Every year, 20 million tons of clothes are thrown out and sit in landfills unable to decompose because clothing confection continues to be mostly fossil-based, which is everything except eco-friendly. And while recycled materials and sustainable fabrics have been supporting a greener approach to the industry, the future of fashion must continue to contemplate more nature-based and biodegradable fibers.
Biofibers
Have you ever heard of apple, grape, banana, pineapple or fungi-based fabrics? Yes, they exist and are already transforming the fashion industry in a very big way. These natural fibers are innovative and environmentally friendly: in addition to saving food from going to waste, using biofibers instead of raw materials with chemical origins also means cleaning up the supply chain in a very green way. Sustainable fabrics created from surplus food that we can wear and that are biodegradable? Pretty brilliant.
Biosilk
Did you know that spider silk is stronger than steel? And that it’s a natural fiber that creates sustainable fabrics? The downside of using silk in fashion is that it isn’t scalable, but eco-friendly creatives have devised a new and vegan way to replicate it. Inspired by the natural silk process, biosilk is created using bacteria, renewable plant-based raw materials and natural fermentation processes, which liberates farming needs and shortens the supply chain. The result? The same luxurious and versatile silk-like gold standard quality, with an incredibly sustainable status: it’s 100% biodegradable and only requires a few months to break down completely.
Biowood
If you never thought wood could be incorporated into fashion as a sustainable fabric then think again. A future-forward approach to clothing means foregoing traditional and toxic crude oil glycols for environmentally compatible alternatives. These monoethylene glycols and monopropylene glycols are sourced from locally certified wood, which is an amazing natural resource that is durable, and renewable. Goodbye fossil glycols, hello green glycols, hello wood-based, carbon-neutral fashion and even footwear!
When considering sustainable fabrics, contemporary eco-friendly brands are looking at the big picture: ecosystem integrity, efficient supply chain, recyclability, product longevity, biodegradability, and a complete carbon-neutral footprint from start to finish.
Sustainable fabrics are the future of fashion – selling and shopping secondhand at MyPrivateDressing is a step in the right direction. Browse eco-friendly brands such as Reformation, Stella McCartney, The North Face, J. Crew, Eileen Fisher, Theory, Sézane, and Levi’s, among others – together, this is how we’re keeping circular fashion sustainably gorgeous and luxurious.
