RE&UP Recycling Technologies’ Next-Gen Cotton is being incorporated into a new commercial T-shirt collection from Zalando’s private labels, demonstrating the use of textile-to-textile recycled fibres in fashion production.
The collection, launched on Zalando in August, includes five T-shirts across YOURTURN by Zalando and Even&Odd by Zalando. The garments use a circular-knit fabric made with 80% organic cotton and 20% RE&UP Next-Gen Cotton, a textile-to-textile recycled fibre manufactured from textile waste.
This marks the first time RE&UP’s recycled fibres have been included in Zalando’s private label assortment.
The collaboration focuses on the application of textile-to-textile recycling at commercial scale, with the companies working to integrate recycled fibres into production while maintaining the required quality standards.
From Textile Waste to Recycled Fibre
RE&UP’s proprietary recycling process uses sorting, deconstruction and decolorization to process pre- and post-consumer textile waste.
The resulting recycled materials are designed to meet the technical, performance and traceability standards required for commercial textile production.
“Industrial-scale circularity is no longer aspirational but operational,” said Özgür Atsan, Chief Commercial Officer of RE&UP. “Through collaborations like this, brands can move from pilot projects to repeatable, scalable production with confidence.”
Zalando Tests Next-Generation Materials in Commercial Production
The partnership also involves the use of RE&UP Next-Gen Cotton in Zalando’s private label products to assess the material against its quality requirements.
“Zalando’s Private Label brands are where entry price points, quality and new materials come together for our customers. With RE&UP we’ve built a commercial t-shirt range using a 20% Next-Gen Cotton blend that meets our strict quality standards — the exact test any next-gen material has to pass before we scale it,” said Frederic Teufel, Commercial Director Private Labels at Zalando.
The collection provides an example of how recycled fibres produced from textile waste can be incorporated into commercial fashion products. The collaboration brings together textile recycling, recycled fibre production and private label apparel manufacturing within the same supply chain.
Focus on Textile-to-Textile Recycling
The initiative comes as the fashion industry works towards increasing the use of textile-to-textile recycled materials. RE&UP’s process and the use of its Next-Gen Cotton in the Zalando collection demonstrate an application of recycled fibres in finished apparel production.
The five-T-shirt collection represents the first use of RE&UP recycled fibres within Zalando’s private label range, combining organic cotton with textile-to-textile recycled cotton fibre.