While fashion retailers work to reduce their environmental impact, a range of biotech pioneers are creating innovative new fabrics that could change how clothing and shoes are made

Polyester, cotton and leather are fashion’s most used materials, but all have significant impacts on the environment. Whether it’s microfibres, a lack of biodegradability or high use of resources, fashion’s impact is colossal – a recent World Economic Forum report called the industry the world’s third-largest polluter once supply chains are taken into account. 

Synthetic fibres such as polyester and nylon are the culprits because they are created using fossil fuels – and growth in these textiles is expected. A report by the Changing Markets Foundation estimates synthetic fibres will grow from 69% to 73% of total fibre production globally by 2030, with polyester accounting for 85%.

Waiting in the wings, however, is a clutch of suppliers, retailers and brands that do things differently. From mushroom leather to lab-grown fur, the future is bright for fashion retailers that want to make a change – and the need has never been more urgent.  

Woman in blue cargoes with mirror

Infinited Fiber Company: Spinning new life from cotton

The Infinited Fiber Company makes Infinna, a cotton replacement made from cellulose. Cellulose is found in all plants, so Infinna can be made from everything from carboard to agricultural residues such as wheat and rice straw. But cotton itself is one of the richest sources, and the company’s pilot factory in Finland is using cotton textile waste. Commercial-scale production is scheduled to begin in 2024. The company has partnered with retailers including H&M, Adidas, Bestseller and Zalando, all of which have invested in the supplier, as well as Patagonia, Wrangler, Ganni, PVH Corporation, Reuben Selby and Nomen Nescio.

The company was founded in 2016 by Professor Ali Harlin and chief executive Petri Alava who built on technology developed in the 1930s – cellulose carbamate – to process a pair of jeans into new fibre. While it was, as Alava says, “a lot of hard work to prove our technology and win endorsement from major brands”, the company has not had a problem attracting interest. 

“Our main challenge is we have more demand than we are able to supply from our pilot factory. Now we need to work hard to keep up the interest while we build production capacity through our own flagship plant and the licensing of our technology to other fibre producers,” Alava says.

Developing licensing capacity means building a large network of partners that can support licensees in production. “This means a whole range of stakeholders from the engineering companies that can build the production lines, to the raw materials suppliers, all the way to brands that want to buy Infinna,” says Alava. 

Mylo London Craft Week

Bolt Threads: Lab-grown luxury

Bolt Threads is one of the better-known biotech companies producing new textiles – its lab-grown silk has recently been joined by its Mylo material, a leather alternative made from mycelium – the branching, thread-like roots of fungi. The company reproduces what happens on a forest floor in a lab environment, feeding mycelial cells sawdust and organic material, and growing them for two weeks – a lot quicker than raising livestock. The harvested mycelium is converted into leather, which has been used to make products for Adidas, Kering, Lululemon and Stella McCartney.

Bolt Threads chief exectuive and founder Dan Widmaier says scaling up is a key focus for the fabric innovation company.

“We are currently on track to deliver 1 million square feet [of Mylo] in the very near future and scale into the tens of millions soon after. In order to produce Mylo at a large scale, we needed to build a novel supply chain from the ground up; one that can produce millions of square feet of consistent-quality Mylo at a price that is competitive with traditional animal-derived leather,” he explains.

During development, another challenge was determining how easy the fabric is to work with. “We also needed feedback from designers to help our engineers nail down the more elusive, and less quantitative, aesthetic qualities that are necessary for Mylo’s commercial success,” Widmaier adds.

The company says that eventually, it hopes Mylo will reach price parity with traditional leather: “Building a brand new supply chain takes time and money to scale. By increasing scale and supply, we can collaborate with additional designers and eventually meet price parity with traditional leather and other alternative materials.”

Other innovations in the same space include Pinatex, leather partly made from pineapple, and Frumat, which is partly made from apple fibre. 

Ones to watch

Genomatica: In 2021, Lululemon teamed up with Genomatica, which ferments the natural sugars found in plants like corn, sugar beets and cassava to create chemicals similar to the traditional petrochemicals used to make nylon. The company closed a $118m (£86m) funding round in July.

AirCarbon: In July 2021, Nike announced a partnership with Newlight Technologies, the company behind AirCarbon, a biomaterial made from micro-organisms in the ocean. The firm says the compostable material captures more emissions than it emits. Nike’s goal is to explore replacing plastic and leather in its products. The sportswear giant has also worked with Pinatex. 

Geneus Biotech: Using a similar process to cultured vegan meat production, Dutch start-up Geneus Biotech uses cellular technology to make Furoid – fur that is molecularly identical to the real thing. The company 3D bio-prints the cultivated tissue into a biomaterial.

Pangaia Flwrdwn jacket

Pangaia: Plants galore

Pangaia is both a leisurewear brand and a B2B biotech firm, offering access to its plant-based materials to other brands. It chose both routes, the company says, to offer support to other businesses working towards greater sustainability. A spokesperson for Pangaia says: “We cannot be precious about our innovations – that is why we open-source our technologies for other brands to access. 

“Our Pangaia Science offering provides options for companies, innovators, brands and suppliers to work with us on transitioning to a more sustainable fashion industry through the adoption of innovative materials and processes.”

Pangaia produces a range of textiles made from sources including seaweed, nettle and agricultural waste. Most of its products contain a blend of these fibres with organic cotton, but the company says it is working towards a greater proportion of non-traditional fibres. Its Plntfiber and Frutfiber materials, released in August 2021, are made of agricultural waste blends and contain no cotton.

In October, it launched a range of jeans made from 18% Himalayan nettle, 18% cotton and 64% organic cotton. In December, it announced a new capsule collection powered by bacteria-based dyes, in response to synthetic dye run-off. Its C-Fiber is a blend of eucalyptus pulp and seaweed powder, and it also makes a down filling from wildflowers.

Also in 2021, the brand opened its first physical brand experience at Selfridges in London. In 2022, it is planning to enter the Asia Pacific region with its partners at department store chain Lane Crawford.

LanazTech Zara dress

LanzaTech: Capturing carbon

LanzaTech makes a wide range of materials from captured carbon and in December it announced a partnership with Inditex to create a capsule collection for Zara made of recycled carbon emissions. The company is also working with Lululemon.

It describes its production process as “like retrofitting a brewery on to an emission source, but instead of using sugars and yeast to make beer, pollution is converted by bacteria into fuels and chemicals”.

The company captures carbon dioxide, then recycles the gas into ethanol through a fermentation process. Working with India Glycols and Far Eastern New Century, this is then converted into low-carbon polyester yarn. Crucially, when the emissions-based material reaches the end of life, it can be fermented again.