Stella McCartney Is Launching The World's First Biodegradable Stretch Denim Line

These days, more and more brands are hopping on the sustainable fashion bandwagon. But Stella McCartney has long been a pioneer in the sustainable fashion space, advocating for less waste, rejecting the use of furs and leather, and incorporating plant-based materials into her designs. Now, she is launching a biodegradable stretch denim line — and the collection is the first of its kind for the fashion house.

The line will consist of 10 stretch denim pieces and it is set to debut with the Fall 2020 collection this May. On Jan. 13, Financial Times Fashion shared a photo of the designer alongside Kate Hudson on Instagram to announce the launch.

"Stella McCartney has introduced the world's first biodegradable stretch denim made from plant-based yarns for her AW20 collection," the post explains. "The fabric is created by Candiani Denim using organic cotton wrapped around a natural rubber — free from plastics and micro-plastics."

Stella McCartney is also working with Candiani Denim to lower the carbon footprint of its current denim line. The fashion house reportedly still uses an abundance of water and harmful dyes for a single pair of jeans. At Candiani, denim is dyed using Indigo Juice and Kitotex Vigital, a mushroom and seawood-derived ingredient that's biodegradable. Both ingredients help reduce the amount of energy, water, and chemicals used in the denim-making process, Just-Style reports.

"In a world where resources are diminishing and landfills are overflowing with discarded garments, it’s our duty to look for renewable resources, in addition to biodegradable and compostable materials," Owner of the Candiani mill Alberto Candiani explained in a statement. "Denim has to take the lead as the indigo flag of this revolution and we are thrilled to be working alongside Stella McCartney to share our innovation and beliefs with the wider fashion industry.”

Stella McCartney began as an accessories line with luxury conglomerate Kering before moving under the LVMH umbrella and expanding to ready-to-wear in March 2018. Years later, McCartney has stayed true to her commitment of working toward sustainability in design. The designer revealed in an interview with Refinery29 that her mission is to make people aware, not to force-feed her take on eco-friendly fashion.

"I firmly believe that my job and what I’ve studied my whole life is to be a fashion designer — not some sort of environmentalist or political campaigner," McCartney said. "If people come to this house and don’t have a clue of what the product is made out of and just want the product, well, that’s okay. I want people to come here because they desire the designs. At the end of the day, that’s when I’m doing my job successfully and in a stealth manner. That’s the most important thing. People don’t come here because I tell them to be vegetarian or to not kill animals or harm the planet."