Material-sciences and textile-to-textile recycling company Ambercycle welcomed apparel-industry professionals and experts to tour its new West Adams, Los Angeles, lab to promote a transparent circular economy in fashion. | Photo courtesy of Ambercycle
SUSTAINABILITY
Ambercycle Embraces Transparency in Apparel Circularity by Opening Lab Doors
Los Angeles–based Ambercycle, the textile-to-textile recycling company and maker of cycora regenerated polyester, opened the doors to its new lab in the West Adams neighborhood and hosted on-site tours of its facility for local apparel-industry insiders. The materials-sciences company is promoting supply-chain transparency in the apparel industry.
“We need to engage with the community. We need to engage with the supply chain. If we are just on some island somewhere developing this technology and can’t implement it, it would be difficult to enact the kind of change Shay [Sethi, co-founder and chief executive officer] and I wanted to make from day one,” explained Moby Ahmed, co-founder and chief technology officer. “The key thing is that there are so many stakeholders and so many community members that are involved in this global industry.”
The Sept. 22 tour allowed guests to see how Ambercycle is closing the loop on apparel through its technology. Its advancements in textile-to-textile recycling produce a recycled polyester, but the end product is also recyclable through the company. Ahmed shared that the company holds values of not only educating others but also becoming educated regarding how it can help move the needle toward a circular apparel economy.
“Decarbonizing the apparel industry is a monumental task,” said Ahmed. “What the industry is realizing—what we are all realizing—is that we have to work together to make it happen. That is how we are going to achieve this goal. There is cross talk and community-building behavior that is really beneficial, and it’s only going to benefit us and our material brand cycora—the regenerated alternative to conventional polyester—that we make sure community is at the heart of that brand.”
Ambercycle’s strategy paid off in 2024 through agreements and partnerships with Arc’teryx, Reformation, Gap, Hyosung, MAS Holdings and GANNI. It entered partnerships in October with both Arc’teryx and Reformation to incorporate cycora into their products. Gap Inc. and Ambercycle announced in March that cycora will be used to create Athleta products by 2026.
