Ralph Lauren uses Dow's sustainable dyeing tech for Olympic collection

Dow worked alongside Ralph Lauren in textile mills around the world to optimise the chemistry in its unique processes. The result is over 15 cotton styles throughout the Team USA collection, including villagewear and opening ceremony pieces, that were dyed using 85 per cent less process chemicals, 55 per cent less water and 60 per cent less energy.

Dow said in a press release that it will continue working with Ralph Lauren to achieve its goal of using Color on Demand in more than 80 per cent of their solid cotton products by 2025.

As a pre-treatment in the cotton dyeing process, the Ecofast Pure cotton dyeing technology significantly reduces the amount of water and chemicals needed to colour cotton – along with less energy use and up to 60 per cent reduction in carbon footprint.

“This fall, in partnership with Ralph Lauren, we will open-source a detailed manual on how to use Ecofast Pure with typical dyeing equipment at the mill. It’s our hope that this tool encourages industry adoption and ultimately standardises a shift toward more sustainable dyeing practices,” Dow said in the release.

In 2018, Dow joined forces with Ralph Lauren to bring together their complementary expertise. From Ralph Lauren, a wealth of industry knowledge and a focus on designing timeless style. And from Dow, a deep understanding of materials science and chemistry. Since then, the two companies have worked hand-in-hand on making phase one of Ralph Lauren’s Color on Demand platform a reality – integrating Ecofast Pure into its existing dyeing processes and becoming the first fashion brand to apply this technology.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (KD)