New York City-based slow luxury brand KZ_K Studio joined forces with Ambercycle to reinvent the ready-to-wear brand’s Techno Jacket, first introduced 15 years ago, and to launch the Techno Trench_1.0. Both prototypes were crafted from the Los Angeles-based material innovator’s regenerated polyester, Cycora.
Both garments were unveiled during a live visual arts performance at the Knitting Factory in NYC’s East Village. The event not only launched the KZ_K Techno Jacket and Trench but also celebrated the brand’s commitment to slow fashion over the last 15 years in business.
“Our first collection in 2009 featured our Techno Jacket, which was conceived as a multi-form multi-layerable piece meant to integrate into a series of life uses, to be worked in and within a women’s complex wardrobe and life,” said Karolina Zmarlak, KZ_K Studio’s co-founder and creative director. “Fifteen years later the design, reenvisioned with regenerated molecules from Ambercycle, represents KZ_K’s design discipline: a personalizable piece, to be used for a lifetime of modernist uses.”
Reinventing this staple jacket was “especially exciting” for Ambercycle, co-founder and CEO Shay Sethi said, as it demonstrates that future products are improving on both a quality and environmental level.
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“In order for decarbonized materials to be easily adopted by the luxury sector, it is crucial that next-gen fabrics perform at the same, if not higher, standards compared to what’s currently in use,” Sethi continued. “Our partnership with KZ_K Studio demonstrates that it’s possible to create circular, regenerated fabrics without compromising on product integrity, allowing us to drive meaningful change in the industry while maintaining the exceptional quality consumers expect.”
Last November, KZ_K Studio co-founder Jesse Keyes traveled around the world in pursuit of a circular fabric that would be both better for the environment and uphold the brand’s standard for luxury. After arriving in Los Angeles and touring Ambercycle’s headquarters, he knew he stumbled across something great.
“The attempt to integrate fabrics of environmentally responsible origin is daunting, it wreaks of greenwashing by its very intent. When we found that Ambercycle had innovated a method to break down garments otherwise meant for landfills to a molecularly regenerated natural resource, and I saw in-person their vision and their intent in LA, I was hooked,” Keyes said. “We must conceive of a way to integrate their regenerated fabrics into the core expression of KZ_K: the Techno Jacket designed for a multifunctional lifetime of use. And, now, to celebrate the idea and collaborative product, with the belief that the movement toward true circularity in fashion must start now.”
Starting in the fall, the KZ_K Studio Techno 15 will be available for purchase at the brand’s by-appointment studio on Great Jones Street or through its website, retailing for $1,500. Ambercycle and KZ_K Studio will collaborate with fabric manufacturing partner Stylem by Takisada to develop Cycora materials into key fabrics for KZ_K Studio’s collections.