Gerardo Ramirez
Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey (ITESM)
Ezequiel Reficco
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Lhasa Fitwear is a unique Mexican high-quality sports brand that focuses on care for the environment in each of the garments it manufactures. All the clothes are made from recycled polyester which comes from recycled PET bottles. The innovation solves the problems of excess production and consumption of plastic bottles by returning the bottles to the production process and decreasing pollution by using a process that generates less CO2 emissions.
Lhasa Fitwear uses a PET bottle recycling process to produce sportswear and is cataloged as a responsible textile company by returning waste to raw material for a new end product. The bottle to fabric process requires less energy and simultaneously produces less CO2 emissions than the standard process.
Another important feature of the innovation is the technology it uses. Even though it is recycled polyester, it competes directly with global brands in terms of the fabric quality it produces.
Their love of yoga led Andrea Felix and Idaly Chibli to go deep into the world of wellness where they noted there was no Mexican brand that manufactured high-quality sportswear. This started their quest to generate a sustainable brand.
The impact of the innovation is how PET packages can be turned into something valuable to the customer, creating useful employment, and avoiding pollution in the process. Lhasa Fitwear has transformed the equivalent of 22,000 PET bottles (Jul 27th, 2020) for each pant, where about 17 bottles are recycled (one meter).
The innovation benefits the market by creating a sustainable solution for creating clothing, breaking the taboo that recycled clothing equals poor quality. The manufacturing process produces 30-50% less CO2 emissions than conventional petroleum to fabric processes which represents a more sustainable solution for the clothing industry.
The innovation benefits society by creating useful employment and decreasing pollution in the process due to its production technology.
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Andrea Felix, Lhasa fitwear interview
Lhasa Fitwear is a Mexican sportswear brand that uses sustainable and ecological processes with the highest quality standards on par with international brands.
The main raw material for the creation of the sportswear is based on recycled PET which solves a waste problem in today's world and also uses a production process that generates less pollution to the environment.