Jeans have become the latest unlikely weapon in the war on plastic as a high street brand becomes the first UK retailer to stock pairs made from a blend of recycled bottles and cotton.
Women’s fashion retailer Simply Be has just launched its first denim range using the latest high-tech fibre made from 97% recycled sources.
Each pair of the special relaxed, slim-leg jeans is created using fibre made from recycled plastic equivalent to about 18 plastic bottles. The fabric is created by first collecting used plastic bottles, which may otherwise have been thrown away to contribute to the millions of tons of plastic a year which goes into land-fill. The bottles are then cleaned and ground into flakes. The flakes are converted into chips which are made into fibre. Next the fibre is spun into yarn suitable for clothing.
But the benefits don’t end there, trademarked COOLMAX® ECOMADE, this cutting edge denim is also designed to move moisture away from the skin and let air flow through the fabric creating jeans that help the wearer feel cool and dry and that can also be comfortably be worn in the warmer summer weather.
The science behind the fabric involves the use of polyester fibres with engineered micro-channel cross-sections. The channels help move the moisture away from the body and the specially shaped cross sections also have a high surface area to spread the moisture out for faster evaporation.
Simply Be has a pair of indigo turn-up hem jeans and a pair of mid-blue, turn-up hem slim fit shorts in the range which are machine washable and available from size 10 to 32. The COOLMAX® ECOMADE recycled-plastic yarn is mixed with traditional cotton, Tencel® and LYCRA® elastane in the denim manufacturing process.
Laura MacDonald of Simply Be said: “We now know how damaging single-use plastics are to the environment so we all have a job to do in taking steps to reduce the amount of plastic that ultimately ends up in landfill.
“The amazing advances that have been made in technology, enabling plastic to be recycled into a high quality breathable fabric, such as the one used in these jeans, is fantastic news in the ongoing war on plastic.
“The fact that the denim keeps you cool is an added bonus as it makes these jeans the perfect addition to everyone’s wardrobe this season to enjoy the warmer summer weather.”
