Our Fiber Is Now Part of ARMEDANGELS' Everyday Denim
Launching a recycled fiber in one collection proves it can be done. Seeing a brand come back for more proves it works.
That is what happened with ARMEDANGELS. In Spring 2025, the Cologne-based label was the first brand to put SaXcell into a commercial collection, and it sold out. This Autumn/Winter, SaXcell moves into ARMEDANGELS' regular men's and women's denim, as part of its DetoxDenim range.
The hard part comes after the launch
The fashion industry has no shortage of new materials. What it lacks is materials that make it past their first season. Many promising fibers appear in a limited capsule, get a round of attention and then disappear before they reach the products people buy every day.
The numbers show how far there is to go. Only an estimated 0.3% of the materials the textile industry uses come from recycled sources, and 0.27% come from fiber-to-fiber recycling.
Julia Kirschner, Impact & Innovation Director at ARMEDANGELS, puts it this way:
"Fashion doesn't have a recycling problem because technology doesn't exist. Many of the solutions are already here. The real challenge is turning successful pilots into long-term commercial reality. That's where the industry needs to focus."
What changed in a year
After the first collection sold out, our teams spent the past year working side by side with ARMEDANGELS. Together we increased production capacity so the fiber could be used across a full product category, not just a handful of styles.
The AW26 denim uses a fabric of 57% organic cotton and 43% SaXcell Lyocell. You will find it in:
- Men: the AASHTON denim jacket and the MAADOX classic straight jean
- Women: a denim jacket and the ATHENAAS high waist wide jean
What goes into the fiber
Every SaXcell fiber starts with cotton-rich textile waste. We turn it into pulp, blend 30% recycled content with 70% FSC-certified wood pulp and spin it into new lyocell fiber in a closed-loop process. Compared with conventional lyocell, this needs about 30% less wood pulp. The fiber is certified and can be traced from waste to fabric.
For brands, the fiber is only part of what we offer. Our CEO, Dr. Pramod Agrawal, explains:
"At SaXcell, we upcycle pre- and post-consumer cotton-rich textile waste into high-quality pulp for lyocell regenerated cellulose fibres, proving that circularity and performance can go hand in hand. Beyond supplying premium fibres, our technical and sustainability team supports brands with quality, LCA data, RCS certification, physical traceability, and Digital Product Passport (DPP)-ready data. Our collaboration with ARMEDANGELS demonstrates how innovation and strong partnerships can help accelerate the transition to truly circular textiles."
Closing the loop with ARMEDANGELS' own garments
The next step is even closer to home. Together with ARMEDANGELS, we are exploring how cotton waste from the brand's own products could become raw material for new SaXcell fiber. If it works, the jeans someone wears out today could become part of the brand's denim in the future.
Ready to move recycled fiber into your core collection? Contact us!