Denim Developers See More Value in Blending Tencel Fibres

With a proven legacy of over 80 years, Lenzing AG’s sustainable production of botanic fibres has remained as the centrepiece of strategic focus of its core business. Avinash Mane, Commercial Director (South Asia), Lenzing Group, talks to texfash.com about the role the three-decade-old Tencel fibre has played in the business of denim.

Richa Bansal

10 June 2022

5 minutes

Long Story, Cut Short

Since cotton prices are above Tencel fibre prices, denim developers see more value in blending Tencel fibres.
From a rough fabric, denim has transitioned into a superior and comfortable fabric owing to the features brought by Tencel fibres.
The Tencel fibres brand has been developing innovations in clean technologies to create denims that are more sustainable and have minimum environmental impact.

It's 30 years of Tencel fibre brand. Two questions here: (i) in what ways has the denim ecosystem changed in the last 30 years? (ii) Important: what has Tencel itself been able to change in the last 3 decades?
Denims are an important part of everyone’s closet, almost an integral part of every era’s cultural landscape. Over the last decades, denims have moved on from being limited to a certain age group to becoming widely accepted in different avenues, from officewear, shirting and dress applications to general high street fashion. However, the story behind how innovation has shaped the denim industry is rarely told. With Tencel fibres, we have introduced denims that are tailored to a sustainable lifestyle, liberating personal expression through movement by their natural comfort, smoothness, and versatility. From a rough fabric, denim has now transitioned into a superior and comfortable fabric owing to the features brought by Tencel fibres.

We have a proven track record on how denims made with Tencel fibres blended with cotton can improve the properties of denim garments in various ways such as enhancing their breathability, adding softness for greater comfort, or extending their colour retention. Tencel fibres are widely used by some of the world’s reputed denim brands such as Levi’s, H&M, Kings of Indigo, Jack & Jones and more.

The COVID-19 pandemic has either brought about or simply accelerated a lot of things, some inter-related and some not. Examples: the lookout for a green recovery; lifestyle changes brought about by the pandemic (like WHM, etc); other lifestyle changes that accelerated loungewear/sportswear/athleisure. In what all ways has denim been affected?

The concept of sustainability and circular fashion has seen a massive growth over the past few years. The last two years have re-defined the concept in many ways. An unprecedented pandemic coupled with large-scale devastation due to climate change has put the spotlight on various brands to reflect on their business practices and bring in necessary changes to help undo the damage already done to nature. These include reducing green-house-gas emissions, use of better raw materials, to production process, waste treatment and more.

While COVID-19 has certainly accelerated efforts of ingredient brands such as Tencel fibres in driving awareness and shaping attitudes towards sustainable fashion, the Tencel fibres brand has been developing innovations in clean technologies for creating denims that are more sustainable and have minimum environmental impact. Additionally, we at Tencel brand have invested our efforts towards driving awareness and steering consumer choices towards options that have minimum impact on the environment. And the end result has been successful in the form of super comfortable denims which can be worn for a longer period and for multiple occasions.

Standards keep changing, as do demands of people. Also, by activists and other stakeholders. In this context, what is Lenzing planning to improve its own yardsticks? Please elaborate.
Lenzing AG has a proven legacy of over 80 years and our sustainable production of botanic fibres has remained as the centrepiece of strategic focus of our core business. We have continued to research and innovate on clean technologies thus strengthening our core drives as we progressed on to becoming a trusted brand without impacting the environment. We have offered quite a few new innovations as a part of this vision:

Lenzing unveiled pioneering Tencel Modal fibre with Indigo Color technology.
Lenzing collaborated with Orange Fiber as part of new Tencel Limited Edition initiative.
Lenzing diversified denim offering with launch of new matte Tencel branded lyocell fibres.
Lenzing expanded fibre identification technology to Tencel branded fibres.

The pandemic has also not just accelerated debate about supply chains and traceability, there is now a lot of activity in this field. How do you see overall denim trade being impacted? At a company level, how does it affect Lenzing?
According to the ‘Sustainability and Circularity in the Textile Value Chain’ by United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) published in 2020, the textile sector alone accounts for approximately 8% of world’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This translates to approximately >3.3 billion mT emitted greenhouse gases (GHGs) per year. The global textile industry consumes around 215 trillion litres of water. This consumption has its highest share in China (34%), followed by India (12%) and USA (5%).

The global fashion industry is valued at US$1.3 trillion dollars and employs more than 300 million people globally along the textile value chain. In India, the textile industry makes up for approximately 5% of the total GDP and these facts only highlight the urgency for the fashion and textile industry to transition to a more sustainable, socially inclusive, and circular model and denims is a sizable contributor to this. The need for circularity is very real need, in fact it’s the need of the hour. Denim jeans have to address a lot of areas in order to become more eco-friendly clothing items. Making a single pair of denim jeans can consume 1,500 litres of water!

At Lenzing AG, we identified this issue a long time back and have worked towards developing denim innovations that minimise impact on the environment. A range of denim products now can be blended with our Tencel lyocell and modal fibres that create superior experience of comfort, durability, and versatility but with substantially lower volume of water wastage and impact on the environment.

The overall denim industry is said to have been adversely affected by cotton prices. So, has the demand for Tencel fibre gone up in this context? How have you been affected?
Yes, since cotton prices are above Tencel fibre prices, the denim developers see more value in blending Tencel fibres. This not only comes with cost competitiveness but also imparts superior features to the denim. Cotton is key raw material in making denims and the recent surge in cotton prices is certainly being felt by the denim industry. However, one must also note that it is not just cotton’s unprecedented inflation that is drilling holes into the pockets of denim makers. The cost of dyes and other costs within the supply chain are also contributing to the denim industry’s woes.

While cotton will always play a central role in denim fabric production, industry players are rethinking their reliance on cotton widening their menu of fibres, with sustainable alternatives such as Tencel fibres.

Richa Bansal

RICHA BANSAL has more than 30 years of media industry experience, of which the last 20 years have been with leading fashion magazines in both B2B and B2C domains. Her areas of interest are traditional textiles and fabrics, retail operations, case studies, branding stories, and interview-driven features.