TRUE BLUE

The color blue is in Ebru Ozaydin's DNA. She's the product category director for denim, wovens, and ready-to-wear at The LYCRA Company, fitting work for someone whose connection to the color goes back much further.

Blue has a long history in Türkiye, where Ebru was born and raised. The name of the first Turkish empire, Göktürk, means "Celestial/Sky Turks" or "Blue Turks." The word "turquoise" derives from the phrase "Turkish stone." And turquoise waters wind through and around her homeland, threading the color into its very geography. For Ebru, blue isn't just a favorite hue — it's a birthright.

Her career in denim began 28 years ago at the Turkish fabric mill Orta, where she worked as a fabric development engineer. From there, she moved to Orta's sister company, Denim Village, where she was immersed in the art and science of garment washing, and later returned to Orta to lead the marketing team. A highlight of her years within the Orta family was the creation of the Denim Academy training program, a project she helmed.

She later spent several years at Artistic Milliners before joining The LYCRA Company in 2021. Today, she drives fiber innovation across denim, wovens, and ready-to-wear, connecting her fabric expertise with her knowledge of consumer trends and demands to develop innovative fiber solutions.

"Across my career, I have only ever worked with LYCRA^® brand stretch fibers — it's the only spandex I've ever used," Ebru said. "All the mills I've worked for have been dedicated LYCRA^® fiber mills. So it feels like it was destiny for me to end up here."

We spoke with Ebru for our Voice of the Expert series about her decades in denim, her most recent innovation — LYCRA^® VintageFX fiber — and the creative tactics she's using to spread the word about it.

You've had a long and storied career in denim. You were even named to the 2019 Rivet 50 list, an important industry index. What makes The LYCRA Company such a unique partner to denim brands and fabric makers?

The iconic name, the legacy, the heritage, the quality, the innovation — that's No. 1. Mills always want to be the first to try a new LYCRA^® fiber for denim. There's prestige there.

The second thing is our focus on consumer insights. When I was a customer of the company, I was always interested in what the LYCRA^® brand was offering because I knew they were close to the consumer; they were asking the consumer and investing in consumer research. I'm carrying that legacy now — whenever I introduce a new fiber, my customers are asking me, 'What research drove this innovation?'

Let's talk about it! This year you introduced LYCRA^® VintageFx fiber, a really special fiber that delivers comfort stretch to jeans while maintaining heritage aesthetics. What research drove the innovation?

About every two years, we take the pulse of the consumer. In 2025, we worked with the creative agency VML on the Modern Consumer survey, trying to understand what people across age groups and around the world want most in their garments. One key theme was the ability to move freely and easily — most respondents told us that was a top priority for their clothes.

In denim, away-from-the-body silhouettes have been popular for some time now, which is not historically a style where you find stretch fibers; it's often 100% cotton. But consumers still want the comfort of stretch in the top block of a pair of jeans — I'm always saying, the jeans may be big in the thighs or leg openings, but from the crotch to the waist, they're still close to the body. So we wanted to come up with an innovation that could add comfort there without taking away from that classic denim aesthetic.

During the development of LYCRA^® VintageFX fiber, I worked closely with a couple of renowned denim designers. One insight came up repeatedly: While consumers love the authentic look of 100% cotton denim, those jeans tend to bag and sag over time — particularly around the waist, tummy, and seat. Think of LYCRA^® VintageFX fiber as the muscle inside authentic denim. While 100% cotton delivers the iconic look, it lacks the resilience to recover after repeated wear. By adding invisible recovery power, LYCRA^® VintageFX fiber helps jeans maintain their original shape, reducing bagging and sagging without compromising the classic denim aesthetic. The result is longer-lasting shape, better fit, and a garment that stays looking great wear after wear.

You’ve had several brands and mills adopt the fiber already this year, and you did an interesting collaboration with the denim mill Bossa and garment maker Rimaks. Can you talk about the collaboration?

So far, more than 35 mills have adopted LYCRA^® VintageFX fiber in denim and more wovens mills are on the way. On the brand side, JACK & JONES China was among the first to release a collection with this fiber and others are debuting.

With Bossa and Rimaks, we were able to work with partners all along the value chain — from LYCRA^® brand at the fiber end, to Bossa, the fabric maker, to Rimaks, the boutique garment maker, who is closer to the end of the value chain and the consumer. We can show how the fiber works all the way along — in fabrics, with heritage washes, in a beautiful garment.

The collection will be on display at Preface LA later this month, July 29-30, where Los Angeles denim designers will be able to see the garments up close and experience the fiber.

How has LYCRA^® VintageFX fiber been received so far?

It's been well-received. It's the only innovation on the market that's meeting that consumer demand for comfort stretch in heritage denim and wovens, which goes back to our roots — how do we solve the problem of the everyday consumer on the street?

For our partners in the value chain, the fiber has additional benefits: It has excellent tear and tensile strength and reduced seam slippage, which can help extend the wear life of the garment, and it has a heavy look but the feeling isn't bulky; it's light enough to be worn in a warmer climate but it still looks vintage. It also plays well with cotton and other accompanying fibers like lyocell, so it's a natural partner for heritage styles.

It performs exceptionally well through heavy wash processes while maintaining the premium look created by garment-dye and dry-processing techniques.

And the best part? LYCRA^® VintageFX is now available in an EcoMade version and can be combined with renewable LYCRA^® fiber. Together, they represent the crème de la crème of authentic denim innovation — combining vintage aesthetics, lasting shape retention, and a lower-impact solution.

Last question here: You're an expert in this space. What are the denim trends you're seeing on the horizon?

Denim today is all about choice. Some days you reach for relaxed, baggy jeans; other days it's a clean, slim fit. And it's not just jeans anymore — denim shirts, trucker jackets, skirts, and shorts are becoming everyday wardrobe staples, making head-to-toe denim more relevant than ever.

No matter the style, consumers want the same thing: denim that looks authentic, feels comfortable, and keeps its shape wear after wear. They want the timeless appeal of classic denim without the bagging, sagging, or loss of fit that often comes with 100% cotton.

That's where LYCRA^® VintageFX fiber makes the difference. It delivers the recovery power needed to help denim maintain its original fit and shape while preserving the natural look and character consumers love. Whether your favorite pair is relaxed, slim, or somewhere in between, your denim stays true to its style — and to you.

Thank you, Ebru, for everything you bring to the category!