Beyond Elastane: Doing the Hard Work to Make Stretch Circular

Stretch changed modern clothing.

It gave us comfort, movement, and freedom. It allowed garments to work with the body instead of against it. For decades, elastane — whether called spandex or Lycra — made that possible.

But stretch also introduced one of the industry’s most persistent barriers to circularity.

Even today, the presence of a very small percentage of elastane — often as little as two percent — can render a garment effectively unrecyclable at scale. Once stretch is blended into a fabric system, clean separation becomes difficult, recovery pathways narrow, and garments that perform beautifully are often excluded from meaningful recycling streams altogether.

This reality has shaped the industry for years — not for lack of effort.

Where the Industry Is — and Why That Is Changing

Across the fiber landscape, companies are investing in recycling technologies and recovery systems. These efforts matter, and they represent real progress.

But recycling alone does not fully solve the problem.

The hardest challenge has always been clean separation — designing stretch in a way that does not permanently compromise recyclability or environmental outcomes.

That is where the work being done by Tira Fibers pushes the conversation further.

Why Tira Fibers Is Different

Tira Fibers approaches stretch as a full lifecycle system.

Rather than stopping at “can this fiber be recycled,” the work asks harder questions:
What happens when a garment is recycled multiple times?
What happens when it is not recycled at all?
How does stretch behave in real-world end-of-life scenarios?

Tira’s bio-based stretch technology is designed with clean separation and end-of-life behavior in mind from the beginning. The goal is not only reuse, but harm reduction when systems fail.

Based on current scientific understanding, materials like Tira’s bio-stretch are engineered to decompose more comparably to natural fibers under appropriate conditions — often measured in years rather than decades. Outcomes depend on fiber blends, microbes, and environment.

This is not a promise of perfection.
It is a commitment to responsibility.

Why Brand Participation Matters

Innovation will not succeed on material science alone.

Brands play a critical role — not simply by adopting new fibers, but by standing behind them with honesty and education. For decades, the industry benefited from stretch without fully accounting for downstream impact.

Today, brands, mills, and manufacturers have a shared opportunity to do better.

Not by adding labels.
Not by amplifying claims.
But by helping consumers understand trade-offs, progress, and why materials matter.

In a world crowded with greenwashing, meaningful change requires a united front grounded in transparency and science.

Why This Matters to eavolu®

At eavolu®, comfort has never been optional. Neither has responsibility.

Our support for Tira Fibers is rooted in shared values — through engagement, advocacy, testing, and investment — regardless of outcome.

We will continue improving our materials.
We will continue asking harder questions.
And we will continue supporting innovators doing the hardest work — not just the most visible.

A Future Worth Doing Right

The future of stretch will not be solved by a single company or fiber.

But it will be shaped by those willing to rethink fundamentals and design for the very end — not just the moment of sale.

If garments are going to exist in the world, they should leave it no worse than they found it.

Ideally, better.