For more than 60 years, LYCRA® has kept us comfortable with its iconic stretch fabric. But now, the manufacturer is reinventing its material with an unexpected ingredient: corn. Yes, corn! In this episode, Jean Hegedus, Director Of Sustainability at The LYCRA Company, explains how using dent corn can yield a more sustainable, bio-derived version of their legendary material—without sacrificing performance or comfort.
Rachel Lincoln Sarnoff: For millennia, humans have worn clothes that change or enhance their body shape. Think of the bronze Spartan breastplate with its fake six-pack or the Victorian whalebone corset and its painfully tiny waist. These items were worn for very different reasons, but what they did have in common was how incredibly uncomfortable they were.
Jean Hegedus: Back in the fifties, you know, women, when they would wear foundation garments at that time, they were made with rubber and so they were really hot and heavy and very uncomfortable.
RLS: That’s Jean Hegedus, sustainability specialist for the LYCRA Company.
JH: LYCRA® was actually invented as a replacement for rubber. That’s what the scientist, Joseph Shivers, was looking for, and so he invented this very lightweight fiber that could provide both stretch and support to garments and to make them a lot more comfortable. So the name actually came from like rubber.
RLS: That was in 1958. Suddenly, foundation garments – or as we now call them, shapewear – became far more comfortable than our ancestors could ever have dreamed. And it wasn’t long before LYCRA® — which is also referred to as Spandex and Elastane — was being used to make other clothing, too.
JH: LYCRA® is in almost everything, whether you’re talking about intimate apparel or swimwear or activewear, socks, hosiery, knit tops, t-shirts, jeans…
RLS: The material is ubiquitous – and it’s now being re-invented for the sake of sustainability, with the help of a truly unusual ingredient.
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To learn more about The LYCRA Company’s sustainability initiatives, visit www.lycra.com/sustainability
Check out a pair of Lululemon yoga pants made from LYCRA® at www.lululemon.com
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Produced by Cascale and Hueman Group Media.
Views and opinions expressed during the podcast are those of the individuals expressing them and do not necessarily reflect those of Cascale or Hueman Group Media.
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