If you were looking for a sign to buy new underwear, this is it. The Goods have officially arrived to transform your underwear drawer. Ultra-lightweight, totally breathable, silky smooth, and of course sustainable, we made sure we checked all the boxes when it came to designing a first layer you’d reach for day after day. It was no easy feat, but thanks to a little something called REFIBRA™ technology, The Goods are the comfiest and most sustainable underwear on the market.
You’re probably thinking that sounds awesome… but what is REFIBRA™ technology, and what is this underwear actually made of? We’re glad you asked! We’re going to take you behind the scenes for a closer look at what makes The Goods so unique and the innovative company that’s producing this one-of-a-kind fabric.
Before we dive in though, we need to back things up a little and fill you in on the not so environmentally friendly status quo of clothing production. As it stands today, a shocking 48 million tons of textiles end up as waste every year, 73% of which end up in landfills. Unfortunately, the problem starts long before our clothes are even manufactured. Clothing production consumes massive quantities of water and energy, and on average 10 to 30% of the fabric is wasted in the cutting process and simply thrown away. In short, the current way of doing things is not good for our planet and not sustainable long-term.
This is where Lenzing AG (the innovators of that REFIBRA™ technology) enters with their eco-awesomeness to put an end to this seemingly never-ending amount of waste. Their revolutionary solution? Skip the landfills and keep the materials used in clothing production circulating. Lenzing is a leader in the emerging circular economy of clothing, where nothing is treated as waste. What is leftover from one process becomes an input to another. Their revolutionary REFIBRA™ technology embraces this idea by giving a second life to those cotton scraps that would otherwise be sent to landfills or incinerated. How genius is that?
Here’s how it works. REFIBRA™ technology takes upcycled cotton scraps and turns them into cotton pulp. This recycled cotton pulp then gets combined with wood pulp from sustainably managed forests. The end result is their one-of-a-kind sustainable fibre. The Goods are made specifically from Lenzing’s TENCEL™ Lyocell fibres that utilize this REFIBRA™ technology. Unlike other man-made fibres, lyocell fibres are made from cellulose derived from wood pulp and Lenzing’s takes their TENCEL™ Lyocell fibres a step further by incorporating pre- and post-consumer cotton scrap with their REFIBRA™ technology.
Reducing the amount of waste ending up in landfills is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the eco-friendly benefits of Lenzing’s TENCEL™ x REFIBRA™ Lyocell. With both raw materials, cotton and wood pulp, originating from plant sources, the resulting fibres are 100% biobased. This means that the fibres on their own are fully compostable and biodegradable. (We should note here, that as much as we wish you could plant your underwear, The Goods contain a very small amount of elastane, so they aren’t quite ready for your garden bed yet.) TENCEL™ x REFIBRA™ Lyocell fibres are also made using Lenzing’s award-winning efficient closed-loop production process, which uses 95% less water to produce than conventional cotton.
Not only are TENCEL™ Lyocell fibres sustainably produced, but they feel amazing on your skin and deliver long-lasting quality too. The fibres make for a silky smooth feel and absorb moisture more efficiently than your run-of-the-mill fabric. Compared to polyester and synthetics, and even to cotton, the microscopic fibrils of Lyocell cellulosic fibres are structured to regulate the absorption and release of moisture. This contributes to a breathable fabric that creates a cooling sensation on your skin. All important features to have for your everyday base layer.
So now that you’re caught up, you can see how important it was to prioritize both sustainability and comfort when designing The Goods. A change is desperately needed when it comes to the way we produce clothing, and Lenzing is setting a new standard for sustainable production. With REFIBRA™ technology they’re putting an end to waste and protecting the environment in style.
Shop the collection for men and women for the most sustainable under-experience ever. Good for your body. Good for the earth.
