“Our research team worked on Tencel C for almost ten years,” said Alexandra Steger, project manager marketing apparel, Textile Fibers, Lenzing AG. “We have attached the chitosan so that it can’t wash off or be stripped off. The fiber is spun, and the chitosan solution penetrates into its porous structure. The fiber is then finished. Cellulose and chitosan are very similar, so we can combine the botanic and oceanic stories,” she said, pointing out cellulose’s botanic source and chitosan’s oceanic source. “The molecules differ only at one point where chitosan has an amino group.

Lenzing will launch Tencel C in the United States at the upcoming Los Angeles International Textile Show and Texworld USA.

More info

The label on a shirt at Lululemon says it contains seaweed.

One of its lines is called VitaSea, and the company says it is made with seaweed. The fabric, according to product tags, “releases marine amino acids, minerals and vitamins into the skin upon contact with moisture.” Lululemon, which has received positive media coverage for its fabrics, also says the VitaSea clothing, made from seaweed fiber supplied by a company called SeaCell, reduces stress and provides anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, hydrating and detoxifying benefits.

There is one problem with its VitaSea claims, however. Some of them may not be true.

The New York Times commissioned a laboratory test of a Lululemon shirt made of VitaSea, and reviewed a similar test performed at another lab, and both came to the same conclusion: there was no significant difference in mineral levels between the VitaSea fabric and cotton T-shirts.

In other words, the labs found no evidence of seaweed in the Lululemon clothing.

More info