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Lenzing launches new 'green' luxury filament Tencel Luxe
On 6th October, Austrian specialist in cellulose fibres Lenzing has launched Tencel Luxe at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris. Tencel Luxe is a new version of Lenzing's most popular filament, designed to appeal to major fashion labels thanks to its silky feel and environmentally-friendly manufacturing process.
The Tencel Luxe range is made of ecological thread derived from plant fibres, specifically from wood pulp coming from trees such as eucalyptus, spruce, fir and birch. The material has a silky, feathery feel and is manufactured in a way that has minimal impact on the environment, in terms of water and energy consumption and the use of chemicals.
"We clearly wanted to bring the industry to a higher level, said to FashionNetwork the sales director of Lenzing, Robert van de Kerkhof. This led us to develop a thread which we think will become a new benchmark for high-end eco-couture. The first development stage involved discussions with industry leaders. We wanted to be different, offering a filament that is complementary to natural fibres such as silk, wool or cashmere. We then talked with the senior management of several luxury labels, and received a very positive feed-back, confirming we were on the right track."
To mark the launch of this new high-tech filament, Lenzing tasked three fashion designers with exploiting its range of capabilities, each designer in their own unique way. At the Parisian launch event, designers Fiona Fondadouze, Peet Dullaert and Quoï Alexander showcased six silhouettes fashioned using the Tencel Luxe range.
Lenzing, a stock exchange-listed textile manufacturer, greatly boosted its revenue and net income in the first quarter 2017. It was the best quarter in the history of the Austrian synthetic fibre specialist, which was founded in 1938, generating a revenue of €586.2 million, up 14.3% compared with the same quarter of last year.
In 2018 and 2019, the group is planning to enlarge the output capacity of its plant in Heiligenkreuz im Lafnitztal, Austria, and of its USA plant in Mobile, Alabama, with new investment worth €27 million. By mid-2018, the Austrian plant's extension ought to allow the production of 25,000 tonnes of Lyocell, one of the Lenzing group's leading fibres. The new US site will instead be dedicated to the manufacturing of Tencel, another of Lenzing's best-sellers, and it is expected to become operational at the end of the first quarter 2019.
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