Circulose, the Swedish textile-to-textile recycling company, said on June 24 that EILEEN FISHER, Marimekko, Samsøe Samsøe, and King Louie have joined its brand partner network, deepening the roster of fashion companies committing to its recycled pulp ahead of a planned production restart later this year.
The four new partners join an existing network that includes H&M Group, Mango, BESTSELLER, Reformation, and Marks & Spencer, among others, all working with Circulose to integrate circular materials into product development and sourcing. The company said its commercial model rests on close brand collaboration, a licensing structure, and dedicated implementation support intended to reduce friction and speed adoption of recycled materials at scale.
“We are delighted to welcome Marimekko, Samsøe Samsøe, EILEEN FISHER, and King Louie to our growing partner network,” said Jonatan Janmark, CEO of Circulose. “Scaling circular materials requires brands willing to lead the way, and these partnerships show what that leadership looks like in practice.”
CIRCULOSE® is a dissolving pulp made from 100% discarded, cotton-rich textiles. Fiber producers convert it into man-made cellulosic fibers such as viscose and lyocell, which brands can substitute for virgin forest-based inputs without changing design, performance, or quality requirements downstream.
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The brand additions come as Circulose works toward restarting commercial-scale production at its Ortviken plant in Sundsvall, the world’s first industrial-scale chemical textile recycling facility. The site is expected to resume output in the fourth quarter of 2026, targeting an eventual annual capacity of 60,000 tonnes, with potential to double over time. Janmark has said the restart is being aligned with confirmed brand demand rather than open-market sales, with commitments secured from 11 brands before production planning moved forward. Until new pulp comes online, Circulose has been fulfilling orders from existing inventory produced before the company’s predecessor, Renewcell, filed for bankruptcy in 2024.
The plant’s restart follows Circulose’s 2024 acquisition by Swedish private equity firm Altor and a subsequent leadership and strategy overhaul. Janmark, a former McKinsey partner, took over as CEO in late 2024, with Helena Helmersson, former CEO of H&M Group, chairing the board. The company has also signed cooperation agreements with fiber producers including Tangshan Sanyou, Aditya Birla, and Jilin Chemicals to convert its pulp into fiber for global supply chains, and struck a deal in April with China Textile Academy Green Fibre to commercialize lyocell made from CIRCULOSE® pulp.
Each of the newly announced brands brings a distinct case for circular sourcing. EILEEN FISHER, a U.S. womenswear company and B Corp since 2016, already runs a take-back and resale program called Renew and has built sustainable materials into its design process for more than four decades. Marimekko, the Finnish design house known for its prints, posted net sales of 190 million euros in 2025 with a 17.1% comparable operating margin, and operates more than 170 stores across Northern Europe, Asia-Pacific, and North America. Copenhagen-based Samsøe Samsøe produces apparel, footwear, and accessories rooted in Scandinavian design. Amsterdam’s King Louie, founded in 1981, makes vintage-inspired womenswear sold across more than 1,000 retail points in Europe.
The expansion lands at a moment when textile-to-textile recycling remains largely confined to pilot-scale projects industry-wide, even as fashion brands face mounting regulatory pressure in the European Union — including the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation and extended producer responsibility schemes — to demonstrate credible circularity. A working chemical recycling plant at industrial scale, rather than a demonstration facility, is what Circulose is positioning itself to offer as a point of differentiation from earlier-stage competitors.
Whether that promise translates into reliable supply will depend on execution at Ortviken once production resumes. Circulose’s pitch to brands rests on three claims: proven industrial technology, a licensing model that shares implementation risk, and fiber-producer partnerships that move pulp into finished material without disrupting existing manufacturing lines. The next test for the company is converting its expanding partner list into steady offtake once the Sundsvall facility is running again.