The KOKUYO ME series keeps abreast of trends and changes around the world, actively introducing new colors, materials and finishes.
The products in the sixth Limited Edition KOKUYO ME release feature upcycled materials made from used clothing. Being difficult to sort and separate by fiber type, the used clothing has been sorted by color instead.
The clothing has actually been used as coloring materials: our DENIM NAVY is made from denim fibers, while our CLOTH BROWN is made from brown clothing. We’re challenging ourselves to create new, sustainable products.

In Japan, most waste clothing is incinerated as trash. Also, clothing tends to be manufactured from a wide variety of mixed and blended fibers, making it difficult to sort the waste by fiber type. This has prompted a new startup, colourloop Co., Ltd.*, to sort used clothing by color, and then upcycle the waste textiles.

Used clothing, separated by color, is cut up into small scraps. Using a special process, the textile scraps are then turned into pellet-like granules, which form the basic material for the next step.

The granulated waste fibers are then processed into textile sheets. Made from used clothing in an infinite variety of colors, shades and patterns, the resulting textile sheets are characterized by unique depth of color and richness of texture.

The upcycled sheets are then processed into products.
One of the upcycled textiles used in the sixth Limited Edition KOKUYO ME release is a blue denim, very much on-trend right now, while the other is brown; both were chosen because they combine so well with KOKUYO ME Regular Edition items. We’ve also simplified the product packaging, doing away with the polypropylene package and other superfluous elements.

colourloop Co.,Ltd
https://www.colourloop.net/

* colourloop develops value-added products from waste textiles, based on the concept of a "colour recycling system," in which waste textiles that are difficult to separate by fiber type are sorted by color and then upcycled. colourloop is a university-launched venture company based on doctoral research carried out at Kyoto Institute of Technology. In developing its materials, colourloop collaborates with the Colour Recycle Network, whose membership includes designers, researchers, molding companies, waste textile processing companies and materials manufacturers.