DANVILLE, Va. — Circ®, a U.S.-based pioneer in textile-to-textile recycling, has introduced the Fiber Club, in collaboration with sustainable innovation platform Fashion for Good and forest conservation non-profit Canopy. The Fiber Club is a groundbreaking initiative designed to help brands validate and adopt recycled materials through a structured four-phase process. This process guides brands through sampling, pilot collections, and long-term off-take commitments, making the transition to circular materials more streamlined.
The inaugural material for Fiber Club is Circ’s staple lyocell fiber, with plans to expand to other Circ materials in the future. Incorporating new fibers into existing supply chains often involves high costs and complexity, requiring minimum volumes and significant investments. Fiber Club addresses these barriers by creating a platform where brands can simultaneously test and adopt innovative materials. By combining brand volumes, the initiative reduces costs, simplifies supplier engagement, and lowers the minimum order quantities typically required for such transitions.
Fiber Club aims to set a new milestone in sustainable fashion by building the first-ever roadmap for scaling circular materials. The program simplifies supply chain integration, establishes bulk pricing structures, and provides brands with easier access to Next Gen recycled materials, paving the way for large-scale adoption.
The initiative has been designed to foster collaboration across the supply chain and smooth integration into commercial-scale production. Its inaugural partners include supply chain contributors Birla Cellulose, Foshan Chicley, and Arvind, alongside notable brands such as Bestseller, Eileen Fisher, Everlane, and Zalando. For these pilot projects, Birla Cellulose will produce lyocell staple fiber from Circ’s pulp, derived from polycotton textile waste. Arvind and Foshan Chicley will work on textile fabrications, while brands will nominate garment manufacturers to transform these materials into market-ready products.
Unlike isolated, short-term collaborations, the Fiber Club is a forward-looking program with a commitment to long-term impact. The concept, spearheaded by Circ, Fashion for Good, and Canopy, can also be used by other Next Gen material innovators to scale their products, with Circ taking the lead. By focusing first on Circ’s Lyocell staple fiber, this marks the initial step towards revolutionizing scalable, sustainable textile solutions.
Words from Industry Leaders:
Peter Majeranowski, CEO of Circ, emphasized the innovation and impact of the initiative:
“Fiber Club represents the future of textile recycling and circularity. By collaborating with brands and streamlining supply chain integration, we’re making it easier than ever to adopt recycled and Next Gen materials at scale—starting with our Circ Lyocell.”
Alexander Granberg, Materials Manager – Recycling & Innovation at BESTSELLER, highlighted the need for cross-industry collaboration:
“For BESTSELLER to effectively meet our material goals, we need to work toward establishing continuous access to these new resources. That means we must be pragmatic, embracing cross-industry collaboration to drive these ambitions and ultimately achieve impactful change.”
Inka Apter, Director of Material Sustainability & Integrity at Eileen Fisher, shared their excitement about the initiative:
“At EILEEN FISHER, we’re thrilled to join Fiber Club, a powerful initiative driving collaboration and innovation to transform the fashion industry and increase the rate of adoption of preferred innovative materials — especially those that help tackle the textile waste crisis. By addressing key challenges like supplier engagement, competitive pricing, and fiber availability, Fiber Club accelerates the adoption of groundbreaking materials like Circ’s staple lyocell. This plug-and-play solution integrates seamlessly into trusted supply chains, making it easier for brands like ours to embrace sustainable innovations. Fiber Club exemplifies the strength of collective action in tackling the textile waste crisis and scaling the use of preferred, innovative materials. EILEEN FISHER is proud to support these efforts.”
Katina Boutis, Director of Sustainability at Everlane, emphasized collaboration:
“At Everlane, we are committed to leaving the fashion industry cleaner than we found it. We understand that this is not something we can do alone, and so we’re dedicated to working collaboratively across the value chain to scale innovative next-gen materials like Circ Lyocell. We are so excited to be part of Fiber Club, a novel pre-competitive approach that will leverage our collective power in pursuit of a more circular industry.”
Pascal Brun, Vice President, Sustainability and D&I at Zalando, underlined their commitment:
“As a long-standing partner of Fashion for Good and an investor in Circ, Zalando is proud to join this transformative initiative. We view the Fiber Club not only as vital to scale up next-generation materials for our own brands but also to tackle the systemic challenges that we face at an industry level, that are key to unlocking scale and enabling a more circular future for fashion.”
The Fiber Club, with Circ at its helm, is setting the stage for a more sustainable and circular fashion industry, providing a collaborative solution for scaling next-generation materials.
