Textile Innovations — A New Era of Sustainability
Textile innovations have always been a key ingredient of cutting-edge fashion. In many ways, fashion and technology are on a parallel road. Technology, in the broadest sense, aims to improve our quality of life. When it comes down to getting technology accepted and implemented, the fashion world is a force to be reckoned with.
The trend in textiles is to maximize sustainability and find ways to incorporate “smart” technologies. Some of the best examples of this trend are glowing embroidery and wearables that track your heart rate. Below are a few more examples of the latest textile innovations.
Cultured Leathers
No, we’re not talking about leather that listens to Mozart. The large-scale rejection of fur clothing in the 1980s and 1990s eventually expanded to include leather to a smaller degree. Recent vegan movements also oppose animal-based products. Add to that the high price of leather outfits and you’ve set the perfect stage for other options.
Synthetic leathers and faux-leathers were the only other options for a while. However, companies interested in textile innovations have started working on lab-grown leather.
Modern Meadow is a good example. This company aims to replace natural leather with its lab-grown counterpart. There are many upsides to using this type of material, not least of which is its sustainability. It also has a huge impact on waste reduction.
Zoa will be the first commercially available product from Modern Meadows. It’s a material made of engineered proteins that are similar to real leather. Keep an eye on this and other developments from Modern Meadows. It’s likely to be one of the biggest textile innovations in the coming years.
Bacterial Textile Dyes
The second-largest polluter in the world is the textile industry. Most of that pollution comes from chemical dyeing processes. Dyes derived from bacterial metabolic activity could cause a big change in textile tech. Designer microorganisms are very sustainable and scale-able. This makes them a great choice for textile production.
Several species and strains of bacteria are being used to dye fabrics by growing them into the fibers. Standalone dyes that can be stored are also in development. Ginkgo Bioworks is one of the companies at the forefront of bacterial dye efforts. They are also experimenting with various fabric treatments, such as stone washing jeans with enzymes.
Econyl
Reduce, reuse, and recycle are the core tenants of sustainability. Econyl offers a mix of all three ideas. The basic premise here is recycled nylon.
Econyl’s process of sorting and purifying nylon restores it to the specifications of virgin nylon. The recycled nylon is then processed into fabric yarn. Then, it’s used primarily in the fashion industry.
A major endorsement for Econyl came from Prada. They designed a line of six bags using only this regenerated nylon. And Prada is only one of many brands that have started to use Econyl. Adidas, Speedo, and H&M are among the growing number of brands that are signing on. The process for making Econyl is so efficient that it almost closes the production circle. Hopefully, the nylon industry will go from production to regeneration.
Temperature-Regulating Fabrics
This amazing new technology was developed by YuHuang Wang, and it is still in early development. It promises to be a complete game-changer in textile innovations. This is a fabric that regulates the amount of heat it lets through. In hot and damp conditions, the fabric allows heat to pass through it freely. In colder weather, the fabric traps heat close to the body.
The fabric works by coating the yarn in conductive metal. When conditions are hot and humid, the yarn compacts. This alters the properties of the coating and changes the way it interacts with heat.
This type of bio-directed heat regulation is a completely new technology and uses for it are yet to come. But it doesn’t take a huge leap of imagination to come up with various applications. All manner of sports clothing would benefit from this type of material. Climbing outfits, military equipment, you name it. Even high fashion could make good use of this type of fabric.
What the Future Holds
The fashion industry is a major epicenter of potential change in sustainability practices. The nature of the industry is such that it generates “waste” because fashions keep going out of style. Vast amounts of raw materials are being lost to seasonal turnover. The biggest driving force going forward will be recycling.
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