The New Hype Of The Future Of Sustainable Materials
The new hype of sustainability is just around the corner. Bio-Fabric has been the new hype, and many designers have taken this into consideration such as Stella McCartney for Adidas and also her own self-named brand. Bio-Fabric textiles are materials that are grown from microorganisms such as bacteria (used for dye), yeast, algae and fungi (such as mushroom which Stella has used to create a vegan handbag.)
Adidas and Stella McCartney teamed up together to produce a vegan spider-style silk in order to create a Bio-Fabric tennis dress, which is “fully biodegradable”. The dress was made from bio-engineered protein thread. Genetically modified yeast is fermented with sugar and water to produce silk proteins, which are extracted and spun into fibres. This thread was made in California, USA, and is called Bolt Thread. We can envision that in the future, fashion brands will team up with scientists to create much more sustainable developments within fabric, so as to reduce damage on the environment.
While there are some materials which are labelled as biodegradable such as wool and cotton, these materials undergo chemical treatment before they are made into pieces of clothing. Furthermore, these materials take long to decompose.
“Fashion is one of the most harmful industries to the environment” Said Stella McCartney. This is what drives McCartney to have an impact on the fashion industry by making a statement and inspiring change.
This isn’t the first time McCartney has made a piece of apparel which is fully biodegradable. She has created a fur-free coat made by a new, soft fibre called corona, which was created from 37% plant-based materials with recycled polyester. This can be recycled back into PET at the end of its life.
McCartney didn’t want to wait longer for an answer of an alternative, she wanted to create an approach to solving the problem of textile-waste and McCartney isn't the only one now.
We have seen more designers adopt this approach to using more sustainable materials, and not only designers. People more generally are now more aware of sustainability. The process of bio-manufacturing is one of the biggest drives of this trend and this is allowing designers and scientists to continue productions of bio-based products. Research has begun to explore new raw materials in the form of worm silk, mushroom leather, algae and much more.
Author own image (2021)
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