PotassiumA piece of clothing reflects the disposable society better than pantyhose. The use time of this dress is usually not more than a day, and sometimes it can’t be worn out. Dangers are everywhere: nails, wooden chairs, wrong movements. This is where the Hedoine brand wants to make the fashion world more sustainable. Her first compostable and waterproof leggings will be available in early September.
To this end, Hedoine uses 85% biodegradable nylon, the so-called “Amni Soul Eco” yarn. Under anaerobic conditions-ie without oxygen-the substance should decompose after three to five years. The tights will not dissolve in the drawer, or even in the meeting.
Dispose of correctly
Nevertheless, tights must not be thrown into the organic trash bin, they must be disposed of together with the residual waste. Because in Germany, most organic waste ends up in compost, where oxygen enters the waste. Only in a biogas plant can waste be decomposed without oxygen. On the other hand, the remaining waste will eventually be put into a sealed box in a landfill.
In addition, since the other 15% of tights are made of elastic fibers, this product has no place in organic waste. Hedoine has not yet found a compostable substitute for this. The material cannot be omitted: “Otherwise, the tights will no longer be stretchable,” said co-founder Alexandra Teman.
Ideally, leggings will not be thrown into the trash can quickly anyway: they should also be ladder-proof. “We want to end the one-off culture,” said Anna Rauch, the second founder. She and Tyman have worked in the financial sector for many years, and leggings are part of the daily lives of many women.
Sustainable production
Because many tights were eventually thrown into the trash with them, they developed tights a few years ago, in which the small holes do not immediately lead to long-distance running. For this, they use more elastic yarns and different weaving methods. The product is manufactured in the UK and Italy in recycled packaging.
In addition, Rauch and Tymann not only dye the tights after they have been produced. Instead, they added colored pigments to nylon beads that had not yet been processed. The garment does not have to go through a dyeing process, during which it must be washed and dried many times. “We clean the water we use. This creates a cycle,” Rauch said. Therefore, Hedoine claims that it can save 99.98% of water.
The founder of Hedoine was not the first to try to make leggings more sustainable. The Kunert brand launched a recyclable “blue series” as early as 2017. Their model is made of Econyl, a specially developed nylon thread, 100% made from waste such as fishing nets, old carpets and recyclable materials. The other pair of tights is also made of biodegradable yarn. Swedish stockings now also offers tights made from 100% recycled materials. Since 2010, Wolford has been committed to the “cradle-to-cradle” recycling cycle-but so far has achieved little success. Hedoine’s tights combine recyclable materials and ladder resistance and are unique so far.
“There has been a lot of innovation in this industry recently,” Tymann said. Therefore, if you value a sustainable wardrobe, you don’t have to be without tights. The patience of the wearer should also benefit from it: because it is often overused by continuous sutures.
