Colorifix, Nettle Circle AG and CosmiKnit have jointly developed a sneaker that combines regenerative fibre cultivation, microbial dyeing and single-piece knitwear manufacturing, the companies said, presenting the prototype at the Future Fabrics Expo.
The three-way partnership produced the Espadrillo sneaker upper using a HILAYA yarn blend developed by Nettle Circle, a Swiss company that grows and processes fibre from Himalayan stinging nettle. The plant is harvested by villagers in Nepal’s mountain regions, providing them with income during winter and spring months when agricultural work is scarce. Unlike cotton, nettle requires no pesticides or chemical fertilizer, giving the fibre a lighter environmental footprint at the cultivation stage.
Nettle Circle has worked since 2021 with Swiss traceability firm Haelixa to embed DNA markers directly into the HILAYA fibre, allowing the Himalayan origin of the material to be verified at any point through to the finished product. The tagging system was designed to address a standardization gap facing niche natural fibres: without independent certification, brands and consumers have limited means of confirming that a nettle-based textile has not been substituted or blended with lower-cost materials. Nettle Circle founder and Chief Executive Cornelia Bamert has said the DNA system was built into the supply chain from the outset to make Nettle Circle fibres uniquely identifiable.
CosmiKnit knitted the DNA-traced HILAYA yarn into the Espadrillo upper using flat-knitting technology, producing a single-piece construction that the companies said generates no offcuts, in contrast to conventional footwear assembly, which typically involves cutting and stitching multiple fabric panels.
Before knitting, the yarn was dyed by Portuguese dye house Facol-Tinturaria de Fios Lda using Colorifix’s Blushing Rose colour. Colorifix, a biotechnology company founded in Cambridge, England, in 2016, uses engineered microorganisms that replicate the genetic code responsible for pigment production in plants and animals, then multiplies the microbes in a fermentation process before applying them directly to textile fibres. Heating the treated fabric ruptures the microbial cells, releasing pigment that binds to the fibre; residual bacteria are then washed away.
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Colorifix has said the process cuts water use by roughly 90% and energy consumption by about 40% compared with conventional dyeing, while also reducing the logistics footprint of dye production: rather than shipping bulk dye, the company can send a small quantity of pigment-producing bacteria to a partner dyehouse, where it multiplies to generate tonnes of dye solution within days. The approach requires dyehouses to invest in fermentation equipment and training, a hurdle the company has worked to lower as it expands its partner network.
The Espadrillo prototype was shown at the Future Fabrics Expo, an event organized by nonprofit The Sustainable Angle that showcases certified, sustainably produced materials to fashion and textile brands. Nettle Circle has exhibited HILAYA at prior editions of the expo in London and New York.
The collaboration reflects a broader effort among sustainable-materials companies to show finished, wearable applications of their technologies rather than presenting fibre or dye innovations in isolation. Brands evaluating alternative materials have increasingly sought evidence that regenerative fibres, low-impact dyes, traceability tools and efficient construction methods can be combined into a single viable product rather than adopted piecemeal.
Colorifix has said it has more fashion industry customers than it can currently accommodate and has counted H&M among its backers since 2018. The company has also moved to widen access to its technology through Colorifix Studio, a curated collection of pre-dyed fabrics and colours aimed at designers and smaller brands.
None of the three companies detailed a commercial timeline or production volume for the Espadrillo sneaker, and it was not immediately clear whether the design will move beyond prototype stage into wider distribution.