Clariant Presents Eco-Advanced Solutions for Exciting Effects at Denim by Premiere Vision 2013

• Advanced Denim concept supports creativity and eco-advanced manufacturing
• New affinity-free dyes expand color horizons
• Partnership with Tonello promotes efficient “blue jeans look” garment dyeing process

Singapore, May 17, 2013 – Clariant will be present at “Denim by Premiere Vision” (DPV) in Paris, 22-23 May 2013, demonstrating once more the company’s unique talent for designing ever more innovative and technically eco-advanced solutions for the denim industry.

With its award-winning “Advanced Denim” concept, Clariant aims at developing new technologies for exciting color and material effects to be achieved, while reducing the impact of denim manufacturing on the environment.

When employing the Clariant’s Advanced Denim technology, based on Clariant’s breakthrough “Denim-Ox” and “Pad/Sizing-Ox” processes, water consumption can be reduced by up to 92%, up to 63% of the usual cotton waste can be avoided, and up to 30% can be saved in energy costs compared to traditional denim processes. Clariant recently estimated that the use of its Advanced Denim technology had allowed savings of approximately 700 million liters of water in 2012 alone. The figure is truly impressive: Advanced Denim was used only in an extremely small part of the worldwide production of jeans; imagine how much water could be saved if more manufacturers joined the Advanced Denim revolution!

Visitors of DPV will be able to discover prototypes and garment collections featuring the latest developments of Advanced Denim at Clariant’s booth H36:

Latest “illustration collection” showing “blue ideas come true”:

The newest garments in the Advanced Denim collection illustrate how the approach supports designers’ creativity and ideas with the right combination of dyestuffs and effects. Colors, wash-downs, fabrics, etc. can be played together by those innovative denim brands and professionals constantly in search for eco-advanced denim solutions that help them stay true to their values.

“Soft colors” made easy with new Optisul® C:

Colors other than blue have been tricky to achieve in the past. Clariant’s Advanced Denim original technology based on Diresul® RDT dyes offered a first solution to this issue. At DPV, Clariant will show denim manufacturers how they now can expand their color horizons with a new range of six dyes especially designed to produce soft denim colors in continuous dyeing processes: Optisul C dyes.

These affinity-free sulfide-free* dyes, suitable for GOTS** and bluesign®1 approval, can be combined with each other at low concentrations to obtain collections of jeans in a wide array of easily achievable and reproducible soft colors – all while using the most sustainable Advanced Denim technology.

“Blue jeans look” now possible in garment dyeing:

While the ”blue jeans look” is highly desirable, also for non-jeans items such as knitted garments, it is very difficult to produce specially when involving garment dyeing techniques using traditional indigo dyestuff.

Finding a way to obtain a “blue jeans” look in garment dyeing is therefore seen as the Holy Grail in the fashion industry – a Holy Grail that Clariant may well have found with machine manufacturer Tonello. Clariant and Tonello have joined expertise and innovation to develop an exhaust dyeing process that combines the latest machine technology – “G1 N2” – with Clariant’s non-indigo based Diresul RDT Indicolors, an innovative dyeing system which responds effectively to the increasingly garment dyeing demand.

Technology meets lifestyle with Clariant’s finishing products:

Combining functionality and lifestyle is a challenge that is constantly influencing the development work of designers and brands across the world, especially when they long for eco-advanced solutions.

With Clariant’s innovative products, denim lovers can indulge their favorite attire from dawn to dusk, wherever they are, whatever they do. Clariant’s water and soil management finishing technology, such as C6-based Nuva® N4547 and Nuva N1811, or fluorine-free Arkophob® FFR, are designed to help denim stay clean and fresh, whilst Clariant’s Arkofix® ELF provides just the right amount of 3D effects that make that much sought-after effortless chic look so good.

Awarded technology, certified environmental benefits

Advanced Denim technology has received the prestigious 2012 ICIS Innovation Award and Innovation with Best Environmental Benefit Award. Clariant was one of the first companies to be awarded a European EU Ecolabel*** for its illustration collection of jeans in recognition of the sustainability benefits of Advanced Denim.