LA’s Laguna Fabrics Launches the Natural Selection Collection with Lenzing, Hyosung

May 30, 2023

Laguna Fabrics is teaming up with global fiber makers on a new line of eco-conscious textiles.

The Los Angeles fabric mill, which develops circular knits, has joined forces with Tencel Lyocell manufacturer Lenzing and Hyosung, the maker of Creora spandex, on the Natural Selection Collection. The groups this week announced the launch of a line of new fabrications that blend the two fibers, from single jerseys to ribs and interlock textiles, which were created for use in contemporary womenswear.

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Laguna’s 35-year legacy in L.A.’s Fashion District has been defined by a focus on high-quality, trend-forward knits. Over the past decade, the family-owned business has worked to improve its sustainability profile by developing lower-impact fabrics, and today, 70 percent of its textile output uses natural fibers. Laguna is the only Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) certified knitting mill in the U.S.

“We are always looking for fiber and yarn innovations that can not only lower environmental impacts, but also perform and meet the commercial scalability needs of our customers,” he told Sourcing Journal.

Over the past six months, the company has devoted more internal resources to sourcing from innovators like Hyosung, which replaces 30 percent of the polymer content in its spandex with corn, displacing non-renewable polymers.

“We have been knitting with their conventional elastane for years and have formed a strong relationship with their team,” Roshan said, adding that the company’s bio-based stretch fiber was “the natural progression.” Calling Tencel Lyocell “the perfect base fiber,” Roshan said that Laguna has been making fabrics with the man-made cellulosic since 2001.

Roshan said the Natural Selection Collection “removes a good portion of petroleum-based spandex from the fabrication and replaces it with renewable resources.” The resulting textiles are stretchy and versatile, with a polished and refined hand feel and clean surface suitable for garments like T-shirts, ribbed tanks, body suits, leggings, and underwear. “It’s not the silver bullet for a sustainable stretch fiber, but it is an amazing place to start,” Roshan added.

“The Natural Fiber Collection retains all the same qualities you get from its conventional counterpart—one of our top-selling fabrics for the past ten years—but with lower environmental impacts,” Roshan said. In fact, Laguna aims to make the fabric range a core part of its selection. “It is our goal to ramp up to this collection being permanent,” he added.

Lenzing business development manager Erica Redd said the collection’s launch “exemplifies how important collaboration is in achieving and creating sustainable solutions for our industry.” Redd said the company is “committed to working with supply chain partners to develop innovations and new fabrications that advance sustainability while meeting the performance needs of consumers.”

“Consumers are demanding high-performance, comfortable fabrics backed-up with genuine sustainability benefits,” added Hyosung global marketing director Simon Whitmarsh-Knight.

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