality. With adidas by Stella McCartney we’re creating high performance products that also safeguard the future of the planet," said Stella McCartney.

The unveiling of the Infinite Hoodie and Biofabric Tennis Dress coincide with the launch of the adidas by Stella McCartney Fall/Winter 2019 collection which features innovative fabrics and sustainable manufacture.

Photo credit: adidas by Stella McCartney Infinite Hoodie photographed by Dominic Thiem , adidas by Stella McCartney Biofabric Tennis Dress, photographed by Garbine Muguruza; images courtesy of Adidas