“The textile industry as whole is responsible for a significant portion of global CO2 emissions, 8 to 10 percent depending on the study one refers to. The industry can do a lot to mitigate and reduce their impact. Raw materials like textile fibres, their production, and feedstocks, have emerged as one field of study with more scientific grip.“
Mikko Lassila, UPM
Luckily there are already great examples of brands taking action, like these four:
1. Ganni: Put science first
“There was a time when fabric samples were presented by the fabric manufacturer’s sales rep. The designer felt those samples in their fingers and decided which ones they liked best. These sales reps held responsibility for textile material knowhow in the market. Now this has changed dramatically.
Ganni is a great example of a brand taking ownership and responsibility, of the materials they use. And not only the existing materials, but also emerging future materials developed by startups and laboratories.
At Ganni, materials and innovation are at the heart of the brand. They have, for example, categorized materials they use in their collections as ‘Preferred’, ‘Better’ and ‘Avoid’, and tell which material falls into which category based on scientific evaluation by third parties.
Materials are important for brands on their journey towards more responsible business. In textile fibres, for example, there are huge challenges with enormous water consumption, microplastics and the use of chemicals. Recycled and renewable feedstocks are often preferred, but at the same time cotton production has reached its limits, quality has declined, and good alternatives are hard to find. We’ve run out of new places to farm cotton and we’re also running out of water that cotton requires massive amounts of. This means brands need to look for alternative materials, such as new man-made cellulose fibres like Lyocell. Thus, not only Ganni, but many other brands like Adidas, and luxury brand houses LVMH and Kering, all have their own innovation labs and material experts.”