Tencel-Coreva blend includes hemp pulp
Austrian wood-based fibre producer Lenzing has introduced 20% hemp pulp, made from hemp plant waste, into a limited-edition Tencel lyocell fibre as part of a tie-up with Milanese denim mill Candiani.
Candiani’s own biodegradable Coreva stretch material was blended with the fibre to produce enough fully biodegradable denim fabric to make 50 oversize women’s denim shirts, sold exclusively at the mill’s specialist Coreva retail space in Milan. Bespoke jeans can also be created with the same fabric at the Candiani Custom micro-factory.
The partners’ work falls under the umbrella of Canada-based forestry non-profit Canopy’s CanopyStyle initiative, which aims to raise awareness and support innovation along the supply chains of wood-based cellulosic fibre manufacturers, with a view to prevent logging in forests considered ancient or endangered.
“Scaling innovations that use lower-footprint feedstocks like [hemp] will help take the sourcing pressure off vital forests and promote climate action. Next-generation solutions are the future of man-made cellulosic fibre production,” commented founder and executive director at Canopy, Nicole Rycroft.
Speaking on behalf of Lenzing, head of product management textiles at the company, Caroline Ledl, described how the limited-edition Tencel hemp fibre used for the project forms part of an exploratory crop of fibres made with “alternative” raw materials such as orange pulp that the group has been working on since last year.
“We wanted to push the traditional boundaries of fibre production by leveraging natural resources,” Ms Ledl stated.
Read more about the work being done to make textile fibres from agro-waste in our Features section here.
Image: Lenzing/Candiani.
