Blue Cast: Prosperity Textile’s Stafford Lau on Working Together & TENCEL™’s Appeal
To deliver something new and innovative, one needs to go beyond their bubble and explore partnerships. This spirit of collaboration is alive at China-based mill Prosperity Textile.
In the latest episode of Carved in Blue’s Blue Cast podcast series celebrating TENCEL™’s 30th anniversary, Prosperity Textile director Stafford Lau spoke with Dennis Hui, global business development manager, Lenzing TENCEL™ Denim Team. During the chat, Stafford discussed his company’s decade-long history using TENCEL™ and the importance of sustainability.
Stafford has been in the textile industry for around a quarter century. Following college, he joined the family business and was instrumental in creating two denim textile brands at the company: Prosperity Textile and Stella Blu.
The group has grown from local China mills to serve a global customer base. It owns two factories—one in China and one in Vietnam. While many China mills have struggled to compete in areas like sustainability, Stafford described Hong Kong as a “very important denim center in the world.” He added, “China is a very big and traditional textile country. We have a lot of history, we have a lot of background and also lots of technical people.”
Prosperity is addressing environmental impact within its own operations. It is currently in its “second phase” of water recycling efforts, and 66 percent of its water is reused. It’s working with universities to further develop this, and within five years, it aims to be able to recycle 100 percent of its water.
The mill is also leveraging recycled materials, including cotton. One challenge in closed-loop fibers is that different countries have different regulations—including around imports.
Prosperity began using TENCEL™ lyocell about a decade ago, a time when not many mills had made the same move. Part of what held back adoption was cost, but today he noted it has to be about more than price to deliver innovation and meet sustainability standards.
“Maybe even now, some of the customers still continue to stress the price and also ask for a low-price products,” said Dennis. “But I think for the changing worlds, many of the customers are seeing the whole picture for sustainability.”
“TENCEL™ is a very innovative product,” Stafford explained. He added that the material provides benefits like hand feel while also allowing for a traditional cotton denim look without cotton. It also allows for heightened traceability. Over time, Prosperity has also become known for its TENCEL™ lyocell materials. “The customer knows that we are kind of the TENCEL™ denim guy, so they will come to approach us to do a lot of development,” said Stafford.
To support the local industry, Stafford has also established the Sustainable Fashion Apparel Association, which gives young designers and students co-working space and classes in areas like sewing and sustainability.
Collaboration—whether between industry and education or between companies—is crucial, as Stafford explained. “We cannot work alone—we need to collaborate with society.”
Listen to the episode here.