Once again pushing the paradigm of sustainable clothing and how it’s integrated from concept to production, adidas by Stella McCartney has come out with an innovative new sportswear piece.

Part of the New Cotton Project–an EU Consortium of notable enterprises working together to show the potential of circular garment development systems–the new piece is a fully recyclable tracksuit made using viscose and organic cotton. The design process for the garment included a focus on the end-of-life existence of the piece, placing it at equal importance to the suit’s functionality.

Nevertheless, the tracksuit was still created with comfort in mind. The piece is made in a “peach-soft” material and has an oversized silhouette. The color palette is light grey and black, and aims to give today’s generation a modern backdrop while exploring the world.

“Sport is about always evolving the approach, and material innovation is no different,” said Stella McCartney when talking about the collaboration. “More than ever, we are being challenged to find new solutions to deliver the potential for circular fashion, so it’s been hugely exciting to collaborate with like-minded thinkers in the fashion landscape to help, not only us, but the industry invent, innovate and consciously design. We are truly proud to have produced a garment that provides an end of life of existence, whilst also staying true to adidas by Stella McCartney’s signature style – for next-generation activists.”

Made in collaboration with 12 partners, the eco-conscious tracksuit was developed to showcase how a circular fashion ecosystem can be implemented, and is part of adidas’ pilot circularity program, Made to Be Remade.

Made to Be Remade centers on a take-back system that allows consumers to wear pieces until they’re no longer usable, and then return the garments to the brand. By scanning a QR code on the product, the piece is sent to adidas and eventually remade into something new. This program places the sportswear brand closer to its goal of accumulating zero plastic waste.

Once the piece is back with adidas, it is sent to Infinited Fiber Company’s recycling stream. There, it is processed to be reused, guaranteeing a reduced percentage of waste that makes it into the fashion eco-system.

Once the project is finished, Aalto University, one of the consortium partners and a Finnish multidisciplinary community, will gather the findings and share them with the industry, offering valuable insight into a possible way forward in implementing circular design.

After launching the FUTURECRAFT Loop shoe in 2019, adidas’ first circular footwear prototype, the Made to Be Remade program is the company’s largest venture into circular fashion. This new adidas by Stella McCartney tracksuit is the most recent development, revealing how to effectively use the full value chain to create a commercial end-of-life piece.

At the moment, statistics show that just under one percent of the textiles used to make clothing is recycled into new pieces. With this bleak estimate, it is essential that the industry joins forces to improve this number through knowledge-sharing and learning from each other’s practices.

For three years, the New Cotton Project, which includes companies such as Frankenhuis, collected and organized post-consumer end-of-life materials that, with the help of Infinited Fiber’s technology, have been transformed into a new fiber, Infinna. This innovative textile is made with 99 percent post-consumer textile waste. While it is classified as viscose, it has the feel and look of cotton. When it gets to garment production it is made into a yarn blend with organic cotton.

You can purchase the adidas by Stella McCartney Sportswear Tracksuit Viscose on, and through, the adidas app, starting from October 6.