Nike and Syre: The next chapter for circularity
2025 continues to underline a critical truth for the global textile industry: circularity is in need of scaling. Today, we are seeing a rare market dynamic – a growing and outspoken demand with limited supply. Syre and other textile-to-textile scaling companies are working to close this gap, but success requires long-term commitments, dedicated investment, and collaborations capable of reshaping supply chains. Against this backdrop, Syre’s newly announced multi-year agreement with Nike marks more than another industry collaboration – it signals a moment where circularity moves from concept to commercial reality.
Syre – Nike’s lead circular polyester supplier
The partnership establishes Syre as Nike’s lead strategic supplier for textile-to-textile recycled polyester. Step by step, Syre’s circular polyester will be integrated into Nike’s core performance lines, with the first products expected within the next few years. But the ambition goes further: together, Syre and Nike aim to build a closed-loop ecosystem where circular textiles become the feedstock for the next generation of performance gear.
Nike describes the partnership as a necessary evolution in how the company approaches materials sourcing.
“Innovation is at the heart of Nike’s DNA and textile-to-textile recycled polyester is essential in our ambition to design and produce breakthrough products that both perform to the highest standards that our athletes expect and are more sustainable at the same time.” says Sitora Muzafarova, VP Materials Supply Chain at Nike.
She adds that the collaboration reflects a broader rethink of materials sourcing and long-term supply strategy.
“Our partnership with Syre represents a shift in ourmaterials strategy and how we source.”
For Syre, the partnership underscores the momentum behind next-generation recycling technologies. As we prepare for our first large-scale plant – planned to break ground in Vietnam – long-term commitments from leading brands are essential to accelerating global deployment.
The partnership adds to Syre’s expanding customer base, including H&M Group and the Launch Partners – GAP Inc., Houdini Sportswear, and Target – announced earlier this year. Together, these collaborations create the foundation for regional circular supply chains and reinforce the shift away from linear material flows.
Fashion For Good: Solving both sides of the scaling challenge
While Nike and Syre prepare to bring circular polyester into performance apparel, the collaboration also reflects a deeper industry trend: the growing recognition that no single player can drive the textile transition alone. At Fashion for Good, the global platform for collaborative innovation in the fashion industry, this partnership is seen as a blueprint for how brands and innovators scale solutions that are commercially viable.
“Partnerships like Nike and Syre work because they solve both sides of the scaling challenge simultaneously: technology, demand, and investment come together in one ecosystem,” says Priyanka Khanna, Innovation Director in Scaling at Fashion for Good.
The industry still faces challenges in creating the infrastructure, expertise, and long-term market conditions neededfor circular materials to thrive. Collaborations between established brands andtechnology scale-ups, such as Nike and Syre, can directly address these,according to Priyanka Khanna.
FFG often highlights that when global brands commitearly to next-gen materials, they de-risk investment, reinforcemarket-readiness of solutions, and teach the supply chain how to handlerecycled inputs, creating the infrastructure necessary for broader adoption.These partnerships also show that these business models are viable and worthbacking.
“Individual partnerships prove what’s possible, but systemic change comes when those successes become models others can follow. When Nike and Syre demonstrate that textile-to-textile recycling can work commercially, it challenges the long-held assumption that virgin materials are always cheaper or better,” says Priyanka Khanna.
According to FFG, the key success factors are treating partnerships as real business ventures rather than pilots, ensuring both sides understand they are building systems together. This creates the conditions for true scale – and for circularity to become the default rather than the exception. Creating meaningful impact requires alignment between brands, innovators, and suppliers, ensuring that new materials can scale from concept to commercial reality. With this partnership, Syre reinforces its commitment to making circularity the standard, not the exception, in the global textile industry.