LIVING FABRICS FOR REDUCING CARBON ON THE PLANET
June 23 2023 – Delikate Rayne
Recent studies show that the fashion industry is innovating ways to better care for textiles in hopes that we develop a more intimate relationship with them, treating them as living beings in need of our help to survive. Designer Roya Aghighi makes it clear that the industry desperately needs a shift in its way of thinking when it comes to clothing. In need of a sustainable alternative to fast fashion, the Canadian-Iranian designer created clothes made from algae that turn carbon dioxide into oxygen, proving that clothes can photosynthesize like plants and purify the air around it.
BIOGARMENTRY AND BIOCOUTURE
As clothing makes up a large portion of our lives and who we are, it's important that we find ways to preserve them. Biogarmentry is a living, biodegradable farbic that looks to challenge the current ways of the industry. It is said to be a sheer, cloak-like material made from the living organisms of algae that looks to change perception of natural materials and exceed materials' potential capabilities.
Similarly, Biocouture was said to be created to reimagine the design process by placing the focus on the materials itself as living bacteria are looked upon as “the factories of the future”. The CEO and designer, Suzanne Lee, uses raw materials such as wood, starch and sugar to grow textiles that produce garments such as dresses, jackets, and shoes. However, the materials are prone to dissolve easily in water, which means they require existential care from owners and investors.
FABRIC INGREDIENTS
Designers are searching for more ways to make fashion more sustainable and compostable. These two designers see fashion as a way of functioning like beings and depending on us, the consumers, to continue to do so. As each designer has their own unique and creative way of production, we found these intriguingly impactful ingredients to be components in creating what are renowned as 'living' fabrics:
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Algae
• Bacteria
• Yeast
• Fungi
• Protozoa
• Viruses
• Archaea
• Sugar
• Wood
• Starch
• Bio-leather
• Bio-polyester
• Streptomyces coelicolor
• Crushed insect shells
• Avocado seeds
• Indigo leaves
• Carrot seeds
• Pineapples stalks
• Mushrooms
• Cactus leaves
• Banana trees
Sources: Scientific American, College Fashion, Dezeen, APRIA, The Guardian, & CNN