10 Next-Gen Materials to Put on Your Radar

This week, Renewcell announced the sad news that they have filed for bankruptcy, citing the inability to secure long-term funding for their operations in Sweden. 

For those who have been in this space long enough, Renewcell was one of the first textile-to-textile recyclers to scale their operations to serve some of the biggest brands in the world, including H&M. As a leader in the space, Renewcell’s challenges have rocked the fashion industry with many fearful of what this means for the future of sustainable fashion. 

Our hearts go out to the team at Renewcell, and while the waters may seem rough right now, we believe there is still much more to be hopeful of.

There are a number of next-gen solutions out there, from fabrics to dyes and everything in between. While the future of Renewcell hangs in the balance, could one of these solutions be the next big thing in sustainable fashion?

Fibers and Fills

Allied Feather + Down - California-based company with their own proprietary technology to recycle down fill. According to AF+D, their recycling program, RENU, has kept 1,000,000 pounds of textile waste out of landfill. 

Ponda - Formerly known as SaltyCo., Ponda is creating a plant-based fiber fill that replaces down and synthetic fill. Working with farmers and conservation groups, Ponda’s innovative BioPuff helps regenerate wetlands and sequester carbon.

Image credit: Ponda

Polylana - A vegan alternative to wool and less impactful than acrylic, Polylana offers 100% recyclable fibers and yarns for knits and wovens. Traceable from fiber to end product, Polylana relies on their sister company, AWARE, to provide blockchain-powered traceability.

Circular Systems - Our friends at Circular Systems have been working on next-gen materials for years, and their innovations, Texloop and Agraloop, are providing the fashion industry with low-impact fibers and fabrics for a number of uses. Texloop takes pre-consumer textile waste and mechanically recycles it into high quality, soft RCOT. Agraloop BioFibre takes agricultural waste and extracts the cellulose, which can be spun into yarns.

Dyes

Ficus Innovations - Dyes made from plant waste that, if applied to cellulosic materials, require no chemicals or salts. Their dye innovation is estimated to save “88% water and 55% energy compared to conventional dyeing methods.”

Huue - Using biotechnology, Huue is working to create a more sustainable indigo that can replace toxic synthetic indigo in the denim industry. Huue is a great middle-ground for both synthetic and natural indigo - it’s more accessible than plant-based indigo, but it doesn’t have the environmental and social impact that synthetic indigo has.

DyeRecycle - UK-based organization extracting dye from discarded textiles, which can be used in the manufacturing process again. Their process uses sustainable chemistry (often referred to as green chemistry) to remove the dye, where they then send the unpigmented textile on to mechanical or chemical recycling facilities.

Footwear-Specific

BLOOM - One of the leading solution providers in the footwear industry, BLOOM uses plasticized algae in place of conventional foam and rubber to create comfortable solutions for sandals, sneakers, boots and everything in between.

Natural Fiber Welding - NFW is another industry-leading solution provider, but their latest innovation, PLIANT, can help brands incorporate sustainable alternatives to traditional outsoles. Made from the sap of the Hevea brasiliensis tree, PLIANT is a natural, plastic-free alternative. 

Image Credit: Natural Fiber Welding 

There are hundreds of solution providers out there working to reduce the impacts of the fashion and textile industry, and we’re more hopeful than ever that all of these solution providers will help us achieve our global climate goals.

If you’d like to stay up to date on all the latest fashion innovations, check out Fashion for Good’s innovation platform and follow them on social media. This article from Vogue Business also has a number of innovators who just showed a special capsule collection, Everloop, at Paris Fashion Week. 

Inspiration is all around us, and we have a lot to learn from each other! Dive in, and happy exploring 🗺️ 🔍