PCIAW® is pleased to welcome TaelaEco©, developed by EARTH I CURATE SL, to its growing global membership.
Founded by Anne-Claire Albregts following more than 20 years in fashion and textiles, TaelaEco© was created to rethink the way uniforms and professional clothing are designed, produced, worn and managed throughout their useful life.
The company first put this approach into practice through Taela-EcoKids, developing school uniforms around quality, comfort, responsible materials and longer garment life. This was followed by Taela-EcoSports, for schools, clubs and teams, and Taela-EcoCorps, for staff, hospitality, catering, events and wider professional clothing applications.
From the outset, technology has been part of the model. Taela-EcoCore, TaelaEco©’s garment-level traceability and circularity platform, has been implemented on Taela-EcoKids garments since day one, giving each garment its own digital identity and creating a practical foundation for lifecycle management.
Challenging the conventional uniform model
TaelaEco© places quality, responsible manufacturing, transparency, wearer wellbeing and circularity at the heart of garment development.
A key part of that thinking is the relationship between clothing and health. Uniforms and professional clothing can be worn against the skin for many hours every day, so the choice of fibres, dyes, finishes and chemical processes matters. TaelaEco© believes garments should be designed with great care around the materials that touch the body, avoiding harmful substances wherever possible and favouring certified, organic and lower-impact materials appropriate to the performance needs of each garment.
The environmental impact is equally important. Better material choices, longer garment life, repair and reuse can all help reduce the volume of clothing being replaced and discarded, while more considered end-of-life routes can help keep valuable textile resources in circulation for longer.
TaelaEco© therefore looks beyond the garment itself, considering how products are made, how long they remain useful and what happens to them afterwards. This approach also supports a number of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, particularly those relating to health and wellbeing, responsible consumption and production, climate action, education and partnerships.
Building circularity into the uniform lifecycle
TaelaEco©’s Full Circle approach is designed to keep garments in use for as long as possible through care, repair, reassignment and reuse, before directing them towards the most appropriate recovery route at end of life.
Taela-EcoCore supports this by keeping the physical garment connected to its product, material and lifecycle information throughout its journey.
Using QR today, with the ability to support NFC and RFID in the future, each garment’s digital identity can remain with it from manufacture and issue through care, repair, reuse, return, take-back and recycling recovery.
The platform has been developed and implemented by Anne-Claire together with Oscar M. Herrera, CTO and technical architect, combining her experience in textiles, product development and circular garment systems with Herrera’s extensive experience in software architecture, data systems and enterprise technology.
The aim is not simply to add a QR code or Digital Product Passport to clothing. It is to give organisations a clearer view of the garments they manage – what has been issued, what remains in use, what can be repaired or reassigned, what has been returned and what ultimately happens next.
Taela-EcoCore also helps connect information that would otherwise sit separately across the supply chain, from mills and manufacturers to buyers, wearers, repair services, logistics providers and recovery partners.
Empowering the next generation
Education remains an important part of TaelaEco©’s philosophy.
Through its interactive academic programmes, the company helps young people understand more about the garments they wear, where materials come from, and why repair, reuse, responsible consumption and circularity matter.
At the same time, the model and technology proven through schools now provide a strong foundation for wider professional clothing applications.
TaelaEco© is expanding and Collaboration is central to that next stage. TaelaEco© sees its PCIAW® membership as an opportunity to work directly with buyers, manufacturers, mills, repair specialists, logistics providers, technology partners and recyclers to develop practical pilots around longer use, repair, reuse, take-back and verified recovery.
By combining textile expertise, responsible garment design, wearer wellbeing and proven garment-level technology, TaelaEco© is building a more connected and practical model for circular professional clothing – one that is better for the people wearing it and better for the resources and environment behind it.
PCIAW® is delighted to welcome TaelaEco© to the association and looks forward to supporting the company as it connects and collaborates with the wider professional clothing and textile supply chain.
Visit: taelaeco.com
