TEXTILES.ORG
Really, a Danish sustainable materials company founded by Wickie Meier Engström, Klaus Samsøe and Ole Smedegaard in 2013, recycles wool and cotton from the fashion and textile industries to create new materials. The company announced that Danish manufacturer of design textilesKvadrat had acquired 52 percent of the operation.
Really’s products are tapping symbiotic relationships in the textile business. “Solid Textile Board and Acoustic Felt are both made from end-of-life cotton and wool from fashion and textile industries, industrial laundries, households, as well as cut-offs from Kvadrat, designed for furniture and interiors,” according to Really’s website.
The company’s mission is circularity: to create products that may be continually used and recycled. The debut collection of solid boards is an example of the circular economy at work. Max Lamb and Christien Meindertsma were instrumental in the creation of the debut products. Designer Max Lamb recognizes Really’s textile boards as “intriguing material. Because it is a non-woven material made from fabric fibres, all of those fibres cross-laminate. . . . Solid Textile Board is a completely blended material that offers uniform flexibility in all directions. And whereas wood fibre is flexible but brittle, Solid Textile Board has a softness to it that withstands bending.”
If designers and manufacturers use materials responsibly, Really states, “the materials can potentially be transformed again—after its second life has ended—and made into new versions for the next iteration.” Really educates designers and manufacturers about the circular economy of textiles and is working toward setting up reverse logistics so used furniture can also be collected and returned to its material state.