Milliken & Company business recently launched Polartec® Power Air™. The knit fabric has been constructed to encapsulate air and retains warmth while also reducing the amount of microfiber shedding. This is a major concern haunting the fleece industry. Polartec stated that the advanced thermal efficiency by encapsulating lofted fibres within a multilayer, continuous yarn fabric reduces the shedding by at least five times.

The entire fabric is made from recycled polyester and elasterell-p, making it 100% recyclable and circular according to the company. The fabric also is highly durable and resists pilling.

The Swedish based company, Houdini focused on outdoor sustainable apparel has chosen Polartec Power Air to be featured in its Mono Air Houdi fleece jacket. The brand has been helping designers fight plastic waste and has put in effort towards the jacket. The jacket’s design, stitching patterns and list of components are available online for download through the Project Mono Air open-source initiative. The main aim of the company is to encourage the apparel industry to become circular and waste-free. The vision the company has would require collaboration and considerable transformation in the industry.

Eva Karlsson, Houdini CEO, stated that the apparel industry was advancing towards sustainable solutions. She added that the insight that sparked the idea of Project Mono Air couldn’t be kept to themselves if they wanted to make a difference. She stated that everyone shared the problem and now they wanted to share the solution.

Jesper Danielsson, the head of Design and Innovation at Houdin, stated that the goal with the open-source project was not to create identical copies of the Mono Air but to let the work behind it become useful in the development of new products. 

Steve Layton, Polartec president, stated that Polartec Power Air was a step forward in reducing the environmental impact of what we make and wear. He stated that the processes and construction made circularity possible.