Dear retailers, important thing to understand.

As buyers, you often see labels like "made from recycled yarn" and instantly assume it's the better choice. Most people do.

With cotton prices climbing, I've been seeing more manufacturers blend in recycled yarn, and not because it reduces waste in the environment. It's because it's cheaper. I think this is something every existing and upcoming retailer should know.

Recycling fashion waste into yarn sounds like giving textiles a second life. In theory, it's a great idea. In practice, the reality can be very different.
Many recycling units still struggle with worker safety and dust control, and the infrastructure to process textile waste responsibly is still the exception, not the norm.

There's also something most people don't realise: mechanical recycling can't always strip out a garment's past. Old dyes and finishes can stay trapped in the fibre, and the fibres themselves come out shorter and weaker, which is part of why recycled-blend fabrics often wear out, pill, or lose shape faster than virgin cotton.

This is one of the reasons we've chosen to stay with 100% cotton at Yetira, even as cotton prices keep rising. And we're not alone in this. There are other manufacturers who make the same choice, who stay with 100% cotton even when it costs more.

Could we reduce our costs by blending in recycled fibre? Absolutely.
Would it help our margins? Yes.
But that's not the trade-off we're willing to make, for the people who make our products or the people who wear them.

If you're sourcing from India, don't stop at "is this 100% cotton?" Ask where the yarn comes from, whether it's virgin or blended, and what that means for durability and your customers.

Sustainability isn't just the story on the hangtag. It's every person and every process behind the product.