10 SUSTAINBLE AND PIONEERING FIBERS OF FUTURE
A growling engine of change; a tool in itself fetching people together, Technology powers future — but what we decide to do with it down the line establishes it’s true significance. Colliding into the fashion and textile industries in so many different ways, technology is letting out something beautiful and fulfilling each day! When on the lookout for pioneering and sustainable textiles, Technology is the key to their conception, manufacturing & ultimate disposability. Courtesy to it, the fibers and textiles of today may be dead and buried tomorrow and some weird or coolest textiles of tomorrow will rise to power day-after. Let’s familiarize with some of these tomorrow’s fibers/ textiles in a ‘race to power & sustainability’!
Nettle Fibers Nettles in fact are not the present day thing and were used before 16th century; later abandoned when cotton rose to fame. In use till the 19th century as scotch cloth at Scotland, Nettle plants located in Africa and some other Asian countries are now gaining importance owing to its biodegradability. Screaming for less water and lesser chemicals to grow, Nettle plants mature to a height of 1.5mtrs roughly with their stalks yielding the White, long, fine, hollow and strong-sustainable fiber. Bestowing the much needed strength when blended with wool for sock yarns, nettles are also being considered for the race of eco-friendly fabrics through technological advances in spinning and cross breeding.
SPF Soybean protein fiber is a rare blend of comfort, softness, smoothness, nutraceutical (nutritional to skin) and hygroscopicity (moisture absorbing). The globular protein refined out of the soybean cake changes its structure in the presence of an auxiliary agent and biological enzyme. Formed through wet spinning and stabilized by acetalizing, Soybean fibers cut into short staples (post to curling and thermoforming) in further stages- graces to be an easy-care, beautiful-drape sustainable fabric.
Fermented wine textile is as biodegradable as it can get, leaving almost zero trace on the planet. A smelly and slimy ‘skin’ formed out of several days of fermenting wine, which when dried metamorphoses into a wispy cellulose like material! With benefits such as effortless manufacturing, low cost of production and less toxic in creation, this fabric tends to have a textured, blotched demeanor and plethora of colors depending on the kind of wine used. Presenting a coliseum for the designers to play with seamless garments, this invention by Donna Franklin and Gary Cass (scientists at the University of Western Australia) could be the future of textiles.
Qmilch (‘q’- quality, ‘milch’- milk in German) Born out of spoiled milk protein, this eco-friendly textile produced via a supreme sustainable method is fragrance-free, ‘feels like silk’, dries as fast as cotton and moreover owns antibacterial/ anti-aging amino acids. Anke Domaske (a former microbiology student) used beeswax together with hot organic milk and let it go sour to be finally spun into silky soft yarns. This is the perfect example of salvaging something which would have otherwise gone in vain. Can you believe 2 pounds of Qmilch fabric uses only half a gallon of water to come into existence!!
Nullarbor A microbial cellulose grown through natural fermentation from coconut waste can be the answer to sabotaging countless trees, using gallons of water and applying hazardous chemicals to produce couple of cotton/ rayon t-shirts. Evading the need of agricultural lands, use of pesticides and also the economic losses in farming; the Australian company Nanollose has come up with this sustainable cellulose fabric that has the potential for large scale eco-friendly manufacturing too!
S.Café For a greener future, companies like Starbucks are giving-of their used coffee grounds to a Taiwanese textile company Singtex, whose next-gen technology renovates it into wearable fabrics. With several assets like soft feel, quick-drying, UV-resistance, deodorizing, flexibility, light weight and breathability, S.Cafe fiber/fabric by Singtex is fashioned out of re-polymerization of coffee residue and recycled plastic bottle mixture. The application ranges from active wear, athletic wears, t-shirts and home furnishings, above all it’s a 100% biodegradable fabric.
Microsilk™ Inspired by the spider spun silk proteins, Bolt Threads (a California based company) by means of bioengineering put such genes into yeast and through fermentation these proteins were produced in larger magnitudes. 4 years back- Bolt Threads successfully sold out 50 limited edition neckties (like hot cakes at a whopping $314/pc) in Microsilk and also associated with Stella McCartney to unveil few exquisite pieces (fashion prototypes) made solely out of Microsilk, and blended with cellulose and wool. This fabric is said to have excellent tensile strength, elasticity, durability and softness, without compromise on sustainability and is totally decomposable.
Piñatex leather It’s easy to get away wearing Black and Leather! Leather accentuates and spices up any outfit. Even better if you can wear leather guilt-free, if that’s cruelty-free! A London based company Ananas Anam after years of research has given birth to an animal-friendly alternative for leather from pineapple waste that transmutes into great clothing, footwear and furniture. Piñatex in addition to being 100% vegan and sustainable, is versatile, strong, super breathable, soft and flexible. Made out of the fine cellulose fibers unsheathed from pineapple leaves and felting them collectively into a non-woven fabric, a square meter of Piñatex uses about 480 leaves (much cost effective than real leather).
Possum A fiber whose hollow core is identical to that of a polar bear trapping a lot more warmth than wool nonetheless being lighter than most of the natural fibers! Possums can make up incredible luxury coats, jackets, scarves when blended with wool. Majorly reaped in New Zealand from common ‘brushtail possum’ (second-largest of the possums), this fiber/fur is innately reddish brown in color. This also helps in solving a constant problem of one of the most destructive pests (possums) from consuming their native forests, flowers, fruits, native birds etc.- to an extent by dipping their population. Woolyarns spun world’s first possum yarn back in 1992. Possum fur products are claimed to have a mediocre life span of 10-20 yrs.
EcoCircle Proclaimed as world’s first of its kind chemical recycling technology letting polyester fibers and PET bottles to chemically decompose into brand new polyester equal in excellence to virgin polyester from petroleum was developed by Teijin group (based in Japan). Swapping some of the structural components of PET resin with plant-derived material (e.g. sugarcane), EcoCircle fiber contributes to cutting down fossil fuel use and CO2 emissions. EcoCircle fibers were also provided for the production of uniforms worn by players in China basketball association (CBA), and Nissan being one of the 1st companies to use these fibers in their electric cars back in 2014.
Now you know why these fibers are substantial for the future as they hold the ability to simply melt into earth when buried- leaving behind a relatively cleaner planet. There are fibers like- Hemp, Lotus, Hagfish thread, Corn, Orange and many more under prototyping or being considered for mass production- that can be added to the list above. Do you have any such fibers/textiles on mind? Do let me know!
