‘Fireside Chat’ with the LYCRA Company at Mare di Moda

At the Mare di Moda fair yesterday visitors enjoyed a fireside chat with Alistair Williamson, VP of EMEA and South Asia of the LYCRA Company, Simona Osio, Sales Director of Carvico SpA and Christina Cantoni, PR & Communication Manager of Arena moderated by Gianluca Bolelli, Fashion Network Fashion Jobs.

Arena is the first to employ VitaLife fabric by Carvico which has a component the new bio-derived Lycra fibre made from corn (QIRA) on a commercial basis – the collection is launching on their the Arena website on 4th December followed two months later by general release to shops and wholesale partners.

Simona Osio commented: “Sustainability is part of the Carvico DNA – it has always been our vision.  VitaLife is the result of this path as it is made from regenerated nylon and bio-derived Lycra. I can say that at the moment it is probably the greenest fabric in the world.”

Christina Cantoni commented on the company’s early adoption of the new fabric with bio-derived Lycra: “We always want to be ahead of the market, that is why QIRA interested us immediately but as always we cannot compromise on performance and this new fabric delivers both performance and true sustainability. We have followed this through with our packaging and have almost eliminated any plastics there.”

Alistair Williamson commented on this first commercial adoption: “We are involved in all garment categories but this is the first adoption commercially. As a company we have invested in a massive way in research and development  but until we have our fabric mills and brands acting with us in collaboration it is not a reality.” Although not drawn on other brands who will be adopting the new bio-derived LYCRA Alistair said there would be news soon and that all garment categories including denim would be involved. We have a shared responsibility and from December 2025 the new yarn goes into full production. Our brand ambassadors here are Carvico and Arena swimwear.”