Agricultural biotechnology company Avalo is one step closer to seeing its low-impact cotton used in jeans.
Advance Denim has been named Avalo’s founding mill partner for the denim market across China, Vietnam and Cambodia. The distinction is the result of a multi-year agreement that will give Advance exclusive access to Avalo’s high-quality, dryland cotton as it scales. That cotton will be spun, woven and finished for denim programs for some of the largest fashion brands and retailers in the world.
In this partnership, all Avalo cotton supply is under the US Cotton Trust Protocol (USCTP) regenerative program and traceable through Textile Genesis. This means brands will be provided with the data they need to make credible sustainability claims throughout their supply chains.
North Carolina-based Avalo uses AI-powered computational breeding to develop climate-resistant crops. Instead of certification programs or offsets, the crop evolution company, which launched in 2020, addresses Scope 3 emissions by matching “genetics by environment” to reduce the CO2 produced in growing crops.
Its projects span adaptive sugarcane to heat resistant tomatoes, but its Avalo’s work in cotton that is capturing the attention of textile and apparel manufacturers.
For cotton, Avalo has partnered with 10 farmers in Texas to develop rain-fed cotton that requires less fertilizer and pesticides, helping to reduce its greenhouse gas emission output. In 2025, the program delivered 351 metric tons of cotton grown across 2,030 dryland acres.
In June, Avalo confirmed the sustainability of its flagship cotton program via an independent cradle-to-grate life cycle assessment. Results included a 100 percent reduction in water use compared to conventionally grown cotton, 47 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions compared to conventional cotton and 75 percent less fertilizer, which is particularly important as the price of petroleum-based products is skyrocketing.
A month later, Avalo began work with textile manufacturer Laguna Fabrics and robotics company CreateMe to develop a circular knit collection of garments, which will be presented in New York during the Climate Week in September.
Through its partnership with Advance, Avalo has an opportunity to make a meaningful impact on one of the apparel industry’s largest consumers of cotton.
“Advance Denim has always believed that performance and sustainability are complementary — and Avalo is proof of that,” said Amy Wang, general manager of Advance Denim. “The fiber quality speaks for itself. But what truly made this an easy decision was the combination of Avalo’s water reduction and their commitment to regeneration under USCTP and BCI Cotton. Given the increasing risks across the global supply chain, all big textile players need to prioritize these strategies in order to protect the future of fashion.”
Advance Denim has a long history of adopting emerging technologies and sustainable solutions that make a significancy impact in the denim sector. It was among the first mills to integrate Lycra FitSense technology, Gracell x Circulose viscose, Tencel Lyocell – HV100 and more. The Chinese mill has also developed BigBox Dyeing, a proprietary process that reduces the water required for indigo dyeing by up to 95 percent.
“Advance Denim represents exactly the kind of partner Avalo was built for,” said Tricia Carey, chief commercial officer at Avalo. “They have proven for decades that they will not compromise on quality, and they have proven more recently that they will not compromise on sustainability either. When a mill of this caliber, serving global retailers, commits to Low-Footprint cotton as a strategic input, it sends a signal that the whole industry feels.”
