Polartec® has partnered with Castelli Cycling and Politecnico di Milano’s Fashion Tech Master’s Program to explore how innovation, technical fabrics and a circular design approach are transforming the future of apparel design.

The successful completion of the forward-looking collaboration brought together deadstock Polartec® fabrics, cutting-edge design education and a shared commitment to sustainable progress through which students were challenged to design and develop next generation garment prototypes and in doing so, give new life to materials already in circulation.  

In addition to giving students hands-on access to some of the world’s most advanced and sustainable textile innovations, regular interventions with Polartec and Castelli experts were key to turning theory into a tangible design approach. In this way, the program becomes a powerful model for how industry, academia, and design can work together to rethink the use and re-use of technical fabrics in the world of high-performance fashion.

Watch the recap video to see the team reflect on its journey and discover how this project is helping them rethink the use of high-performance textiles in design.