The bizarre fabrics that fashion is betting on

Like many teenagers, Sarah King bought new outfits every few weeks to keep up with the latest trends.

"When I was 16 or 17 years old, I bought a new outfit for a party and bought a outfit that was trendy and popular or worn by new celebrities or friends on every payday," she said.

The 26-year-old digital marketing director and vegan fashion blogger are growing as part of a campaign to reuse disposable products while running a sustainable fashion course under the belt.

The waste and sustainability crisis that is triggered by the fashion industry is growing.

Consumers in the UK buy twice as many new clothes as they did 10 years ago. Much more than any other European country.

The British will throw away a million tons of unwanted fabric every year, and nearly a third will be incinerated or landfilled.

In addition to the poor working conditions of the garment industry, the fashion industry is responsible for 20{7be40b84a6a43fc4fae13304fce9a2695859798abfc41afd127b9f8b21c5f9c5} of global wastewater and 10{7be40b84a6a43fc4fae13304fce9a2695859798abfc41afd127b9f8b21c5f9c5} of carbon emissions.

The global climate protest movement extinction rebels are calling on people not to buy new clothes for a year as part of their "fashion boycott".

Into nature

So how can fashion enthusiasts like Sarah work out in a way that minimizes their impact on the environment?

New crops of innovative biomaterials can provide part of the solution by replacing wasteful fibers such as cotton and leather.

Leather is a by-product of the meat industry, but leather is mostly discarded and large amounts of water and unpleasant chemicals are often used for production. Artificial leather alternatives, on the other hand, often take hundreds of years to biodegrade.

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The solution to this is Pinnatex, a leathery material made from pineapple leaves collected by Hugo Boss and H & M.

The other is mycelium, the root structure of mushrooms, which is a "wonder material" used to make food, packaging, and fiber.

Mushrooms are rich and do not need to be well cared for, so the ingredients can grow to a fixed shape in a few days.

Bolt Threads uses mycelium to create a Mylo "leather" that Stella McCartney incorporates into the design. She also used the vegan "silk" made by biotech yeast.

Jamie Bainbridge, director of product development for Bolt Threads, said, “Consumers are much more interested in finding sustainable alternatives.

"The current alternative to leather like polyurethane is very cheap, but it's bad for the environment because it's petroleum-based, like raising livestock."

Like many innovations, the biggest challenge Mylo faces is a cost similar to real leather, unlike PVC.

You should also look at whether you can scale your production scale to the level where you can reach High Street shelves.

Cotton alternative

Like leather cotton, it is very resource intensive with about 15,000 liters of water needed to make a pair of jeans.

40{7be40b84a6a43fc4fae13304fce9a2695859798abfc41afd127b9f8b21c5f9c5} of the world's garments are made using cotton, so finding green alternatives is one of the main focus of sustainable textile developers.

Tencel, also known as Lyocell, is one of the alternatives to the fashionable outskirts for decades.

It is made by extracting cellulose fibers from wood, and its manufacture is believed to use 95{7be40b84a6a43fc4fae13304fce9a2695859798abfc41afd127b9f8b21c5f9c5} less water than cotton processing.

Much like the feel of cotton, it is a component of many High Street apparel items.

The Austrian Lenzing Group is seeing "strong demand" for textiles and said it is building the world's largest Lyocell plant in Thailand.

"This expansion underscores Lenzing's commitment to improving the ecological footprint of the global textile industry," says Stefan Doboczky, chief executive officer.

However, most manufacturers will continue to use cotton because cotton is cheaper.

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Dr. Richard Blackburn, a sustainable materials expert at Leeds School of Design, is a big fan of Tencel. He believes that this extraction method can be extended to other high cellulose plant byproducts such as stems, stems and leaves to create various types of sustainable fibers.

But he added that consumers should continue to act in all areas of life.

"This is about a trade-off and there's no simple answer. & # 39; Switching to a single fabric will not eliminate all environmental issues."

Buy better, buy less

It is important to buy ethically, but in most sustainability areas, consumers agree that fewer high-quality items must be purchased.

Dr. Blackburn said, “If you don't wear 30 suits, you don't think you should consider buying them. If you can't do that, it can't last. It's causing waste. ”

Kate Elliot, sustainability expert at Rathbone Greenbank Investments, said in recent years that consumers see clothing as a "disposable item," thanks to low prices and clever brand positioning.

But she believes that they "love to buy clothes, put them in a trash can," and fall in love.

"For decades, there has been a problem with fast fashion, but people have learned a lot more about environmental and social costs."

Blogger Sarah bought only seven clothing items with rentals for special events last year. She agrees that a shift in awareness is the key to helping consumers change their ways.

"It's difficult because with just one click of a button you can get what you want with fast fashion the way you want. It takes more time to buy ethically, but it's long lasting and I think it's true fashion."

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