Hyosung, The Lycra Company and Yulex are pouring millions into bio-based elastane made from sugarcane, corn and rubber - and counting on progress, not perfection, to solve fashion's stretch problem.

Elastane may account for just a sliver of most garments, but it’s one of fashion’s biggest circularity blockers. Today, elastane is present in roughly 80 percent of apparel. While it is typically ...

Elastane is present in approximately 80% of all clothing. Credit: ViDI Studio/Shutterstock.com. Launched on 12 February 2026, Stretching Circularity will undertake pilot-scale testing and produce ...

Clothes and other textiles are among the materials that we are the worst at recycling. But this may change. Researchers have developed a new technology that can separate out fibers in mixed fabrics.

We independently review everything we recommend. When you buy through our links, we may earn a commission. Learn more› By Frances Solá-Santiago Frances Solá-Santiago is a writer covering style. She’s ...

When you go running in the woods in your running tights, elastane is the reason they fit you so comfortably. Elastane is an elastic material that allows the fabric to stretch and adapt to your body.

How do you rewrite the formula your sector has relied upon for decades? That’s the question a group of innovators is asking ...

“It’s a bit like the moon landing,” Adam Baruchowitz, co-founder of Return to Vendor, said of what he touted as the circular materials startup’s—and, indeed, the textile industry at large’s—“big, big ...

A huge hurdle in recycling clothes is elastane – a fabric often used in running tights and clothes that people wear to gyms. It’s made to fit comfortably as the elastic material allows the fabric to ...