Mey Zzzleepwear

The Zzzleepwear series is made with N8TEX 2.0 technology / Source: Mey

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4 MINUTE READ

Mayer Nissim

WHAT WE SAY:

Egyptian cotton has long been seen as the gold standard when it comes to luxury bedding and nightwear. But there is a new player in town: Celliant Viscose.

This high-tech, but still all-natural fibre converts heat emitted from your body overnight into full-spectrum infrared energy and reflects it back to the skin, helping regulate your temperature and also promoting improved local circulation and oxygen supply to the skin – promising you a better night’s sleep, all without the use of synthetics.

KEY FACTS:

German underwear and sleepwear brand Mey, established in 1928, has launched the 10-piece Zzzleepwear series, with what it calls N8TEX 2.0 technology – a blend of Cotton and Celliant Viscose.
Celliant Viscose has thermo-reactive minerals embedded in the fibre, which captures and converts body heat into infrared energy, before reflecting it back to the skin to help maintain correct body temperature, aiding sleep and promoting faster recovery from physical activity.
Mey’s Zzzleepwear collection is widely available in-store and online, with prices ranging from EUR 70 to 100 (73 to 104 USD).

Model wearing shirt with half sleeves and three-quarter-length bottoms in Natural / Source: Mey

Model wearing nightshirt with full-length sleeves in Deep Taupe / Source: Mey

DIVE DEEPER:

Cotton sleepwear has its advantages, but polyester blends are often more durable, wrinkle resistant, quick drying and offer moisture wicking. There is an environmental cost though and a massive 35% of all microplastics released into the world's oceans are from synthetic textiles.
Mey's Zzzleepwear series aims to offer the best of all worlds: a blend of 75% cotton with 25% Celliant Viscose, a rayon solution made from Cellulose wood pulp featuring in-fibre mineral powder.
Tests show the Zzzleepwear series boosts oxygen supply to the skin by 7.6%.
Celliant’s scientific advisory board has overseen the publication of nine published and peer-reviewed studies and tests showing the clinical effectiveness of its technology.
Mey's Zzzleepwear series is available in two colours: deep taupe and natural, and as a short or long-sleeved shirt paired with either three-quarter or full-length trousers, or a nightshirt with full-length sleeves.
Over three-quarters of Mey’s products are made at its own factories in Germany, Portugal and Hungary. All its materials have been certified by external institutions and have been awarded Standard 100 by Oeko‑Tex certification.
The company has been awarded Green Button certification for products made in an environmentally and socially responsible way, meeting 46 strict standards.

"Sleep is the most rejuvenating time of the day and with the added therapeutic infrared properties of Celliant technology combined with the soft, lightweight viscose fibre, our product should make it even more restful and restorative."

Matthias Mey - Managing Partner, Mey

Key Design Considerations:

Is the cotton used in Zzzleepwear as sustainable as it could be?

While using organic cotton is no magic bullet, given the accusations of fraud levelled at the industry and clear provenance being equally key to growing methods, the fact that Mey does not mention if the cotton that makes up three-quarters of the fabric blend in the Zzzleepwear series is organic suggests it is not. However, rather than just relying on opaque certifications, you could consider sourcing cotton from best-in-class farmers, such as Good Earth Cotton.

Can Zzzleepwear be more effectively recycled or repurposed at its end-of-life?

Being plant-based, both cotton and Celliant Viscose will biodegrade, albeit more slowly in landfill than in compost. Given that approximately 85% of all textiles are thrown away in the US, with the average American throwing away 37 kilograms of clothes every year, a return and recycling scheme like that run by Spanish running shoe company Camper would mean that Zzzleepwear could be better disposed of when it wears out.

Is viscose the most environmentally-sound material to use alongside cotton?

While Kelheim Fibres’ gold award in the CSR rating by Ecovadis EMAS-certified environmental management system is certainly reassuring, viscose production still involves multiple chemicals and lots of energy. Lyocell is a more environmentally-friendly alternative, although a Celliant-powered lyocell fibre does not appear to be available, for now.