Fashion for Good has launched Stretching Circularity, a new industry initiative to tackle elastane
A cross-industry coalition is targeting one of fashion’s most pervasive — and least visible — barriers to circularity: elastane. Led by Fashion for Good, the newly launched Stretching Circularity initiative brings together Levi Strauss & Co., On, Reformation, Paradise Textiles, and Positive Materials, with Ralph Lauren Corporation serving as advisor.
Elastane — also known as spandex or Lycra — is found in an estimated 80 percent of garments, typically blended at low percentages to provide stretch in denim, activewear, and everyday apparel. However, even small amounts can contaminate recycling streams, preventing fiber-to-fiber recycling and leaving most stretch-containing garments destined for downcycling or landfill. As a fossil-fuel-based material, elastane also adds to carbon emissions and resource dependence.
While lower-impact alternatives exist, brands lack the pilot-scale data needed to adopt them with confidence. Stretching Circularity aims to close that gap through two workstreams: validating bio-based elastane derived from alternative feedstocks, and testing regenerated elastane enabled by emerging recycling technologies.
The consortium will produce demonstrator garments — including technical and non-technical T-shirts — to assess performance, durability, environmental impact and scalability under real-world conditions. By reframing stretch as a systems-level design challenge rather than a comfort feature alone, the initiative seeks to transform elastane from a recycling contaminant into a viable component of a circular textile economy — a critical step if the majority of garments on the market are to be designed with their next life in mind.
