Orta and Archroma Introduce Denim Collection Dyed with Wool Waste-Based FiberColors®

Archroma and Orta Anadolu have partnered to develop a denim collection using dyes produced from wool waste. The collection will be presented at Kingpins Amsterdam on April 15-16, 2026.

Archroma, a specialty chemicals company, and Orta Anadolu, the Türkiye-based denim manufacturer behind the ORTA brand, have announced a collaboration to apply circular dye chemistry in denim production. The partnership will be showcased at Kingpins Amsterdam, where ORTA will present its first denim collection dyed with Archroma’s FiberColors® dyes.

FiberColors® dyes are produced using a minimum of 50% wool waste, specifically fleeces that sheep farmers would otherwise discard at a cost. The process replaces petroleum-based raw materials while maintaining comparable dyeing performance, water and energy usage, and waste output during manufacturing. The dyes provide the same fastness and application results as conventional sulfur dyes and are approved under the Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS).

Following a trial conducted in late 2025, ORTA selected three shades from the FiberColors® range for its collection: DIRESUL® FIBER-TEAK (brown), DIRESUL® FIBER-SLATE (blue-grey), and DIRESUL® FIBER-GRAPHITE (dark grey). These shades are being used in the brand’s first commercial denim collection based on this dye technology.

“FiberColors® builds directly on the success of our EarthColors® platform, which has now been adopted by more than 50 global brands and helped us upcycle over 60 tons of plant residue from the herbal and pharmaceutical industries. With FiberColors®, we identified wool waste as another significant stream that circular chemistry could transform — giving brands a compelling and fully traceable sustainability story. ORTA’s decision to bring this into commercial denim production is exactly the kind of partnership that proves these technologies are ready to scale,” Julio Perales, Technical & Product Segment Manager Denim, Archroma, said.

Founded in 1953 as a spinning and weaving company, ORTA has focused on denim manufacturing since 1985. The company, based in Türkiye, employs more than 1,000 people.

“We believe that aesthetics and ethics are inseparable,” Sebla Onder, Marketing and Sustainability Manager of ORTA, said. “We are demonstrating that the circular economy is commercially viable today – upcycling waste streams to solve a problem for sheep farmers while creating on-trend denim garments that can themselves be safely recycled and even composted at end of life.”

The ORTA FiberColors® collection will be displayed at the Archroma stand during Kingpins Amsterdam, scheduled for April 15-16, 2026.