Which Fabrics are Favoured for Ethical Fashion?

Besides recycling, repairing, and consuming less, can we find textiles that are kinder to the environment? When searching for ethical suppliers, which fabrics should we look out for? With the fashion industry currently undergoing a revolution, ethical fashion is in demand more than ever. Here are CommonShare’s top picks of sustainable materials and innovations which are helping brands to strive for more ethical practices. Apple Leather Frumat Leather was founded by Hannes Parth in 2018, the company behind Apple Skin™. This is a leather alternative made from the skin and core waste from apples recovered from the food industry. Frumat has created a PETA-approved apple leather that is composed of 50% apple and 50% polyurethane, mainly being used for shoes, handbags, and suitcases. This cellulose-based material comes in a variety of textures, thicknesses, and embossed laser prints, allowing it to be used by several fashion brands in the industry. Apple Skin™ is manufactured in Florence, Italy by company Mabel SRL, where Frumat patents the process. Cupro Made from cotton waste, cupro is a regenerated cellulose fabric made by utilizing the tiny silky cotton fibers, known as linter. To achieve a mixture of copper and ammonium, the linter is dissolved into a cuprammonium solution, then mixed into caustic soda, and spun into a fiber. Similar to Tencel™ modal, cupro is a plant-based material that undergoes a chemical process in order to produce the fabric. According to customer feedback, cupro has all the positive characteristics of silk. It has a silky-smooth texture and breathes like cotton, draping into a lavish material. Cupro was first invented in the 1900s in Germany and is more commonly known as “Bemberd” after the German manufacturer J.P. Bemberg. Hemp Hemp is one of a number of crops that places up to 70% of the nutrients and resources it takes from the soil. The plan is also incredibly resistant, as it can grow in various types of environments without the need for conventional farming methods. It doesn’t require intensive tilling nor the use of chemical fertilizers. Hemp is a high bio-mass crop, meaning that it segregates high amounts of carbon, storing it in the roots and stalks. Therefore, not only is hemp easy on the environment it grows in but it also benefits the surrounding atmosphere by removing harmful toxins from the air. Hemp lasts three times longer than cotton, so if everyone wore it, the world could reduce its clothes production by up to one-third. This would be a huge relief on the planet’s resources, like water and energy consumption. Jersey Jersey was first produced during the medieval period, but it was Coco Chanel that revolutionized the fabric in 1916, introducing it into the women’s fashion industry. Jersey fabric was a stretchy, wool knit. Unfortunately due to modern manufacturing techniques, it’s often made using cotton blended with synthetic fibers, like viscose. The advantages being that cotton jersey effectively brings down the material costs, and synthetic fibers made the fabric more durable. Jersey is also known as jersey knit as it’s made by a specific knitting technique, where the fibers are knitted instead of woven. This makes the fibers more durable, stretchier, and sometimes softer. The fabric’s topside is the smooth side, made with a rib-knit while the back of the knit is pilled with loops. This style of single knitting makes the fabric feel stretchy and lightweight, while double knitting is used to add to the fabric’s durability. Jersey fabric comes available in wool, cotton, synthetic, and silk types. Modal A bio-based fabric, modal is made from spinning beech tree cellulose. It’s widely considered an eco-friendly alternative to cotton, as beech trees don’t require as much water to grow. In total, the process uses around 10-20 times less water. Currently revolutionizing the fashion industry, modal fabric is a semi-synthetic fiber made from beech tree pulp. Known for its durable, light, and stretchy feel, it’s now becoming the go-to fabric for clothing, pajamas, and household items. It’s considered an eco-friendly alternative to cotton as beech trees take 10-20 times less water to grow. As it is a man-made fiber made from natural materials, it’s completely biodegradable. Although the material is plant-based, the production process includes soaking the fabric in chemicals such as sodium hydroxide and carbon disulfide, hence why it’s referred to as semi-synthetic. Organic Cotton Conventional cotton is grown by using pesticides. Organic cotton seeds are left untreated, whereas non-organic seeds are sprayed with insecticides and fungicides which are genetically modified. In the process of clothes manufacturing, non-organic cotton uses synthetic fibers. Organic cotton production produces around 46% less C02 emissions compared to normal cotton. As the most widely used raw material in the world, cotton is used for manufacturing apparel, denim, home textiles, as well as food and medical products. The cultivation of cotton requires vast amounts of water, chemicals, and pesticides. Organic cotton is crucial for the good of the planet. Organic cotton production produces around 46% less C02 emissions compared to normal cotton. Organic-Linen Linen is an earth-friendly fabric because it’s made from flax, an eco-conscious crop. Flax crops only actually make up about 1% of the earth’s farmland, and so true organic linen is very rare. The flax industry is small to begin with because it can only be planted on the same crop every seven years. Flax that comes from organic farms has to raise other crops, rotating them through the fields with each new growing season. Flax crops can’t be certified as organic unless all the other crops grown on the same land are also organic. It may be more expensive compared to other materials but it’s better for the soil and improves biodiversity. One of the world’s oldest fabrics, linen is kind to the environment and is 100% biodegradable when left untreated. Pineapple Leather Piñatex® is a natural material made from the fibers of pineapple leaves that would be otherwise discarded. Tough and durable, this innovative textile is more often used as a vegan leather alternative. The fabric has been highly praised by eco-conscious designers who wish to avoid petroleum-based products. Piñatex® was created by Ananas Anam, the company’s trademarked name for pineapple leather. The fabric was developed by Spanish leather goods expert and founder of Ananas Anam, Dr. Carmen Hijosa. She was searching for a new, sustainable, woven textile that could be produced commercially, provide social and economic impact as well as minimizing the environmental footprint throughout every step of the production.