LVMH to recycle textiles in partnership with weturn

LVMH has solidified a partnership between several of its fashion maisons and weturn, a company that offers an innovative recycling chain dedicated to unsold textiles from major fashion houses.

Founded in 2020, weturn is the first recycling chain dedicated to unsold textiles, rolls of fabric and offcuts from major fashion houses, which are all protected by intellectual property. The company then transforms them into new quality yarns and fabrics that are 100 percent traceable and European-made.

LVMH to date has not named which of its designer brands is recycling textiles. The issue with upcycling recognisable fabrics is that they may end up back in the marketplace when used by a different brand. Companies such as Valentino have seen a branded V-print fabric, uniquely developed for the house, used by designers who found leftover fabric in a re-sale shop on the outskirts of Paris. LVMH will be keen for its repurposed textiles to not be recognisable in the marketplace.

Weturn support select LVMH houses in recycling their textiles and to help them reuse these recycled materials in future products (packaging, accessories, fabrics for workshops, uniforms for teams or research projects for integration into ready-to-wear products).

LVMH to offer supply chain transparency by 2026

On a broader scale, weturn offers the promise of transparency through a traceability chain, from collection to reuse.LVMH said by 2026 all new products will be equipped with a dedicated information and traceability system.

“We are delighted that the LVMH group is partnering with weturn, which offers innovative solutions in the field of textile recycling. Today, this partnership allows us to take a new step towards achieving our ambition in the field of creative circularity, which is one of the four strategic priorities of LIFE 360, our environmental policy for the next 10 years. As our designers continue to integrate more and more upcycling into their collections, as the Nona Source platform enables them to obtain high-quality unused fabrics and leathers, and as CEDRE intervenes in the end-of-life of products, weturn offers our Maisons the opportunity to recycle their unsold finished products, branded fabrics and textile packaging in the form of spools of thread. This creates a complete ecosystem around creative circularity, which is a source of inspiration for our designers. The circle is complete!”, says Hélène Valade, Environment Development Group Director, LVMH.

“After a year dedicated to creating a new recycling chain, we are proud to join the circular economy market by working to recycle unsold and protected products alongside prestigious Maisons such as those of the LVMH group, which contribute to the international reputation of France. Our ambition is to contribute to the revival of the European textile industry by demonstrating that a product’s value lies in its raw materials,” said Sophie Pignères, Founder of weturn.