Leather made from grape pomace or pineapple fibres, fabrics made from soya, coconut or even from simple textile waste - these are the new trends in tomorrow's textiles. Materials that have the advantage of being biodegradable and allow certain waste to be recycled. Far from the so-called technical, intelligent, smelly, slimming, connected fabrics ... these materials respond to new social and economic realities, to avoid more and more synthetic textiles that use petrochemicals. The textile industry being considered as the second most polluting after the oil industry. (1)In order to create a more ethical fashion and rethink a more sustainable model, it is becoming urgent to design innovative materials.
À At a time when it is becoming urgent for the world to turn towards more sustainable and ecological consumption, new textiles represent interesting alternatives to polluting or animal materials such as leather.
Animal fibres raise ethical issues about the conditions of animals. While it is easy to decry the wearing of fur, we often think much less about other textiles made from animals, such as leather, wool and silk. Leather production is therefore closely linked to animal husbandry and raises the same issues: animal living conditions, slaughter and environmental impact. For example, cattle farming is one of the most polluting and water-consuming activities. Moreover, it is responsible for 2/3 of deforestation in South America, including the Amazon, as it requires a grazing area of one hectare per head. In 2013, the association Go Green revealed that from thread to needle, 1 pair of leather shoes out of 7 consumed in France comes from deforestation.
New sustainable alternatives to leather
Piñatex or pineapple leather
Already used in the Philippines in the design of traditional clothing (Barong Tagalog), pineapple leaf fibre has more recently been used to develop the textile material "Piñatex", whose first prototypes of accessories have already received an encouraging response. Piñatex was developed during seven years of R & D by Dr. Carmen Hijosa. Winner of the Material Innovation Award in 2016, this fibre is resistant and can be dyed, printed and processed.
It is an innovative natural textile whose long fibres are extracted by a process called decortication, which is carried out at the plantation by the farming community.
Anam Pineapple has developed the first automated shelling machine to assist in this process, allowing farmers to use larger quantities of their waste leaves. Once the leaves have been stripped of fibre, the remaining biomass can be used as a nutrient-rich natural fertilizer or as biofuel, so nothing is wasted.
The fibres are then degummed and undergo an industrial process to become a non-woven mesh, which forms the basis of Piñatex. The rolls of non-woven mesh are then transported to Spain for specialised finishing. This unique process is what gives Piñatex its leather-like appearance, creating a soft and flexible, yet highly durable textile.
The finished textile is distributed directly to designers by Ananas Anam, who use it as a sustainable alternative to leather in footwear and fashion accessories, clothing, furniture and automotive upholstery.
What are its advantages compared to more traditional materials/price positioning of this material and/or cost advantages in terms of process?
Piñatex's journey began when Carmen, a leather goods expert, was a consultant on the Philippine leather export industry in the 1990s. Shocked by the environmental impact of mass leather production and chemical tanning, she realized that this could not continue, but she knew that PVC alternatives were not the answer. She was pushed to look for a sustainable alternative.
Inspired by the abundance of natural resources, including the use of plant fibres in traditional weaving such as the delicate Barong Tagalog garments, Carmen sought to create a new non-woven textile that could be commercially produced, have a positive social and economic impact and maintain a low environmental footprint throughout its life cycle.
From initial sampling to the development of a viable supply chain, Piñatex's journey is inspired by the principles of the circular economy and Cradle to Cradle values. The use of pineapple leaf fibre, an agricultural waste product, offers the opportunity to build an evolving commercial industry for developing farming communities with minimal environmental impact. It has eco-responsible and sustainable certifications: GOTS certification (Global Organic Textile Standard on Ecology and Social Responsibility for Textiles).
Grape Leather: the Vegetable Textile
Here is a new biosourced technical textile made from the biomass of the wine industry: grape marc, recovered during the extraction of the juice and the separation of the components. It is a polymerization process to transform oils from wine industry biomass + lignocellulose into biopolymer, the basis for the manufacture of the Vegetal Textile. It is a vegan leather of vegetable origin.
Vegetextile
This new textile has already proven its technical qualities through collaborations with fashion designers such as Tiziano Guardini who created handbags and shoes. He is the winner of the Fashion Green Carpet 2017 award.
Spazio Cavallerizze" model by Tiziano Guardini: the shoe has futuristic lines and a seamless upper made entirely from Fulgar's Evo bio-sourced yarn, derived from castor oil. This innovative model is produced on the X Machine technology developed by Santoni.
Advantages compared to more traditional materials: reduction of industrial waste by valorization of products derived from agro-industry, high added value and low environmental impact (of the material obtained). Vegea is able to extract and to valorize all the components of the biomass allowing their recovery rather than rejecting them (service dedicated to this activity).
In 2017 he received a Global Change Award from the H&M Foundation.
The new natural and ecological textiles
If we consider diminishing resources, fast-growing, natural fibres such as cotton, which is resource-intensive, or oil-based fibres such as acrylic, polyester, nylon and spandex, which are not very environmentally friendly, we realise that it is high time to find sustainable alternatives to production. And there are many alternatives!
Dress in milk fibre
Milk casein
Amazing! Today, clothes are made from skimmed and dehydrated milk waste, the casein in the milk being transformed into fibre under the action of heat. An invention of the German designer Anke Domaske. Based on research into microbiology and genetics, she creates a new fibre, an all-natural milk fibre. The fabric thus produced has a feel similar to that of silk, but has the advantage of being more resistant and antibacterial. It takes about 6 litres of milk to make a dress.
Remember that this subject is not new. Indeed, it was created during the First World War. The shortage of wool favoured the development of a technique consisting in transforming milk protein (casein) into textile fibre, then called "the poor man's silk".
Algae fibre
SeaCell Algae Fiber
SeaCell cellulose, a contraction of "sea", "sea" and "cell", is a fibre of theyocell (wood pulp) made from algae and cellulose, originating in Iceland, produced by the company Seacell GmbH. The dried algae are coarsely crushed and uniformly introduced into the cellulose fibre, from which textiles are then produced for a wide variety of applications.
Rich in precious ingredients, they contain more minerals, vitamins and trace elements than any other natural product. Algae have anti-inflammatory properties and release vitamin E and mineral salts. Their healing power has led, among other things, to the development of dressings. Thanks to its sustainability, the process was awarded the European Environment Prize 2000 in the category "Sustainable Technologies" by the European Union.
Thanks to its high antioxidant content, it also protects the skin from cell-damaging free radicals. Due to the natural moisture of the skin, the nutrients in the algae are released and there is an active exchange between the fibres and the skin. This absorbs the valuable ingredients and extends their effect in a remarkable feeling of well-being.
This material has the advantage of not wrinkling, being very soft, and helps moisture evacuation.
Coconut fibre
The coconut or tropical palm is one of the oldest plants used by man because everything is exploitable: its wood and palm to build, the coir to make carpets or brushes, the pulp or copra to make oil or as edible. It grows on sandy and salty soils in humid and hot climates. The finest fibres are extracted from the hulls discarded after the pulp has been extracted. They are then spun and mixed with cotton. Its structure is very porous, which gives it its lightness and deodorant properties. The Japanese company Shikibo Fabrics is the specialist. A textile that falls into the category of so-called "climatic" fabrics because it has thermo-insulating, deodorant and antibacterial properties.
Coconut waste fibres
But we can also use the waste from those coconuts. That's the idea that the Australian biotech company came up with, Nanolloseby creating a fibre called "Nullarbor", produced from microbes used to turn biomass waste into plant-free cellulose, produced by "a non-hazardous and non-infectious bacterium in a biological system". Microbial cellulose is produced by natural fermentation and does not require sunlight, soil, pesticides, fertilizers or large amounts of water. It can then be converted into durable synthetic fibres, which are an alternative to plant-based fabrics.
The company uses these coconut by-products from Indonesia to provide a source of fibre, which makes it possible to manufacture clothing without using the planet's scarce resources.
Lotus Fiber
Lotus Fiber
For centuries, Thailand or Myanmar, for example, have been using lotus fibres for their rare fabrics. After harvesting the lotus stems from the lakes, craftsmen cut off the ends of the stems and remove the long, fine fibres from the centre. The resulting threads are then washed and hung to dry and finally woven by hand on looms.
Lotus fibres are versatile and can be used for lotus fabric, which has many advantages such as being stain resistant.
One of the specialist companies is Samatoa Lotus Textiles in Cambodia. The company uses socially responsible manufacturing techniques to create eco-friendly fabrics that support the empowerment of women in the country. The fabrics are made in the traditional way, while using new eco-fibres.
Soybean fibre
Soy fibre is made from soybean protein. It is antibacterial and thermoregulatory.
Its great softness, its shiny and silky appearance and its virtues make it a fabric often used in the manufacture of top-of-the-range bedding products, such as "Mollyflex": Elegant in appearance, as luminous as silk, soya is the only botanical protein fibre existing in the world. It ensures a palpable pleasure to the touch and a deep sense of well-being. Made up of amino acids with an exceptional affinity with the body's skin, it offers a soft, caressing touch and an extraordinary sensation of protection and well-being, like a second skin.
Eucalyptus fiber
The material used is 100% made from TENCEL lyocell fibre, an artificial cellulosic fibre derived from eucalyptus from sustainably managed forests. Lyocell fibre, which is nowadays more and more exploited, can be made from several types of wood (hardwood, bamboo, etc.), although eucalyptus remains one of the most advantageous. It is reduced to powder and then to viscous material in order to respect the environment as much as possible. Its extraction process is much more harmless than that of bamboo, whose chemical transformation can be very polluting.
The fibre is produced in a closed-loop system that recovers almost 100 % of the organic solvent used in the process. The fabric is manufactured using a certified sustainable manufacturing process, without the use of harmful chemicals, and in a Fair Trade certified production facility. The fibre from this Australian plant is known for its bactericidal and biodegradable properties, its resistance and its great softness.
The OMDANNE fashion studio uses this natural and renewable resource and product lifecycle traceability to create sustainable clothing.
The main trends
New societal trends are therefore emerging. They have been analyzed by the Luxepack Trends Observer team. (2) and tell us that for Generation Z the time has come to reconcile with certain values such as success, traditions, commitments (environment/terrorism/gender equality), the fundamentals of luxury... and trends such as the new materialism (The look and the being), the post-digital ("phygital"), success (Since I deserved it!), transgenerational (makers2), roots (the brand next door), egalitarianism (Surgical strikes), mental health mania (Time out), hyper-personalization (me, me, me).
Eight trends were therefore deciphered by the experts of the Trends Observer, and to implement them, Mat&Sens from the Certesens laboratory in Tours, France. (3) proposes to dive into six families of sensational materials to discover, look and touch ... (4).
Light
In cars, technology or ready-to-wear, when they are in the light, materials adapt to the sixth sense of generation Z, digital. They sparkle, flash and reflect, each in its own way: sparkling, when it sinks its roots into a lustrous cut crystal; victorious, when it adorns itself with silver chain mail; phygital, when it changes colour according to the point of view of a radiant Plexiglas or dichroic film. A film of lamination that spins its holographic motifs, an optical fibre that is woven with poetry and delicacy, sequins, stones and sequins competing with glitter on the textile plead in favour of an asserted luxury, furiously neo-materialistic.
Luisance
Soft or brittle, the shiny material, whether it is bead blasted brass, textile or paper, reveals its light as it is handled. It is the return to grace of knitwear, satin velvet, gold shades; of a lava completely reworked to apprehend success in a different way; of this rigid chain mail which was used to dress the radiators of chic interiors in the 1970s and for which other functions are imagined. For its part, a paper with Hindu motifs invites relaxation and meditation.
Flexibility
Luxury having been struck by streetwear, we are witnessing the resurgence of soft, non-flowing materials... Flannel, which is once again very fashionable, is certainly transgenerational, as is this embroidered siliconised lace with its crazy charm and its transparencies, which can be glued onto cardboard for use in packaging. The post-digital is expressed in a 3D polyester knit; the success magnifies or shows the body thanks to a raw velvet. Raw also the material, when it takes root and comes out in astonishing thermoformable concrete paper.
Peau
The current of the skin, revisited, stratified, technical or animal, goes well with the anchoring in reality that these young people from 16 to 25 years old demand. Wolf, cod or lizard skin, tactile, hot or cold but always re-refined, the egalitarian skin of this vegetable leather, made from pineapple or grape waste, to no longer have that of the living animal. Fine skin of this birch bark, marked by time; transgenerational with its deep or surface tattoo; post-digital with this tangle of mechanical mesh. Second skin, protective and reassuring of this survival blanket when not covered with exuberant hair.
Reactivity
Behind a harmless, even sluggish appearance, the materials of this family are on the contrary among the most innovative. They live. They react when you touch them, look at them, place them under UV, infrared and heat. They thus enter another phase, changing colour, state and appearance. It is ferrofluid which comes to life in the presence of a magnet and agglomerates in a particular way for an almost artistic result; a thermoplastic which becomes brilliant purple under the influence of the sun (success), photoluminescent materials which become charged with light (transgenerational), bracelets which break to bring light or heat; pH bands which are used to determine the pH level of each one (hyperpersonalization).
It is also a real sand revisited by the extreme softness and a very pleasant touch to allow to de-stress (Mental Health Maniac); or sympathetic ink, which dries, disappears then reappears (roots).
Thickness
The generational relay passes, at choice, by the famous Chanel checkerboard revisited by foam or PVC, or a high quality tapestry of craftsmanship; success is shown with these quilted clothes, like a big, seamless comforter; the roots go in turn into these big knitted or crocheted wools, like those which unfold their canvas, in certain cities, around trees and fences, or in a very particular alveolar material. In favour of commitment, textile waste is transformed into a soft, thick, polychrome grey felt with an incredible effect, even if it is not easy to work with. To satisfy all Mental Health Maniacs, memory foams are put there.
Textiles from original processes still exist, e.g. from mother-of-pearl and mollusc filaments. Although not all of them are commercially available, these fabrics open up interesting prospects in terms of respect for the environment and the use of bio-sourced materials, such as textiles made from the recovery of citrus fruit waste (700,000 tonnes per year in Italy) or coffee roasting residues.
Beyond their environmental qualities, these new textiles also have new functionalities. Coffee-based fibres are already integrated into some sportswear to enhance their odour absorption and UV resistance. Thanks to xylitol (extracted from cane pulp), some sports T-shirts can also adapt to the heat produced by the body to release a cooling effect if necessary. The garment is already available for sale at Damart, among others.
At the cutting edge of technology, connected textiles also incorporate the issue of energy, such as a "Cal Jacket" which, worn next to the skin, uses the thermal exchanges between the body and the air to create electricity. The "Sol Jacket", for its part, has light sensors to produce energy to power mobile devices. To be continued ...
( Source : Actuagri )
Topic made from theabortion Certesens, Tricks.
(2) Stéphane Truchi from IFOP, Béatrice Mariotti from Carré Noir, Sabine Durand from Formes de Luxe, Régine Charvet-Pello from Certesens
(3) Mat&Sens® is the materials and sensory resource centre of Certesens, a consulting laboratory for sensory design and engineering. With methods and tools for analysing sensory and emotional perception, it supports designers, architects, manufacturers and creators in their efforts to differentiate, attract and innovate.
Mat&Sens® works on the material, the material and their perception guaranteeing a better perceived quality, whatever the sector of activity. In a place rich in several thousands of materials, Mat&Sens® offers consultation a real collection of materials with an original and intuitive classification according to the sensations and perceived effects they bring. This material library will be completed by a multi-criteria research application/software that associates technical needs and requirements with sensory responses.
(4) In collaboration with Sabine Durand, journalist
To go further :
- Study "The Fashion Industry Facing Ethical Issues"- Sciences Po - The Sewing Workshop,
– Fashion Transparency Index April 2016 - A document that ranks leading brands based on the information they share about their supply chain and the efforts they are making to improve their practices.
- Advice site " Happy new green"
Header photo Organic nettle, used for its textile properties since the Middle Ages. At that time it was used to make ropes and clothes.
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