Mill Memo: Japan Producers on Cotton-Free and Circular Denim
Increasingly, mills are thinking beyond virgin cotton for denim. This might mean cottonless denim with materials like TENCEL™ Lyocell or hemp, or a mix of recycled textiles and wood-based fibers. Carved in Blue checked in with the TENCEL™ mill customers to chat about their cotton-free collections and circular fabrics.
Read on to hear from Kaihara, Kurabo and Shinohara Textile.
KAIHARA
Carved in Blue: Do you have a ‘No Cotton Denim’ fabric?
Kaihara: Yes, we have 100 percent TENCEL™ Lyocell denim and a TENCEL™ Lyocell-linen denim.
Carved in Blue: For denim fabrics, what are you offering in TENCEL™ Lyocell for volume priced orders? What is your common TENCEL™ Denim base fabric?
Kaihara: TENCEL™ Lyocell-cotton blended stretch denim is a basic item for several customers, such as Edwin, AG, etc.
Carved in Blue: Circularity is the next frontier. What have you developed toward this goal?
Kaihara: We have an organic cotton and BCI cotton collection, and our D-Spec Eco sustainable dyeing collection.
KURABO
Carved in Blue: For denim fabrics, what are you offering in TENCEL™ Lyocell for volume priced orders? What is your common TENCEL™ Denim base fabric?
Kurabo: We have a cotton, TENCEL™ Lyocell , PET, linen denim collection in a broken twill.
Carved in Blue: Circularity is the next frontier. What have you developed toward this goal?
Kurabo: Our Looplus Denim Collection, which recycles collected cutting scraps and waste clothing into raw materials for textiles.
SHINOHARA TEXTILE
Carved in Blue: Do you have a ‘No Cotton Denim’ fabric?
Shinohara: Yes, we have a 100 percent TENCEL™ Lyocell denim, TENCEL™ Lyocell and Coolmax denim, and Future Indigo TENCEL™ Lyocell denim.
Carved in Blue: For denim fabrics, what are you offering in TENCEL™ Lyocell for volume priced orders? What is your common TENCEL™ Denim base fabric?
Shinohara: Non-stretch TENCEL™ Lyocell-blended denim is more popular than 100 percent TENCEL™ denim.
Carved in Blue: Circularity is the next frontier. What have you developed toward this goal?
Shinohara: We have an organic cotton collection and a mechanical recycled cotton collection.