Sports brand Puma and textile innovator Spinnova have entered into a partnership. This concerns a multi-year collaboration in which Puma promises to purchase material from Spinnova. This makes it possible for Spinnova to keep the production of the materials stable.
Puma will purchase Spinnova’s wood fiber-based material and use it in future collections. This mainly concerns products from Puma’s ‘sportstyle’ category, as can be read in the announcement.
“Spinnova’s innovative fiber technology represents a new entry point into the world of man-made cellulose fiber (MMCF) manufacturing, using water instead of chemicals to produce these fibres,” said Howard Williams, Director of Global Innovation Apparel & Accessories at Puma, in the message.
“We are very pleased to announce this collaboration for Spinnova fiber with a major global brand like Puma. This is an important step in building the market and industrial acceptance of Spinnova fiber, which is necessary to scale up the fiber and Spinnova’s technology,” Spinnova Chief Product and Sustainability Officer Shariare Mahmood said in the release. “This is just the beginning and we will continue to work with Woodspin (a joint venture of Spinnova, ed.) to sign similar agreements with other partners.”
For innovative companies like Spinnova it is often important to enter into partnerships like this. This means that they are reasonably certain of purchasing the products and that the expensive production is not run in vain. It is good to mention that the collaboration between Puma and Spinnova is a ‘non-binding agreement’. Puma is therefore not legally liable if they do not purchase the materials.
