Max Mara inroduces CameLux at the occasion of the Roundtable on Sustainability

03/27/2019

Max Mara has introduced CameLux at the occasion of the International Roundtable on Sustainability by Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana (26 March 2019).

Pursuing a fully sustainable lifestyle is not always easy and more eco friendly clothing options than those proposed by the fast fashion industry are becoming more necessary than ever. This can be achieved with a production cycle based on a Circular Economy model and upcycling is a big step forward in this direction.

Upcycling is a neologism that keeps together two concepts that not always go hand-in-hand: first, the idea of recycling; and, second, the idea of improvement and quality (even though you are using discarded materials), thus the prefix “up”.

In a Circular Economy the aim is to create less waste by making the most out of every possible material and fabric involved in the production process. In Max Mara’s case, discarded camelhair fabrics are upcyled from our legendary coats (and not only) in order to create a warm insulation. This pad is capable of maintaining the same properties of virgin materials, without requiring additional consumption.

The particular form of insulation of Max Mara is named CameLuxe. CameLuxe is created in three steps; firstly, recovered materials are gathered and sorted from our manufacturers in Italy; secondly, they are transformed through a mechanic process into very fine fibres; lastly, the fibres are blended with recycled polyester, creating a high performing insulating mix, ready to be processed to create the pad.

This process, whose patent was filed, allowed us to create a product highly resilient, features extraordinary tensile and strength qualities and with consistent insulating capacity.

Made through a process that is less impactful in terms of energy consumption, waste production, water usage, CO2 emissions, CameLuxe is a new frontier for ecologically-responsible fashion, giving new purpose to otherwise discarded precious materials.

This project is carried forward under the aegis of the Global Recycling Standard, a certification promoted by Textile Exchange, an established non- profit institution, that for over 15 years has been supporting responsible and sustainable product development in the textile industry, and ICEA, a national non-profit institution that certifies that organisations operate in line with sustainable standards for the environment and for people. CameLuxe is powered by Imbotex Lab.