Suedwolle Group, Chinese seamless knitting specialist UTO and The Lycra Company have built a shared yarn platform for performance activewear on polyester fibre made entirely from recycled textile waste. The partners presented the resulting collection at Performance Days in Munich on October 13–14.

The new yarn combines three components: ultrafine Merino wool, Coolmax EcoMade recycled polyester and a fine polyamide filament. The Coolmax EcoMade fibre is produced through a textile-to-textile recycling process that uses 100% textile waste as its feedstock — a closed-loop input rather than the bottle-based recycled polyester that dominates current activewear programmes.

What does each fibre contribute?

The division of functions within the yarn follows a clear engineering logic:

• Coolmax EcoMade polyester delivers moisture management and quick-drying performance.
• Merino wool adds natural thermoregulation and moisture buffering.
• The polyamide filament provides durability and stability during processing — a spinning and knitting consideration as much as a garment-performance one.

Suedwolle developed the yarn through its Suedwebs Innovation Hub, positioning it as a common material platform across performance applications rather than a single-product development. For sourcing teams, a platform approach consolidates material approval, testing and supplier qualification across multiple garment categories, which can shorten development lead times compared with specifying a separate yarn per end use.

How does seamless construction change the sourcing equation?

UTO converted the yarn into a collection spanning base layers, yoga, tennis and golf garments using seamless knitting technology. The method builds fit, movement and functional properties directly into the knitted structure, reducing reliance on conventional cut-and-sew construction — with implications for sewing-labour content and, potentially, unit cost and production speed.

Each end use places different demands on the material. Base layers prioritise moisture management and thermoregulation. Yoga garments require flexibility and close-fitting comfort. Tennis apparel must handle intensive movement and perspiration. Golf clothing has to maintain comfort over long periods and in changing weather.

The project's significance for supply-chain professionals lies in the demonstration that a single yarn platform containing textile-to-textile recycled fibre can be adapted to different end uses through yarn engineering and seamless construction, rather than through category-by-category material development.

What has not been disclosed?

The companies have not disclosed the precise proportions of the three fibre components in the yarn, nor the overall recycled content of the finished garments. That omission limits comparability for brands benchmarking the offer against certified recycled-content claims such as those under Global Recycled Standard or similar schemes, and leaves open the question of cost premium over virgin-fibre equivalents.

No timeline for commercial availability, capacity commitments or pricing has been announced. The three partners have, however, established a working chain from fibre producer to finished garment — The Lycra Company supplying the recycled polyester, Suedwolle the engineered yarn, UTO the seamless manufacturing — which suggests the platform is positioned for production scaling rather than remaining a concept showcase.

Brands evaluating textile-to-textile recycled inputs for their own seamless programmes will want clarification on fibre blend ratios, recycled-content certification and volume pricing before treating the Munich presentation as a sourcing option rather than a proof of concept.