A promising sustainable fiber used by Simons

Cellulose made from cotton scraps and, to a lesser extent, used clothing, Circulose avoids the need for virgin wood pulp for the production of rayon. Wood or bamboo pulp, generally used in the manufacture of ordinary rayon, is thus replaced by post-industrial or post-consumer cotton which is shredded and transformed by a closed-loop chemical process, in a company factory Swedish Renewcell. Dried into sheets, the cellulose is then shipped to fiber manufacturers to be spun and incorporated into fabrics. According to a comparative analysis of cellulosic fibers carried out by the firm SCS Global Services in 2017, this process makes it possible to considerably reduce the carbon footprint of rayon and its water consumption.

“It is really with a view to preserving forests that there is a significant gain,” underlines Cécile Branco, director of vision, sustainable development and circular economy, at La Maison Simons. This season, the Quebec company used Circulose for the first time in around twenty items for women and men, in proportions ranging from 8% to 49%.

In 2020, H&M announced that it was the first fashion brand to use Circulose in its production. Renewcell’s CEO at the time called his product “probably the most sustainable fashion material in the world.” Greenwashing or real eco-responsibility? According to Marianne Coquelicot-Mercier, circular economy advisor in the textile industry, Circulose is a truly promising technological advance, especially when transformed using Lenzing’s Lyocell process, which reuses water and chemicals in a loop. closed. “With this process, which is also renowned for having the least impact, we come quite close to virtuosity! “, she says.

But there is a dark side to the picture. Despite the support of fashion giants, Renewcell filed for bankruptcy protection last February, after failing to obtain sufficient financing to implement its strategic plan. “What that tells me is that the issue is not technological, it is systemic,” notes Marianne Coquelicot-Mercier. It’s the system we’re in (fast fashion) which means that even if we find technological solutions, they fail to take their place in the market. It’s truly catastrophic. »

For La Maison Simons, it is essential to support these initiatives, assures Cécile Branco, even if the path taken is more tortuous. “It was really for the cause because it was a much longer development than expected,” she says of the making of this collection. It’s so new that our suppliers didn’t have easy access to Circulosis. We had to get involved in the entire production chain. »

Will this be the one and only Simons collection featuring Circulosis? Cécile Branco says she hopes that stakeholders will mobilize to save the company’s installations and processes. In the meantime, there are still stocks in circulation. Other companies, notably CIRC in the United States, also offer a comparable product. “We have just launched the collection, so we need to take the pulse,” adds M^me Branco.

This collection is part, she specifies, of a long-term vision of the brand which wishes to develop the circularity of its supply chains and increase the use of recycled materials. Later this spring, she will launch another collection, this one made with mechanically recycled cotton from production scraps from her own t-shirts. “Even if we are a small player in the fashion industry, we want to be able to support this type of initiative to the best of our abilities so that this industry can emerge."