Celanese teams up with Under Armour to develop new fiber for stretch fabrics

DALLAS—Global specialty materials and chemical company Celanese Corp. has collaborated with athletic apparel company Under Armour to develop a new fiber for performance stretch fabrics that both companies hope to become a game-changer in the apparel industry.

The performance fabric is marketed under the Neolast brand, a high-performing alternative to elastane, better known as an elastic fiber that allows apparel to stretch. Elastane is commonly called spandex. The goal is for Neolast to feature consumer interest recycled performance stretch fabrics, a feature that has generally eluded industry leaders.

Neolast fibers feature added stretch, durability, comfort and a high-level of wicking capability usually reserved for elite performance fabrics, the companies said. An added benefit is the ability to recycle elastane, offering an added level of sustainability.

The Neolast fibers will be produced using recycled elastoester polymers, according to a news release jointly issued by the two firms. Celanese and Under Armour expect the unique features of Neolast to improve the compatibility of stretch fabrics with sustainable practices.

Celanese developed its Neolast polymer by focusing on fiber applications where its stretch performance would create the most value, said Peter Wing Celanese Global Marketing Director for Industrial, Medical and Consumer Products. "We then created the solvent-free melt extrusion process to spin the Neolast polymer into stretch fiber and own the process behind this key step," he said.

The Dallas-based chemical manufacturer and chemicals solutions provider collaborated with Under Armour over several years to optimize the fiber for the performance attributes it sought for the apparel, Wing added. Under Armour is positioned to be the first brand to bring Neolast fibers to end consumers. Specific launch plans have not been released by Under Armour.

The fibers are produced using a proprietary solvent-free melt-extrusion process, eliminating potentially hazardous chemicals typically used to create stretch fabrics made with elastane. This process is largely responsible for the ability of related products to be recycled following their usable life span.

"Our companies share a commitment to innovating at the materials level to improve products, in this case textiles," said Kyle Blakely Under Armour senior vice president and head of innovation. "We saw an opportunity to team up to begin to tackle a longstanding sustainability challenge in our industry."

Headquartered in Baltimore, Under Armour supported materials research, innovation and development with the fiber. It plans to produce the material in the U.S. at a future time. Blakely said the company plans to make Neolast a more widely available elastane alternative for its apparent long term.

"We have a super functional, aligned approach to complicated development and act as one team even though we are both part of large companies," he said.

The partnership between the two companies emerged because of Celanese's desire to find "innovative options" to apply its materials and technical expertise. Wing said it was clear after an initial discussion with Under Armour several years ago that there was mutual interest in considering the fiber as an alternative to elastane for some of its clothing.

"We worked together to optimize the material to meet their performance requirements and position them to be the first to bring this product to end consumers," he said.

Part of the appeal for Under Armour is helping to meet a long-term commitment. Several years ago, the athletic apparent company sought to identify new yarn texturing techniques and polymer developments to reduce the need for elastane, said a company spokesperson.

Despite the work with Under Armour, Neolast fiber is available for other interested OEMs, with several discussions having occurred that could form additional partnerships for Celanese. In fact, the company intends to make the fiber available to the broader apparel industry, potentially reducing elastane dependence.

Under Armour would not comment on the potential revenue impact of Neolast to its bottom line, but the sustainability angle should have appeal to some end users .

"Through performance-driven sustainability and innovation, we look forward to helping athletes play at the top of their game as we work with Celanese to realize this new fiber's potential to forge a path toward circularity," Blakely said.

Wing is confident that Neolast will create new opportunities for Celanese in the apparel and broader textile markets. He said the company is excited about the growth opportunities it provides.

"We are still identifying the full opportunity as we have engaged with a wide range of customers and applications in the last month since our public launch, but we are excited about the potential impact this will have on our engineered materials business," Wing said.

Celanese purchased the majority of the Mobility & Materials business of DuPont in November 2022, acquiring a broad portfolio of engineered thermoplastics and elastomers in the process. That acquisition added additional resources to the engineered materials team. A company spokesperson indicated there was a "large number" of employees involved in the initial research and development and continued growth of the Neolast product.