Sport

Sport is an upholstery textile by Patricia Urquiola which unites a vibrant, high-tech contemporary expression with a compelling sustainability story. It is the world’s first recycled polyester upholstery textile made from 100% ocean-bound plastic waste. Unlike conventional polyester textiles, which are traditionally flat, Sport has a sophisticated binding that adds tactile multidimensionality to its structure. Tiny graphic floral forms play across its surface, infusing the upholstery with a characterful, intricate expression. Importantly, Sport is made exclusively from recycled polyester, from 100% ocean-bound plastic waste. The post-consumer plastic used to manufacture the material is collected no further than 10 km away from coastlines and on remote islands in Thailand, where better waste management infrastructure is needed.

This profile means Sport offers sustainability benefits over other ocean plastic polyester textiles. These often incorporate plastic recovered much further from the coastlines and in the sea – up to 50 km away – meaning the plastic has already started to disintegrate in the sea. What is left is very porous. Hence, other ocean plastic textiles typically must integrate either virgin polyester or polyester recycled from other post-consumer plastic sources.