Queen Letizia’s dress for Friday’s Princess of Asturias Awards began with the fabric, not the design.
The Spanish queen attended the ceremony in Oviedo wearing a garment made from Pyratex Circ Lyocell 3, a fine-knit fabric developed by the Madrid-based textile research company using recycled material from textile-to-textile recycling specialist Circ.
What distinguishes the project is how the dress came together. According to Pyratex, the fabric was selected before the garment was designed, with its fluid drape, soft hand and knitted structure guiding adjustments throughout construction.
The material contains recycled cellulose recovered from discarded textiles, although its finished appearance offers little indication of its origins.
Pyratex Circ Lyocell 3 is made entirely from lyocell, a regenerated cellulosic fiber. Thirty percent of the cellulose used to produce the fiber comes from recovered textile materials, while the remaining 70 percent comes from wood pulp. The resulting knit has a subtle sheen and a fluid drape intended to evoke silk.
Circ’s technology for processing blended textiles—particularly those containing cotton and polyester—enables it to recover the recycled content.
Such blends have long challenged textile recycling because the two fibers require different recovery processes. Circ uses a hydrothermal method to separate the cotton-derived cellulose from polyester, allowing both material streams to be recovered for use in new fibers.
The reclaimed cellulose can then be processed into lyocell, replacing a portion of the virgin wood pulp typically used to manufacture the fiber. Although the recovered material originates in blended textiles, the finished Pyratex fabric contains no polyester.
Pyratex and Circ have worked together for three years to turn recycled fiber inputs into fabrics suitable for fashion collections.
Their roles span different stages of production. Circ develops the recycling technology that recovers raw materials from discarded textiles, while Pyratex handles fabric development, including knit structure, texture, drape and manufacturing processes. The Spanish company also brings the resulting textiles to market.
For Queen Letizia’s dress, those material properties determined how the garment was constructed, per Pyratex, rather than being adapted to an existing design.
“Queen Letizia consistently brings visibility to what matters to our society, and today she highlights the material we choose to wear against our skin,” said Regina Polanco, founder and chief executive officer of Pyratex. “This fills us with pride at Pyratex and confirms our belief that transforming the way fashion is produced is the way forward.”
The royal appearance adds another high-profile application for Circ’s recycled cellulose technology, which has previously appeared in collections spanning luxury fashion and mass-market apparel.
In 2023, Circ collaborated with designer Mara Hoffman on a limited run of 35 dresses using lyocell made with 50 percent cellulose recovered from textile waste. The recycling company has also worked with Zara and H&M Group to introduce recycled fibers derived from cotton-polyester blends into consumer apparel.
Those collaborations form part of a broader effort to move textile-to-textile recycling beyond research and development into established fashion supply chains.
For Pyratex, founded in Madrid in 2018, the project highlights its work translating alternative raw materials into finished textiles. The company develops fabrics for fashion and luxury brands, with disclosed collaborations including Dior, Balenciaga, Loewe and Rick Owens.
In June, Pyratex received the Spanish Fashion Academy’s Innovation and Sustainability Award for Pyratex Solea, an initiative focused on rebuilding a domestic Spanish cotton supply chain.
The Queen’s appearance offers another example of recycled textile inputs being developed for applications where appearance, drape and hand feel are central to the design.