Launched as part of the Spring 2023 collection, this parka is the luxury fashion industry’s first circular garment to close the loop – made from regenerated and regenerable materials that we will take back and that will be fully recycled into new materials, a step towards making our Stella vision a reality.

Our Close-the-Loop parka is making fashion history

Made with ECONYL® nylon, this parka is the first Stella McCartney product that our teams and suppliers have collaboratively designed for disassembly – meaning zero trace of our jacket will end up in landfill, incinerators or oceans if returned through our take-back scheme.

ECONYL® is 100% regenerated nylon from pre- and post-consumer waste that would otherwise be polluting the Earth, like fishing nets, fabric scraps, carpet flooring and industrial plastic.

The entire jacket is made from this infinitely regenerable material – able to be repurposed into new yarns and redesigned, over and over again. We have even removed our iconic chain hanging loop to ensure no trace of the jacket cannot be recycled in our system.

We have made the conscious decision to print the QR code inside the jacket:

1.     To prevent additional labels being generated

2.     To keep the information tied to the garment for life, even if the care labels are removed

Closing the loop

When it comes to disposing of society’s garments, 87% of total fibre input used in clothing is eventually incinerated or disposed of in landfill – with currently only 1% of materials recycled back into new pieces (Ellen MacArthur Foundation). This has detrimental consequences for Mother Earth, and the creatures and communities we share her with. Additionally, textiles account for approximately 9% of annual microplastics entering the oceans (UN Fashion Alliance).



We are on a mission to change this. We aim to create products that better our planet and society; explore our stance on synthetics and microplastics.

How our Close-the-Loop parka is different

Our parka marks luxury fashion’s first ‘full cycle’ commercial take-back scheme, created through continuous innovations and our long-term supplier partnership with Aquafil – the creators of ECONYL® regenerated nylon. We are not just designing for the current system, but ‘closing the loop’ on resource use and making it our responsibility.

To enable the jacket to fit within this system, we intentionally created a monomaterial garment – crafted entirely from one material, ECONYL®, and not requiring any intervention or deconstruction in order to be recycled. The main fabric, poppers, zips and all other features are made from this infinitely regenerable nylon.

What does this mean?

a.     Plastic waste is removed from landfills to produce ECONYL® yarn

b.     Waste gets turned into a new product

c.     Because of this, we do not need to create and extract new resource-intensive virgin materials

This is the circular economy in practice and is only the start of something bigger at Stella McCartney.

We intend to scale the programme from here by continuing to form collaborations with our supply chain partners to facilitate the circular economy in practice.

We will continue to ask questions like, “If you already make this material for us, can you remake it for us too?” Our suppliers have the skills and technology to work with these key materials of ours. It is about setting up an ecosystem of partners across different materials and technologies.

Product composition of the Close-the-Loop parka

This monomaterial jacket was designed to be infinitely regenerable with the same technology it was produced using. The main fabric, zipper and poppers are 100% ECONYL® fabric. The cord is 100% Nylon 6.

How to care for your jacket

We hope you love your parka forever. Although this product considers end-of-life and before we go further into the practical steps of returning your jacket, the most sustainable thing to do is to cherish your product for as long as possible.

Please consider the options below before returning your parka to us:

1.     Spot cleaning

2.     Repairing, if and when necessary

3.     Lend, borrow and share with your friends and loved ones

When your parka is truly exhausted and cannot be loved any longer – really at the end of its life – simply return it to us through one of the following options and we will take care of the rest to ensure it makes it back to the ECONYL® regeneration system to be recycled into new materials and potentially used in future circular products.

Our nature-positive mission

We envision a future where our products restore and regenerate our planet today, protecting it for the generations of tomorrow. In line with this perspective, for every Stella McCartney Close-the-Loop parka sold, we are planting a mangrove tree in collaboration with Sustainable Surf’s SeaTrees initiative.

SeaTrees will plant and protect mangrove forest ecosystems in the Biak Island Region of West Papua Indonesia, contributing to the restoration of this vital ecosystem – one of the most biodiverse on Earth. It was previously highly degraded by human activities, with 75% of the island’s estuaries deforested.

Mangroves sequester 5-10 times more CO2 out of the atmosphere per hectare than tropic rainforests. Much of that carbon is stored in the soil and sediment that make up a mangrove ecosystem.

Based on SeaTrees metrics and the Indonesian planting partners at Eden Reforestation Projects. For every 10 mangrove trees planted means:

• Approximately ½ day of living-wage employment for local community members, helping to support 55 families
• More resources for local education
• Protection for local villages from storm surges and sea-level rises
• Critical nursery grounds for fish and shellfish, and increased local marine productivity
• The potential to sequester more than 3 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide over the 25-year lifespans of the trees

SeaTrees not only plant the trees, but ensure they are being protected in the long term. They measure all their projects’ progress against the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and visit sites regularly, providing visual and data-driven updates and assurances on the positive impacts their programmes are having.