Clothing companies have been using plant an animal fabrics like leather, wool, cotton and silk for centuries. There’s a reason why these fabrics have earned longevity in the textile world--they’re abundant, durable, and easy to manipulate. Or at least they used to be.
The high volume of clothing production in the past few decades has put a huge strain on the limited resources we use to produce textiles. The sheer number of garments produced annually has doubled in the past 20 years. Ramping up production at these unprecedented rates has put a strain on soil, contaminated water, and has caused erosion worldwide.
And that’s just cotton. When we moved to more synthetic fibers, the “clean clothing” of the 20th century, we thought that we had solved the problem. But the chemicals used to produce synthetic fibers are equally if not more dangerous to the environment.
Something needs to change.
Introducing: The Sustainable Angle
Nina Marenzi founded The Sustainable Angle because of “the overreliance on conventional cotton and virgin polyester.” She recognized that these were exhaustible resources and rampant pollutants. That’s why she decided to look into sourcing materials from food waste, as well as algea and other recycled sources. As soon as textile developers started looking into agricultural waste, textile innovation went wild.
Here are a few of the new and exciting companies developing sustainable fibers within the network of The Sustainable Angle.
Ananas Anam - Pinatex
Fruit-based vegan leather isn’t just a health snack. A new leather, Pinatex, made out of pineapple leaf fibers, made it to the red carpet back in 2017. The bulk of the pineapple fruit can’t be eaten, and is regularly discarded. But Ananas Anam saw the opportunity to provide additional income for farmers, as well as a new vegan option for shoes, bags, and clothing.
Pinatex has already made it to the Met Gala, but soon, the next generation of Pinatex will debut. It uses a bio-based resin and new metallic pigments made from minerals to bring Pinatex to the next level.
Salvatore Ferragamo - Orange Fiber
Similar to the fate of the pineapple peel, orange peels are discarded during the making of orange juice. In Italy alone, this waste ads up to more than 700,000 tons of peels each year. Instead of throwing it away, it can be made into a soft and silky fabric.
Salvatore Ferragamo jumped into this new idea and created a capsule collection with orange fiber. Because of the soft, luxurious finish to the material, it was the perfect fit for Ferragamo’s brands, and hopefully, many others in the future.
Circular Systems - Agroloop BioFibre
Circular Systems is the proud winner of the H&M Foundation’s Global Change Award. The company takes crop residue from the hemp, flas, pineapple, banana, and sugar cane industries and uses is to create innovated new fibers. Circular Systems has used these bi-products to create a range of new materials, not limited to textiles. But apart from the packaging, fertilizer, and biofuel products they create, the Agroloop BioFibre sticks out as the star of their innovative materials. The fiber is a textile-grade creation that prevents this food waste from otherwise creating air pollution through the processes of rotting or being burned.
Tiziano Guardini - Vegeatextile
Vegeatextile is another fruit leather product, but this time, they’re hitting the winemaking industry. The skins, stalks, and seeks discarded during the process of making wine are called “grape marc,” and they are now being made into a beautiful, wine-hued leather. This leather eliminates the need to use animal products or toxic tanning procedures to produce beautiful, smooth leather for textiles and accessories. The result is so stunning, Tiziano Guardini exhibited a couture dress made from Vegea in the Fashioned From Nature exhibition in London.
Other Textile Innovations to Watch For
The movement toward innovative and sustainable methods of using food waste to create something new is definitely on the rise. Here are a few other creative solutions brought to you by food bi-products.
AIRMEM - Biobased Coffee Membrane
Sportswear is often made using synthetic fabrics because of their ability to wick moisture, but these fabrics often present another problem… an odor problem. Singtex discovered that recycled coffee grounds are a natural deodorant. They created a fabric that naturally deodorizes fabric using a bountiful bi-product, solving two problems at onces.
Sting - Nettle and wool-based fiber
Nettles have historically been used to make fabric, and Camira Fabrics is bringing this practice back into the mainstream. They used nettles, a crop that many consider to be an invasive weed, and combined them with wool to create “Sting.” This new fabric is perfet for upholstery, and has been used already by the Dutch brand Brennels.
Hoyan Ip’s Bio Trimmings - Food Waste Accessories
Hoyan Ip is bringing the value of food waste to a new level. She founded her own Bio Trimmings line in 2012 that turns food waste into buckles, buttons, and “jewels.” She uses sweet corn husk, cucumber peel, mixed beans, strawberries, bulgur wheat, tomato peel, and citrus peel to create shining colors that are used for gems on handbags and necklaces.
Learn more about Textile Innovation below: