In Vancouver, high-end athleisure brand lululemon has introduced its first shirt made from biobased nylon.
The material was produced by San Diego biotech firm Genomatica. The two companies have been collaborating since 2021.
“Today marks a major achievement: biotechnology has successfully fermented plant sugars into the chemical building blocks used to make nylon, bringing to life a renewable, plant-based nylon. Together with lululemon, Geno is opening a new chapter for plant-based nylon and accelerating the sustainable materials transition. We’re proud that this partnership is disrupting the $22 billion dollar nylon market, and with lululemon, we will be accelerating the sustainable materials transition at scale—and this is only the beginning,” Christophe Schilling, CEO and founder of Genomatica, said in a press statement.