Beyond Retro, the leading European vintage retailer, and parent company Bank & Vogue, are excited to be closing the loop with an innovative project in partnership with Swedish chemical recycling company re:newcell, that will turn post-consumer denim into a new, recycled fibre at industrial scale.
The partnership has developed from a groundbreaking project that sees Beyond Retro offering their experience in the used garments space, together with re:newcell’s technological expertise in textiles to give new life to 90,000 pairs of secondhand jeans. By working together to change the potential for recycled clothing, the two sustainable powerhouses can make recycled fashion within a brand new framework.
Beyond Retro’s parent company, Bank & Vogue is one of the largest traders in used apparel in North America, and operator of the largest commercial re-manufacturing facility in the world in India. They are leaders in the circular economy of textiles with over twenty years of experience in the ReUse space.
Offering a completely unique perspective, honed from their expertise in trading, retailing, remanufacturing and recycling used clothing, Bank & Vogue is the only full circle global solutions provider in the reuse world of the apparel industry.
“The key to the future of sustainable fashion is to maximise the value hierarchy of used apparel. We aim to resell, then repair, and remake, but by partnering with re:newcell, we can forge new ground through fibre technology to recycle.” commented Steven Bethell, Creative Director of Beyond Retro and President of Bank & Vogue. “In this process, we can work on tackling a larger problem of unwanted, discarded clothing, and we’re thrilled to be a seller of post consumer textiles that will truly be recycled.”
Fiber-to-fiber recycling has long been the missing link to fully close the loop on fashion. The pioneering re:newcell process dissolves the fabric of the jeans to create a natural pulp that can then be spun into textile fiber and fed back into textile production to produce new high quality garments; creating a full circular economy. re:newcell’s plant in Kristinehamn, Sweden, is the first of its kind in the world and has the capacity to recycle 7 000 tons of discarded textiles every year.
“We’re excited to partner with Beyond Retro to recycle worn-out jeans into a pristine raw material for the fashion industry. This collaboration brings together the expertise needed to prove that truly circular fashion, from reuse to recycling, finally works.” said Mattias Jonsson, CEO of re:newcell. “The precious material in 90 000 pairs of jeans can now be recovered and made into clothes once again, saving massive amounts of CO2, freshwater and chemicals”.
