Bringing Textile-to-Textile Recycled Polyester to Market with Ambercycle and GANNI
Ambercycle is an innovation company that uses novel molecular regeneration technology to convert end-of-life textiles into decarbonized, circular materials for brands. In collaboration with womenswear brand GANNI, the two companies worked together to bring cycora® to market – Ambercycle’s first commercially viable regenerated alternative to virgin polyester. In this case study, we hear how the two companies overcame the challenges of integrating innovative materials into the supply chain.
Finding collaborators with shared ambitions
Danish womenswear brand GANNI has set itself the ambitious target of cutting its carbon footprint by 50% by 2027. With a significant portion of its greenhouse gas emissions coming down to its raw materials, the brand has specified that it is committed to decreasing its dependence on synthetics – particularly recycled polyester sourced from bottles – which constituted approximately 13.6% of its carbon footprint at the material level in 2022.
After carrying out extensive market research, GANNI was able to refine its objective. “While recycled PET bottle fibers offer substantial opportunity within plastics and polyester, we were keen to explore solutions within true textile-to-textile recycling,” said Julie Verdich, the brand’s Material Innovation Lead. This led them to actively pursue partnerships that could open the door to innovative solutions – like Ambercycle’s cycora®.
cycora® is a regenerative polyester made from post-consumer and post-industrial textile waste. Powered by molecular regeneration technology, cycora® transforms textile waste into virgin-grade materials. The innovative fiber gave GANNI the opportunity to reduce its reliance on both virgin materials and recycled PET bottle fibers, while also ramping up its commitment to addressing environmental impacts at the raw material level.
As an early-stage innovator, Ambercycle was keen to find committed brand partners to integrate cycora® into a product portfolio at scale while educating their end customers on the importance of circularity. From the early days, the company has identified these two pillars as crucial components in building a truly circular economy. After approaching GANNI on a trip to Denmark, they began forging a long-term vision for their strategic partnership.
“While recycled PET bottle fibers offer substantial opportunity within plastics and polyester, we were keen to explore solutions within true textile-to-textile recycling.”
Overcoming the obstacles of early-stage innovation
Thanks to their collaborative resourcefulness, Ambercycle and GANNI have now launched a sports jersey using cycora® as part of the GANNI Fabrics of the Future Collection. This launch marks the beginning of other releases too.
For GANNI, integrating cycora® required a problem-solving mentality to overcome obstacles not present with more widely used commercial fibers. “Navigating the landscape of innovation comes with challenges related to scaling and availability,” explains Verdich.
In the early days of their partnership, GANNI came up against challenges with the diversity of fabrications and applications feasible, as well as finding limited types of yarn available at the scale needed. “Overcoming this obstacle has required us to forge close partnerships with our supply chain, ensuring that we can meet minimum order quantities (MOQs) while adhering to tight timelines,” added Nava Esmailizadeh, Ambercycle’s Head of Brand.
GANNI stressed the importance of kickstarting collaborations in early stages, to “not only build demand but also provide innovators with the necessary support to scale their production and meet the MOQs required for large-scale manufacturing.”
As it continues to scale, GANNI is also working to raise the recycled content included in its products. So far, it has successfully increased it from 25% to 30%, with plans to reach 70% in the future.
Strengthening partnerships across the supply network
The sports jersey’s launch has been a key milestone in cementing the partnership between GANNI and Ambercycle.
“Once a material is proven with a product launch, we experience closer alignment with the material partner, fostering an environment that allows for seamless progression in the material development,” explains Verdich, expanding on GANNI’s position. “This alignment streamlines the process, making it more straightforward to navigate the subsequent stages of material refinement and innovation.”
From Ambercycle’s perspective, having brand buy-in is key to strengthening partnerships with other stakeholders, thereby ensuring that cycora® is smoothly integrated into the supply chain. The company claims that support from GANNI has been “essential in leveraging mill partners to assist in this process.”
The partners also emphasize the importance of collaborating closely with the whole supply network – especially when it comes to handling innovative materials on a smaller scale. “Their insights help us understand how to support the success of material innovations, and how to effectively collaborate with them,” added Verdich, speaking to the invaluable expertise of its supply chain partners.
“Once a material is proven with a product launch, we experience closer alignment with the material partner, fostering an environment that allows for seamless progression in the material development.”
Embracing the process of continual improvement
In forming this collaboration, GANNI and Ambercycle committed to working together through the steps needed to reach their shared vision, without waiting for policies or conditions to be perfect first.
As Esmailizadeh puts it, “embracing the idea that innovation is an iterative process is key to fostering a culture of continuous improvement and innovation. It’s important to align on a clear vision of where we want to go and stay committed to taking the incremental steps to turn that vision into reality”.
Both partners are calling on others in the industry to take on this mindset of continual improvement toward systems change, made possible through collective action.
“By uniting with other brands, we harness the power of collaboration, enabling Ambercycle and others to secure investment, scale their operations, and thrive in their mission for positive change,” added Verdich. “Through strategic partnerships with forward-thinking companies such as Ambercycle, we aspire to see these innovative solutions expand to a degree where they can effectively support brands like ours in achieving our sustainability objectives.”
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