Dive Brief:
- Bringing sustainability to its famous apparel basics, Fruit of the Loom announced Tuesday that it launched a limited-edition unisex T-shirt collection made with 20% of Recover’s recycled cotton fiber, according to a company press release.
- The collection comes in eight colors and five sizes, with each T-shirt costing $15.
- Recover’s proprietary fiber blend uses recycled textile waste to create new material, resulting in a more circular system to create clothing.
Dive Insight:
Fruit of the Loom’s latest partnership aims to make sustainability more affordable, which is typically a pain point for retailers trying to balance price with consumer interest in more environmentally friendly options.
“This collection is the latest way Fruit of the Loom is producing more sustainable products across the entire business. As one of the world’s largest manufacturers and marketers of casual wear, we are committed to reducing our environmental impact across the total value chain,” Mercedes Lopez, vice president of corporate social responsibility at Fruit of the Loom, said in a statement.
Recover in June raised $100 million in a funding round led by Goldman Sachs Asset Management. The company estimated the new funding would help it produce 350,000 metric tons of recycled cotton fiber per year by 2026. It has worked with other retailers such as Revolve, Lands’ End and Primark.
Recover’s cotton fibers can be “recycled for several cycles” according to its website, but they do eventually degrade at varying rates based on what other fibers are used.
Fashion companies are increasingly looking to reuse existing textile materials, knowing how impactful the business is on the environment. Around 11 million tons of textile waste was put into U.S. landfills in 2018 alone, according to data by the United States Environmental Protection Agency.
