Country’s biggest apparel manufacturer brings waterless dyeing technology to commercial scale, in a move that could reshape a $100 billion global denim industry.
“For more than a century, the industry has accepted that authentic denim comes with an enormous environmental cost,” said WTRLSS’ co-founder, chairman, and chief scientist Dr Mickaël Mheidle in a press release on Tuesday. “We’ve proven it doesn’t have to. By combining bioscience with digital technology, we’ve created a fundamentally new way to create denim. This is about the digital transformation of one of fashion’s oldest and most resource-intensive industries.”
Each pair of jeans made today requires approximately 75 litres of water in its dyeing and finishing process. WTRLSS’ digital denim technology reduces this to two tablespoons, employing a simplified denim dyeing process with just one step. Along with reducing water usage, it also reduces energy consumption by 90%.
“We believe there is a better way to dye denim, that doesn’t force manufacturers to choose between quality, cost, and sustainability,” said WTRLSS’ co-founder and CEO Dustin White. “That’s why we’ve built WTRLSS, to give brands a faster, more flexible, and more efficient way to manufacture their denim products. Improving how denim is dyed is not just an environmental challenge; it’s a commercial imperative.”
By making denim manufacturing less water dependant, the textile can be produced in a wider variety of locations. The process also reduces businesses’ costs associated with water consumption, wastewater treatment, and recycling. A number of brands and manufacturers have begun trials with WTRLSS and global denim giant Ha-Meem Group has partnered on a commercial production pilot.
“WTRLSS enables us to deliver world-class authentically finished denim while eliminating decades of water waste,” said Sajid Azad, director of Bangladesh’s Ha-Meem Group. “Ha-Meem Group is proud to be first to bring this technology to commercial scale- and prouder still that Bangladesh is leading the way.”
The business’ US headquarters is located in Los Angeles and its European headquarters is in Basel, Switzerland. Formerly known as Lab Denim, the business’ transition from innovation to commercial implementation is designed to facilitate technological adoption at an industrial scale. Although WTRLSS is starting with denim, it plans to expand into the broader fashion and textiles industry as its technology can be applied to numerous textiles including cotton, jute, bamboo, and linen.
