The collaboration transforms 20,000 pairs of post-consumer jeans into high-quality feedstock, demonstrating a scalable, closed-loop solution for premium denim.
RE&UP Recycling Technologies is accelerating the shift toward a closed-loop textile economy through a strategic collaboration with Madewell and global fabric manufacturer ISKO.
By transforming approximately 20,000 pairs of post-consumer jeans into high-quality recycled feedstock for a textile-to-textile recycled denim capsule, RE&UP is demonstrating the commercial readiness of circular systems for the denim sector.
Launched in 2006, Madewell is known for its premium denim and commitment to responsibly sourced materials and sustainable practices. As the first brand to offer year-round denim recycling through Cotton’s Blue Jeans Go Green™ program, Madewell has operated its denim trade-in initiative for more than a decade, giving worn denim a new life and collecting and recycling over two million pairs of jeans.
This partnership marks a technical evolution: RE&UP’s advanced recycling technology allows these pre-loved garments to be deconstructed and re-engineered into Next-Gen Cotton and Polyester fibers that meet the durability and aesthetic requirements of the premium denim market.
The challenge of post-consumer denim lies in its complexity and varied mechanical history. RE&UP’s proprietary process solves this by providing a feedstock-agnostic capacity, capable of handling diverse polycotton blends and turning them into a “raw canvas” for new production. The resulting fibers were provided to ISKO, where they were engineered into Global Recycled Standard (GRS) certified fabrics that maintain the stretch, strength, and comfort required by modern consumers.
The capsule collection includes the most trending three denim styles: straight leg, barrel leg, and wide-leg, and are available to buy at Madewell.com.
“Closing the loop on post-consumer denim requires industrial precision,” said Marco Lucietti, Head of Global Marketing&Communications of RE&UP. “Our collaboration with Madewell and ISKO demonstrates that we can deconstruct complex, worn garments and re-integrate them into the supply chain as high-quality Next-Gen Cotton and Polyester. This is a blueprint for how brands can utilize their own take-back streams to create a repeatable, closed-loop production cycle.”
