Over the last five years of my career in fashion, I’ve been following the evolution of innovative sustainable materials. Firstly, due the nature of my job, and secondly, because I have a passion for discovering and understanding what lies behind exciting material innovations. I am a material geek!
Choosing a sustainable material for a collection does not in itself make the collection or a brand sustainable; however, it is a good place to start. With the fashion industry being one of the top polluting industries in the world, contributing significantly to global carbon emissions, water consumption, and waste production, choosing to use a material that does not rely on huge amounts of water, or too many chemicals, and which is not linked to deforestation is a good starting point!
A great place to begin researching what is new and innovative in the material world is the Future Fabrics Expo. It is the largest fair dedicated to sourcing certified, sustainable textiles and materials for fashion, home, and interiors. Its focus is on the latest innovations in sustainable materials. This year, the Expo expanded into home interiors, which is positive as sometimes the minimums for new materials can be quite high. This means that if a material is chosen by a furniture brand, it has more possibilities to go into full scale production and able to cater to smaller quantities required by the fashion industry.
Something else I found interesting and worthwhile was attending seminars that covered a range of topics from Regenerative Agriculture to clothes that don’t make us sick (aka synthetic clothing) and the Digital Passport. During one session, a PETA demonstrator stormed the stage with a sign reading “Reptiles are not fabric,” aimed at a contributor from LVMH. This caused 10 minutes of commotion and embarrassed looks. There followed an amusing episode where security tried to find the best way to drag them off the stage. Apart from the entertainment value, it underscored the growing scrutiny on ethical sourcing and animal welfare in the fashion industry, highlighting the importance of transparency and accountability that initiatives like the Digital Passport can provide.
Top brands have been caught out. In January 2024, Valentino was investigated for producing products in factories with poor working conditions and underpaid labour. More recently, Dior has been embroiled in a scandal concerning the production of their handbags in sweatshops in Italy. Recent reports have found that some of Dior's "Made in Italy" accessories were being manufactured under poor working conditions in Naples. Dior were found to be paying a supplier just $57 to produce handbags that were then sold for $2,780 at their retail outlets.
This emphasizes the importance for brands to invest in modern technologies like blockchain, RFID, and IoT to help enhance supply chain visibility. These technologies track the journey of products from raw material sourcing to retail, providing consumers with information on a products environmental and labour practices. We know the complexity of global supply chains, resistance from suppliers, and the high cost of implementing certain technologies are major hurdles. However, brands that successfully navigate these challenges and prioritize material and product transparency enhance their reputation and build consumer trust.
At the Future of Fabric Expo, I sensed a renewed positivity for the future of fashion in the air. Materials included futuristic materials still in pilot stages, like Zena Holloway's stunning shoe grown from grass roots which weave into a biodegradable fabric, to established materials which have been commercially available for a while. An example being Bananatex®, a friendly alternative to conventional cotton canvas. It is durable, biodegradable, and produced using a process that does not require pesticides or fertilizers. It has notoriously been picked up by the likes of Stella McCartney and Hugo Boss.
Dyeing and finishing textiles and garments is one of the most polluting processes in the textile production cycle. To put things into perspective, 20% of industrial water pollution comes from the dyeing and finishing process. In countries where clothes are produced, wastewater can contain toxic substances such as lead, mercury, and arsenic, among others. These are extremely harmful to aquatic life and the health of people living nearby. This contamination often reaches the oceans, spreading around the globe.
It is no surprise that a lot of new innovations at the Future of Fabric Expo were related to new dyeing techniques. Many are still in a pilot stage, looking for investment to be able to scale up production. These new technologies caught my eye. One exciting initiative was Direcycle, that uses 100% Recycled Synthetic Dye. The technology extracts and recycles color from textile waste, removing the need to produce new synthetic dyes, aligning with the concept of a circular economy.
De Montfort University and Loughborough University have created ingenious enzyme-catalysed methods for dyeing wool fabrics. The technique uses enzymes like laccase and peroxidase, which allow wool to be dyed at low temperatures, saving energy whilst keeping material fibers intact. This removes the need for synthetic dyes or harmful chemicals, making it a greener alternative to traditional dyeing. They’ve also figured out how to extract and reuse dyes from waste wool textiles, a win for sustainable and circular textile systems. Werewool has come up with an intriguing solution to dyeing fabrics without the need for traditional dyes. They use engineered proteins to create fibers that naturally include color, sidestepping the usual water-polluting, chemical-heavy dyeing processes. This biotech trick involves programming microbes to brew up colourful proteins, which then get integrated directly into the textile fibers. It’s like letting nature handle the dyeing, but without the usual ecological consequences.
In regard to innovations in the materials realm, there is a clear desire from the fashion industry to embrace circularity. As humans have produced much more than we can wear, we need to make the most of what has already been created. Two innovations in this regard that caught my eye were Circ and Epoch Biodesign. These are circular systems focused on recycling and reusing textile materials, thereby minimizing waste and promoting sustainability.
Circ has invented a nifty solution for separating polyester from cotton in polycotton blends, a task that used to be next to impossible without destroying one of the fibers. Their hydrothermal process liquefies the polyester, but leaves the cotton intact, allowing both materials to be reused. This method turns polyester into a liquid polymer, which can then be reformed into new polyester fibers, and converts the cotton into a pulp that can be made into lyocell. It's an ingenious way to recycle blended fabrics without causing additional environmental harm.
Epoch Biodesign, a biotech startup based in London, has an innovative approach to bio-recycling plastics and textiles, starting with nylon. By engineering enzymes through a blend of generative AI, synthetic biology, process design, and industrial chemistry, they transform complex pre- and post-consumer nylon waste ranging from elastane-blended sportswear to high-performance multi-layer laminate waterproofs into reusable chemical building blocks. This enables textile waste to be turned back into new products without compromising on cost or quality. Epoch’s technology provides an end-of-life solution for materials that currently have no viable recycling options, but also helps produce new recycled nylon materials.
One of the most groundbreaking innovations, in my opinion, comes from the Swiss company HeiQ AeoniQ. Traditional synthetic fibers like polyester and nylon are notorious for their environmental impact, contributing significantly to microplastic pollution and relying heavily on fossil fuels. HeiQ AeoniQ has developed a cellulosic filament yarn aiming to replace these problematic fibers.
HeiQ has been exploring a wide range of feedstocks, including textile waste, peanut shells, and bacterial cellulose to develop this yarn. Designed to replace polyester, HeiQ AeoniQ yarn is eternally recyclable and biodegrades within 12 weeks at the end of its lifecycle. The real game-changer is that it is designed for closed-loop circularity, allowing it to be recycled over and over without a loss in quality. Additionally, the production process recycles more than 99% of water and avoids harmful chemicals.
HeiQ AeoniQ yarns are expected to be commercially available by the end of 2025, with production currently scaling up at their new facility in Portugal.
Sustainability is not limited to the materials a brand uses; it's about ethically supporting the workers and communities where these materials are sourced and produced. One of my favourite examples is Himalayan Wild Fibers, founded with a mission to create income for Himalayan Mountain village families. Himalayan Wild Fibers pay fairly for raw materials, injecting an income stream into village economies and communities. This improves livelihoods in remote villages while preserving the ecosystem benefits from the wild harvest of Himalayan nettle.
Himalayan nettle, evolved from the common nettle, grows wild in remote Himalayan forests. Like flax and hemp, its stalks contain long, strong bast fibers. Local villagers, mostly women, wild-harvest the nettle stalks. They rely on crops they grow and animals they raise on steep, terraced farms. During the off-season, they cut the plant stalks to sell for fiber. Income from the sale of wild-harvested Himalayan Wild Fibers is often their sole income and is used to pay for medicines, school fees, supplies, farm animals, seeds, and basic necessities.
This approach provides a sustainable livelihood for these communities, incentivizing them to look after the biodiversity of their forests. The end product can be mixed and spun with several other fibers such as cotton, wool, silk, and linen. It is an interesting and sustainable choice for textile blends.
Seminars hosted at the Future of Fabric Expo raised crucial points that are holding back the fashion industry from making positive strides towards reducing a brands environmental footprint. The sheer volume of clothing flooding the global market is overwhelming. The first and easiest step to making a dent in this problem is to limit overproduction. This needs to specifically target Fast Fashion business models.
On the flip side, a commitment from brands is still lacking. It's currently easier for brands to revert to “business as usual” models and use super cheap, oil-based textiles like polyester and nylon, rather than investing time, money and effort into more expensive innovations. The cost of these innovations will come down over time, but polyester is so ridiculously cheap that it's almost impossible to compete with on purely economic factors.
One thought-provoking issue raised during the panels was about traceability. The fashion industry talks about its importance, but realistically: we can trace wool all the way back to the name of the sheep on the farm. But polyester? Can we trace it back to the specific oil rig where the oil for this garment came from? Is my polyester t-shirt made with Russian oil, or is it from Saudi Arabia?
In conclusion, while the fashion industry’s journey toward sustainability is full of challenges, the innovations and efforts showcased at the Future Fabrics Expo offer a glimpse of a promising future. From groundbreaking materials like HeiQ AeoniQ to ingenious dyeing techniques and circular systems like Circ and Epoch Biodesign, it’s clear that the path forward involves not just reducing our environmental footprint but also embracing new technologies and ethical practices. As brands begin to prioritize transparency and sustainability, they have the potential to reshape the industry and rebuild consumer trust. The key is to move beyond empty words and make genuine, impactful changes.
Sonya Parenti is an innovative material expert and researcher with extensive experience in the leather, footwear, and accessories, as well as in the garment sector. For two years, she collaborated with the German Development Agency GIZ on the Sustainable Pakistan Project, applying her expertise in sustainable practices to enhance Pakistan's textile industry. As a Head Designer and Project Manager, Sonya has overseen everything from design to product development for major brands.
Dedicated to environmental sustainability, she focuses on less harmful manufacturing processes and waste reduction. Sonya also plays a key role in helping brands navigate the competitive fashion industry, emphasizing eco-friendly solutions. She provides training and consultancy services on innovative materials, eco-friendly production and emerging technologies. Follow Sonya on LinkedIn, Instagram and YouTube.
