Fabric Options and Sustainability
When purchasing fabric it is important to understand the fiber content to be sure it is the best choice for a design.
Fiber content greatly affects how a garment moves and hangs on the body, how it performs in terms of durability, care and protection, and different fibers affect the texture and appearance in how they hold color, pattern and finish. There are three categories of fibers: natural, semi-synthetic and synthetic. Each has different uses and each has a specific impact on the environment.
Natural fibers from plants and animals have been used for centuries and are a beautiful, high quality and luxurious choice for fashion. Natural fibers are biodegradable and are most often a better choice than synthetics in terms of sustainability. However, the farming and processing of natural fibers can be devastating to the environment requiring excess water and toxic chemical pesticides, dyes and finishes which prevent circularity, pollute soil and waterways and harm animals. Its best to look for fabrics with certifications such as Organic, GOTS and Oeko-Tex which ensures the avoidance of harmful chemicals during the production process and certifications including the Responsible Wool Standard and the Leather Working Group to address animal welfare and land management.
PLANTS
Cotton is known for its breathability and wide variety of uses from soft t-shirts to crisp and elegant shirts and dresses. However, conventional cotton requires vast quantities of water and pesticides to grow and intensive chemical processing to dye, treat and print. Organic cotton addresses many of the problems of conventional cotton. It’s grown without pesticides and processed without harmful chemicals protecting the land where it’s grown and the farmers who grow it. To avoid traditional cotton, look for recycled cotton, certified organic cotton, and/or cotton with Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) certification.
Linen is made from flax and is biodegradable, strong, and moth resistant. It can withstand high temperatures and absorb moisture. Linen has a crisp texture which becomes softer and more pliable as it is washed. Linen come in natural shades of ivory, tan, and grey while bright white linen requires a bleaching process.
Hemp is derived from the stem of the cannabis plant. It is a highly sustainable fiber that requires little water, no pesticides and is biodegradable. Pure hemp feels like linen and hemp will keep you warm in winter, cool in summer, and protect you from UV rays. It is machine washable and easy to color with natural dyes.
ANIMAL
Wool is a strong, versatile and high performance fiber most often from sheep. It is moisture and stain resistant, biodegradable, warm and long lasting. However, there are significant animal welfare issues due to cruel standard practices and living conditions as well as the environmental impact of overgrazing and land clearing. You can research and find amazing, sustainable sources of wool from smaller producers and look for wool certified by the Responsible Wool Standard to protect the welfare of the animals. Recycled wool is also a great option and because wool is long lasting its a great material for upcycling.
Cashmere is one of the most luxurious fibers in the world but it has become an extremely over produced fiber, causing environmental damage, harm to the animals, a much lower quality product, and economic difficulty for farmers. Cashmere goats who are shaved too often freeze to death in winter and overgrazing from too many goats results in an inadequate food supply and land degradation. Cashmere is easily recycled into beautiful new product which is the ultimate solution for sourcing cashmere unless you can afford the most expensive, certified product.
Silk is created from the inner cocoon of silkworms and offers a smooth, luxurious feel that drapes beautifully and has an elegant sheen and feel. There are many reports of child slavery in silk production and most often the silkworms are killed during the process of extracting the silk. Be sure and check the source of your silks and the ethics of the supplier. “Peace silk” (Ahimsa silk) is also available which allows the moth to evacuate the cocoon before it is boiled.
Leather is the skin of animals, most often cows, but also from pigs, goats, sheep, lamb, reptiles, rays, seals, deer, fish, kangaroos, horses, cats, and dogs. Besides the obvious issues of animal welfare, leather production requires more water and land use than almost any other material, and the tanning process involves extremely harmful chemicals that end up in the soil and waterways and are toxic to workers. Unfortunately a lot of natural leather is also coated in plastic.
Unfortunately, most vegan leather is petroleum based “plastic” polyvinyl chloride (PVC) or polyurethane which is toxic and unrecyclable making it hard to decide whether natural or synthetic materials are the more responsible choice. While demand for vegan leather products is rising, people are still eating a lot of beef leaving up to 15 percent of the hides of slaughtered cattle going to the landfill.
There are many innovative plant-based materials emerging as a cruelty free and low impact alternative to leather and plastics. Generally derived from food waste, there is ‘leather’ from pineapple (Pinatex), cactus (Deserto), mushroom mycelium (Mylo), apple (Appleskin) and others. Currently most of these materials contain plastic polymers or coatings for strength and durability which destroys their ability to biodegrade or be recycled. But there will be more viable materials developing in this space.
Ultimately, recycled leather or ‘dead stock’ leather leftover from manufacturing are two of the most sustainable options.
Semi-synthetic fabrics
VISCOSE (RAYON) is an extremely popular alternative to cotton, silk and polyester because it is soft and silky, drapes beautifully, and is cheap. It is often marketed as eco friendly because it comes from a cellulose fiber made from renewable trees such as eucalyptus, beech and bamboo and doesn’t require fertilizer and pesticide. The tough tree fiber is dissolved in a chemical solution to create pulp which is spun into fiber. But viscose is extremely unsustainable. High demand has resulted in vast clearing of rainforests and animal habitats in the Amazon and Indonesia to create plantations for fast growing trees. In addition, the chemical heavy process required to turn hard wood into soft fabric results in huge quantities of untreated waste being dumped into lakes and rivers polluting the water and killing fish and wildlife. While its best to avoid viscose unless it is made from FSC certified forests or certified by Canopy, there are other excellent options.
TENCEL™ is a brand name by the Austrian company Lenzing. Tencel Lyocell is a soft and breathable viscose fiber sourced from certified and sustainably managed plantations and the chemical solvents used to make the pulp are reused over and over. Lyocell is a great alternative to cotton and silk and for synthetics in activewear and it is readily available in low MOQs for small brands.
Synthetic fabrics such as polyester, nylon, spandex and acrylic are actually plastic fibers made from fossil fuels. They are very cheap and offer attributes of high performance and stretch for sports and activewear. However plastic fibers are not biodegradable and are very difficult to recycle. These fabrics, once discarded, will not decompose for decades or even centuries depending on conditions. In addition, each time we wash synthetic fabrics, they shed tiny microfibers which pass through our water systems into our rivers and oceans and ending up in the fish we eat and the water we drink leading to health risk of cancer and endocrine disruption. Some of these products such as PVC which is used for artificial leather, vinyl and outerwear under goes significant chemical processing which is associated with even more health risks resulting in one of the most unsustainable materials available.
Regardless, sometimes a synthetic fabric is more durable giving a product a much longer life - keeping it out of the landfill and making it the more sustainable choice. And some plastic based materials such as elastic can be critical to the performance of our garments. In these cases it is possible to source recycled polyester, nylon or other synthetics to avoid virgin materials.
Recycled synthetics / PET / Econyl - Most synthetic textile recycling isn’t actually recycled fabric but it is made from plastic waste such as recycled plastic bottles, ocean plastic or fishing nets. While this material is much better than virgin polyester and does minimize waste and avoid new fossil fuels, it is ultimately destined for the land fill. While a plastic bottle can be recycled over and over again into another bottle, once it is blended into a fabric, it can never be recycled again. So while recycled polyester and synthetics are ALWAYS preferable to their virgin counterpoint, they do also contribute to micro-plastic pollution when washed so they are ideally used for items that don’t need frequent washing like shoes.
I expect it’s only a matter of time before we have better alternatives in synthetics thanks to companies such as Pangaia who are investing in research to create biodegradable and fully recyclable materials and well as companies such as Circ who are dedicated to finding recycling solutions for existing synthetics.
Blended fabrics - Increasingly when shopping for fabrics you will find blends of different fibers which offers unique and refined qualities. Its worth noting that mono-materials are much easier to recycle than blends. Once you combine a natural fiber with a synthetic one, such as cotton and polyester, its can no longer be recycled. However, many natural blends such as hemp and cotton can be recycled and make for a unique and more luxurious or high performing fabric.
Ultimately when sourcing your fabrics and trims be sure and consider the vast amount of existing fabrics and dead stock which are available from places such as FABSCRAP and Queen of Raw and be sure to extensively research any vendor or supplier you work with to be fully confident in your supply chain and the materials that you use.