There appears to have been considerable buzz and palpable excitement over some recent announcements about big brands going elastane-free with their new product lines.
A second look, however, would show that it's arguably much ado about nothing. Just an overwhelming cloud of smoke without even a flickering ember anywhere within eyeshot.
After all, those are just novel product lines and the brands have not really discarded elastane—the scourge of textile-to-textile recycling—altogether.
Three brands that have generated a lot of interest and elation in the trade press in recent times are Adidas, Decathlon and, of late, Under Armour. The climate performance and reliance on fossil fuel derivates of these brands are worth mentioning in the context. Adidas had scored C- and Under Armour D- in the last Stand.earth Fossil Free Fashion Scorecard. Decathlon too has often been under fire and officially castigated for greenwashing in the Netherlands.
And, in unleashing well-hyped elastane-free lines, they have certainly achieved one thing: stopped tongues momentarily from wagging.
The latest to offer an elastane alternative is Under Armour, which will be launching today its Vanish Pro tees made with the high-performance Neolast fibre. The hype over the Neolast fibre has been building up since January this year when it was announced to the public. The fibre, of course, is not a product of Under Armour—it has been developed by Celanese Corporation.
The announcement had remarked: "The fibres are produced using a proprietary solvent-free melt-extrusion process, eliminating potentially hazardous chemicals typically used to create stretch fabrics made with elastane. Neolast fibres will be produced using recyclable elastoester polymers, a critical first step for the industry to address the challenge of recycling blended fabrics containing elastane."
Neolast is promising. It offers all that elastane offers for sportswear and leisurewear: stretch, moisture management and comfort. The 11-page brochure on the product carries the tagline: "empowering athletes with Neolast fibres: Stretch for the sustainable win." But the document is—almost—all about performance and stretch. Nowhere does it elaborate on what makes it sustainable or the preferred fibre for circularity. All that one gets to know is that it is solvent-free. That's about it.
Neolast is made from thermoplastic elastoester polymers. A thermoplastic is any plastic polymer material that becomes pliable or mouldable at a certain elevated temperature and solidifies upon cooling. Elastoester possesses polyester-like qualities; excellent elongation qualities (stretchability); is washable/easy care; can withstand high temperatures when wet; has excellent dye retention; and there is no adverse discolouring or yellowing when exposed to chlorine.
Elastoester is nothing new. In May 1997, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) of the United States adopted the new name "elastoester" for the fibre that was to be used mostly in sportswear, including swimsuits, cycling shorts and ski pants. An extract from the announcement: "Elastoester is similar to polyester, but different enough physically to warrant a new generic name under the FTC’s Textile Labeling Rules. In making this determination, the FTC has granted the petition of Teijin Limited, an Osaka, Japan-based company that manufactures the new fibre under the trade name REXE. The FTC action means that, effective immediately, companies must use ‘elastoester’ to identify this fibre on the required fabric content labels on garments they manufacture."
