Bentonville, Ark. and San Francisco – Walmart is teaming with a pioneering fashion tech company on what it describes as the world’s first 3D weaving technology.
The test program with unspun aims to help reduce the environmental impact of garment production and support the companies’ shared commitment to shift more textile manufacturing back to the U.S.
In the pilot project, the companies will explore how unspun’s 3D weaving machines can be used to make workwear style pants under a Walmart house brand. With 3D weaving, yarn is spun directly into completed garments. Traditionally, yarn is woven into one-dimensional fabrics, which are then cut and assembled into garments – creating waste and taking significant time and multiple manufacturing steps.
The 3D weaving process is different from 3D printing, which creates a physical object from a digital design by laying down thin layers of liquid or powdered plastic, metal or cement.
Should the pilot prove successful. Unspun hopes to team with a manufacturing partner to deploy additional microsites around the U.S. for on- and near-shored manufacturing, with locations to be determined. unspun’s goal is to stand up 350 machines in the U.S. by 2030.
“At Walmart, we are laser-focused on bringing innovation to our supply chain to better serve our customers and solve industry challenges, and unspun has the potential to do just that,” said Andrea Albright, executive vice president of sourcing, Walmart.
unspun’s technological capabilities and vision for the future of fashion have landed the company on the Vogue 100 innovator’s list, Newsweek’s Climate Change innovators, TIME’s Best Inventions, Fast Company’s World-Changing Ideas and a B-corp certification.
The company has been running low-volume production of commercial products at its first micro factory with third-party life cycle assessments to back the impact of unspun’s new type of production.
“Now, together with Walmart, we see an enormous opportunity to take our innovations to scale, with the potential to disrupt the garment manufacturing industry, bring jobs to the USA and drastically reduce waste in apparel,” said Beth Esponnette, co-founder of unspun.
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