Stella McCartney x Pure.Tech | The Air-Purifying Denim Revolution Transforming Jeans World

There is denim, and then there is denim that cleans the air as you move through the world. For Summer 2026, Stella McCartney pushes the boundaries of sustainable luxury once again, unveiling a collaboration with Pure.Tech that turns each garment into an active agent of environmental change. The result is a collection that doesn’t just look good under runway lights; it breathes, reacts, and purifies. This is fashion evolving in real time.

Stella McCartney’s Collaboration with Pure.Tech shows eco conscious designers and innovators coming together to create something not only spectacular on the runway, but environmentally positive as well. The denim featured in the collection is recycled and revitalized to create the new designs and this is where Aldo Sallazzo produces a mineral based coating that was layered and creates a denim piece that actively purifies the air.

In an industry long criticised for its resource-intensive processes –from water consumption to relentless overproduction– this collaboration marks a rare alignment of visionary design and scientific ingenuity. Crafted from recycled denim and revitalised with Pure.Tech’s air-cleaning technology, each piece becomes both a statement of style and a step toward a more responsible future.

Aldo’s work in Barcelona has grown exponentially with Pure.Tech not just being able to layer on clothes, but anything from paper, paint and polymers. Together they are creating environmental positive change within the fashion sphere and beyond. We interviewed him exclusively.

Interview with Aldo Sallazzo, Founder of Pure.Tech

Can you describe Pure.Tech and explain how it works, including the science behind it?

Pure.Tech is a mineral compound with the ability to absorb the main greenhouse gases present in the atmosphere. It is essentially a combination of engineered rocks designed to replicate their natural capacity to retain carbon dioxide. We synthesise this behaviour into a series of industrial applications. The material can interact not only with CO₂ but also with nitrogen oxides (NOx) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). What it does is attract and neutralise these gases, converting them into carbonates or nitrates in very small, harmless amounts that are safe for both the skin and the environment.

You can naturally feel it. There is a small coating on top. There is a spray application. So this is also the interesting part with how you convert an invention into an innovation that is very similar to what others are doing but more competitive. One thing is to invent the formula, and another is to understand how this can be introduced into the industry. And Pure.Tech is extremely transversal because it can be applied on paint, on paper, on textiles, on polymers, on plastics. We started the journey two years ago –we started from the eyewear– then we finally figured out how to go with the denim application, which we believe is now the most natural implementation of the product.

Air pollution is one of the biggest health threats of our time. What numbers or scientific realities made you realise that fashion could no longer remain passive and needed to participate?

The interesting part of fashion, its unique position, is the ability to connect directly to a person. And this is also why we really wanted to start our journey of Pure.Tech with fashion: because it becomes a moment of endorsement, of the cause, of a position, of a stand that you take regarding climate change, our environment, values.

And we believe that starting to speak about material technology, a community of research that blends into industry and finally into society, is the way of doing and operating. So this is the incredible power that Stella has: to reunite this community.

As a young company introducing a radical concept into a cautious industry, how do you sense the market’s appetite for this kind of functional, science-driven material?

There is increasing interest, but probably an interest that is driven more by people than by companies. So the interesting part is that people like me are behind some brands, like Stella McCartney’s, and they are starting to request values that they can also recognise in the textile or in the product that they acquire. And it starts to become a differential at the moment of buying, or not buying, an object. And this is what I really like about this moment. It is changing the industry, how the industry operates.

Stella McCartney’s involvement sends a powerful signal to the industry. How does her support transform your sense of mission, vision, and responsibility as innovators? How does she empower you?

She’s a rocket, and all the team with her, I would say, is the engine and the pilot. She sets the direction, and she also has an incredible team that is able to push and operate. I think the interesting part is because in the end, it’s a way of operating that opens the door for new solutions and innovations to be exposed. She doesn’t lock this operation; she doesn’t pretend to then reframe this technology to operate only with her.