Pangaia x Infinna

The Infinite Tee created from 100% Infinna fibre / Source: Pangaia

AfricaAsiaCelluloseEuropeInfinnaNorth AmericaOceaniaPaperSouth AmericaTextiles

3 MINUTE READ

Jessica Harman

WHAT WE SAY:

Pangaia do it again – launching yet another collection featuring an exciting new plastic-free material.

This time it is Infinited Fiber Company’s Infinna, a cotton-like fibre made from post-consumer textile waste that is itself recyclable again and again. These t-shirts, like most of Pangaia’s products, cater firmly to rich early adopters. You should be watching the materials science pioneer with interest.

KEY FACTS:

Pangaia launched The Infinite Tee, the first commercially available garments to be made with 100% Infinna fibre, in April 2022.
Infinna is a regenerated Cellulose fibre, made from post-consumer textile waste, created by Infinited Fiber Company (IFC).
The limited edition t-shirts were available in short or long-sleeved versions, priced at USD 75 and USD 85 respectively – approximately USD 10 more than the brand’s Cotton t-shirts.

The t-shirt is created from textile waste and can be regenerated again / Source: Pangaia

The Infinite Tee in short-sleeved version / Source: Pangaia

DIVE DEEPER:

As it is made from cellulose, Infinna is fully biodegradable and designed to be recycled infinitely without a decrease in the quality of the fibre.
The process is similar to producing Viscose but instead uses cellulose-rich waste feedstocks. Currently, the company’s primary input is post-consumer textile waste, but in the future, Paper, cardboard and agricultural waste could all be viable feedstocks.
The other key difference between Infinna and traditional viscose production is that the process does not require carbon disulfide (CS2) to be used, with urea used instead.
The collaboration is the first time a retail product has been created with 100% Infinna fibre. Previously, IFC’s demonstrations of garments made from Infinna have been prototypes (Zalando), blends (H&M), or as letters of intent around future collaboration (Ganni, Zara and PVH).
In June 2022, IFC announced it would be investing EUR 400 million (USD 397 million) in its first commercial-scale production facility, an old paper mill in Northern Finland.
The company expects to scale production to 30,000 tonnes by 2025.

"We want to change the image of regenerated textiles being somehow inferior and feel confident that this collection will demonstrate just that."

Kirsi Terho – Key Account Director, Infinited Fiber Company

Key Design Considerations:

Accessibility

While Infinna hints at a more circular fashion system, it is still currently in a very early stage. Even when its commercial scale factory is fully online, IFC’s forecast 30,000 tonne output is tiny compared with the 68 million tonnes of synthetic fibres produced each year. This, plus the fact that Inditex has committed to purchase 30% of IFC’s output, means that you may not even be able to access Infinna for a few years.

100% Infinna vs blends

Pangaia is a premium brand, whose customers are willing to pay high prices to be at the cutting edge of materials science. So while this t-shirt shows that garments made with 100% Infinna are viable, it is unlikely that this is viable for more mainstream brands given Infinna is likely to cost significantly more than cotton.

Communicating circularity

Being able to divert some of the millions of tonnes of textile waste is a hugely exciting prospect (one that requires substantial scaling of recycling infrastructure). But we would also love to see brands using Infinna going one step further and thinking about what happens to these garments too? How can you encourage customers to return and recycle their Infinna garments?