Diesel's latest partnership with Polygiene equips the company to take antiviral fashion to a new platform. The Swedish chemical company Polygiene had gotten its start into the garment protection technology during the SARS epidemic that took place in the early 2000s.

The company’s collaboration has assisted in working towards a finishing treatment that prevents 99% of the viruses including COVID-19 from attaching itself to the fabric. This new Polygiene’s ViralOff technology will be exclusively used in Diesel’s denim spring/summer 2021 styles. Diesel looks forward to incorporating this technology into additional garments in the coming future.

The brand statement noted that the Polygiene ViralOff represents a critical response in protecting customers. Diesel further adds that safety and public responsibility have never taken more importance than Diesel’s pride and to achieve it required innovation and adaptation to the world's situation quickly and responsibly.

This, however, wasn’t Diesel's first pathway into the antiviral fashion domain. In June, the brand had incorporated Nearchimica’s protector shield technology into its unisex Upfreshing capsule collection that featured Spring/Summer 2020 designs updated with an antimicrobial and antibacterial finishing process. The collection consisted of jeans, logo hoodies, T-shirts and long-sleeved shirts.

In today’s material innovation industry antiviral technology has taken the frontline as more consumers transition their focus towards hygiene and safety. Companies like the Turkish denim mill Calik Denim, fabric developer PG Denim and chemical specialist Rudolf, have been working towards finishing technologies that offer similar protection.