Last Wednesday, I went to Texworld exhibition
in order to know more the trend and innovation of sustainability in fashion
industry.
First, it was a very good experience as I have
never been to such a place with people so invested and interesting.
This post is due to explain and share the
innovation of tomorrow in terms of textiles.
After having a tour of the exhibition, the
class had the chance to have a speech from two French guys, Louis and Gregory,
that are actually working for Maison Frankfurt, they create designs for
textiles. They explained us how it was working, why they were engaged for
sustainable materials in fashion. Their speeches were so interesting because
they are deeply aware and sensitized by helping the Earth, the conditions of
workers and mainly how to preserve the nature.
In order to launch the new trend, they spend 2
to 4 months on the development of the designs for textiles (9 people working
around a table and defending its ideas) and then when designs are adopted it
takes 6 weeks, thanks to social media, to share and spread the latest trends.
Now let’s talk about the future of tomorrow for
sustainable textiles. If now the cotton is the most sustainable material used
for fashion, it doesn’t mean that how the cotton was picked up is sustainable.
Indeed, when you see a skirt for example at $7, for sure there is someone in
the supply chain that the price doesn’t count (it means there is slavery). This
kind of brands are hiding the “dark” side of their activity.
Moreover, there is not enough organic cotton
for all the world.
Thanks to Louis and Gregory, they told us more
about the future of tomorrow. Thus, it is still at the experimental state but
it will be creating textiles from bacteria (like milk or protein bacteria). Indeed,
while organic cotton is not enough for all the world, bacteria material could
not replace but be added and be as organic as the cotton. Organic is what, it
is what made from nature (vegetables), human and animal. That is why bacteria
come from animals but without killing them. This is the future if
sustainability in fashion.
Nevertheless, many countries now are
on a sustainable spirit even China which is the biggest manufacturing countries
(where workers are usually treated very badly). Indeed, 89% of textiles come
from China. Since they were pointed as one of the worst country to work with
they started to close factories for sustainable reasons (it represents 20% of
the factories in China).
This big change shows how much developing
countries want to have a better image for companies that in the future would
like to implement their factories there otherwise they could lose a
market.
Hi Lea! You highlighted something very important about the integration of sustainable practices in the fashion industry today. Although many retailers claim to be manufacturing conscious garments out of organic cotton, the cotton production is very time consuming and laborious, thus forcing fast fashion retailers to enslave workers. Gregory and Louis are two change makers in this “dark” cycle as you mentioned and I felt the same optimism you took away from them when we listened to them speak at Texworld. I think it is slightly concerning that their team is so small and tightly knitted. I am very interested to see how the growth of textiles from bacteria can affect the apparel industry in a few years and whether consumers will even be convinced to take part in this new innovation. Do you think that a customer at H&M will turn away from their “Conscious” collection to purchase garments that are truly sustainably and ethically produced? If China is able to some how find a way to harness this innovation in order to bring it to a bigger market, it would be amazing. Sometimes I feel as if it’s a bit too optimistic to envision a world where we rely less on cotton production. However, you made a great point in mentioning that this new technology can be used in conjunction with organic cotton production. Now the large usage of water in organic cotton production is another issue to be discussed later on. Great post on a very interesting issue!
ReplyDeleteLea- Great blog post, I love how you discuss Louis and Gregory and how deeply aware they are, as well as so nicely summarizing their complex trend-section process. Also your mention of the impacts of traditional cotton and the “dark” side of factories is nicely placed and balanced with the new processes being developed that you mention, like bacteria-based textiles! Well done and thank you!
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