Biotech startup WTRLSS has launched a digital denim dyeing and finishing technology that it says can cut water use by up to 99.9%, marking its shift from research and development to commercial-scale rollout across the global denim industry.
The Los Angeles-based company, formerly known as Lab Denim, said on Tuesday that its process compresses the multi-stage dyeing and finishing workflow used across conventional denim manufacturing into a single step. Traditional denim production requires roughly 75 litres of water per pair of jeans; WTRLSS said its method reduces that figure to about two tablespoons, while also cutting energy consumption by 90%.
The technology, branded MultiActiv, eliminates dye baths, wash-off stages and water-based pre- and post-treatments, and avoids the use of toxic chemicals, the company said. It is designed for digital application rather than traditional wet processing, allowing manufacturers to apply authentic denim finishes without the associated water and chemical load.
“For more than a century, the industry has accepted that authentic denim comes with an enormous environmental cost,” said Mickaël Mheidle, WTRLSS co-founder, chairman and chief scientist, who is credited with the underlying science. “We’ve proven it doesn’t have to.”
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Dustin White, WTRLSS co-founder and chief executive, said the company was built to give brands a faster and more efficient way to manufacture denim without trading off quality or cost. “Improving how denim is dyed is not just an environmental challenge; it’s a commercial imperative,” he said.
Bangladesh’s Ha-Meem Group, a major denim and apparel manufacturer, has signed on as WTRLSS’s first commercial production pilot partner. Sajid Azad, a director at Ha-Meem, said the technology would let the company deliver authentically finished denim while eliminating decades of water waste, adding that Bangladesh was “leading the way” in bringing the process to industrial scale.
In the United States, the Industrial Sewing and Innovation Center, a Detroit-based non-profit, will be among the first organisations to deploy the technology within its manufacturing facilities. WTRLSS said it is also working with early-adopting brands planning to launch collections using the process this autumn, with commercial orders already under way.
Because the technology reduces reliance on local water supplies, WTRLSS said it could allow denim production to be sited across a wider range of geographies, supporting near-shoring strategies and helping manufacturers respond to tightening environmental regulation. The company plans to operate as an “ingredient brand,” partnering with apparel makers to make the technology visible on finished garments.
WTRLSS is starting with denim but said its technology can be applied to other natural and regenerated fibres, including cotton, jute, bamboo and linen, with plans to expand into the broader textiles industry. Printing and dyeing account for the largest share of the global textile industry by volume and value, and remain heavily water-intensive.
The company maintains US headquarters in Los Angeles and a European base in Basel, Switzerland.