Before it was made into holiday dresses, the silky black fabric used in a new capsule collection from Zara started life as carbon emissions. At a steel mill in China, a startup called LanzaTech uses microbes to turn the factory’s captured emissions into ethanol, something that would usually be made from fossil fuels. The ethanol is then processed into monoethylene glycol, one of the components used to make polyester.
Earlier this year, Lululemon announced that it was experimenting with a version of the fabric to make its high-end yoga pants. Inditex, the fashion group that owns Zara, has also been working with the fabric. Zara’s new capsule collection is the first clothing to come to market using the technology. (Because polyester is made from only 20% monoethylene glycol, the new fabric’s climate impact is not eliminated, but it is reduced.)