Sustainable Fabrics

Brands are now looking at fabrics, packaging, factories and reducing waste going to landfill. While more needs to be done, here are some notes on what is currently happening.

H&M Conscious Exclusive is a premium range that focuses on increasing the options for sustainable clothing. Fabrics include organic silk and cotton, recycled polyester and Pinatex (a natural leather alternative made from cellulose fibres from pineapple leaves).

People Tree is an affordable range of Fairtrade clothing, that feature artisan skills.

Matt&Nat are a vegan accessories brand. Handbag linings are made from 100% recycled bottles and materials such as recycled rubber, cork and cardboard are used in their designs.

Levi's has focused on the large amount of water used in denim manufacturing. Their Water
Lindex make more than half of their garments from sustainable materials, and aim to reach 80% by 2020. The company also supports many charities and WE Women, an initiative that takes action for gender equality inits global supply chain.

Ninety Percent gives 90% of distributed profits to charitable causes. The customer can choose the charity after buying something. The remaining 10% is split between those who make the clothes and shareholders.

Allbirds has developed a wool fabric for footwear. The process uses 60% less energy than  footwear synthetics.

Lark & Berry are a sustainable jewellery company. All its diamonds are made using cultured stones, grown in a lab.

Veja footwear brand, works with small producers in Brazil, with a focus on respecting the environment and human rights, as well as producing trainers in the most ethical way possible. Veja also has a vegan range.

Fabric recycling

Econyl: regenerated nylon composed of used carpets, old fishing nets and fabric scraps.

Evernu: takes old cotton t-shirts and jeans and recycles them into pristine new fibre for cloth. Can also use pre-consumer waste (the scraps on the factory floor) and deadstock (leftovers that brands typically burn or shred).

Frumat: uses apple-waste to make pleather.

SeaCell: produces a seaweed cellulose blended fibre.

Worn Again Technologies developed a patented process that separates, decontaminates and extracts polyester and cellulose (from cotton) from pure and blended fabrics and converts the cellulose into virgin-quality polyester.

What else you can do

• H&M. Drop off unwanted clothing, materials and shoes in store and get a £5 discount off a £25 spend.
• M&S. Put unwanted clothes into one of its Shwop Drops in exchange for store points. Scheme run with Oxfam.
• Other Stories. Collects unwanted clothing and empty containers from its own-brand beauty range to be recycled. You get a 10% off recycling treat voucher valid for three months.
• Zara. Take unwanted clothes to certain stores, which are donated and delivered to British Red Cross.

Source: Feature in Good Housekeeping, April 2019. Fashionopolis: the price of fast fashion and the future of clothes by Dana Thomas, Apollo 2019.