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<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\nFor example, \u201cabout 8% of European microplastics released to oceans are from synthetic textiles\u2014globally, this figure is estimated at 16-35%. Between 200,000 and 500,000 tonnes of microplastics from textiles enter the global marine environment each year,\u201d according to the European Environment Agency<\/a>. Similarly, \u201cFashion production makes up 10% of humanity\u2019s carbon emissions, dries up water sources, and pollutes rivers and streams. What\u2019s more, 85% of all textiles go to the dump each year, and washing some types of clothes sends significant amount of microplastics into the ocean,\u201d reported the Geneva Environment Network<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n How can we start addressing these problems today rather than tomorrow? Enter biotech fashion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Historically, the main sources of natural textile alternatives (with a lower carbon footprint) in the fashion industry were mostly limited to the use of cotton and hemp. However, the biotech industry today is working in tandem with the natural world to understand exactly how to produce sustainable textiles. Everything from algae to fungi to spiderwebs to brewing your own textiles is being considered and used to change the textile landscape as we know it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Here are a couple of the most exciting (and downright sci-fi) biotech fashion innovations being developed today, and where else the industry is poised to grow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When you step on a slimy piece of seaweed on the beach, it\u2019s doubtful your first thought is fashion, but scientists, designers, artists, and innovators have realized that the low-maintenance, textile-like growth structure of algae (seaweed), along with the ease with which it can be contoured into textile weave patterns, is actually an ideal alternative to textiles that previously relied on synthetic microplastics. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Charlotte McCurdy<\/a>, an award-winning designer and researcher who works at the intersection of emerging technology, futures, and existential threats, asks, \u201cWhat would it feel like to get back into a present tense relationship with the sun?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n She points out that much of the world\u2019s carbon consumption comes from ancient sources: concrete, fossil fuels, plastics, etc. But poses the alternative that a more sustainable means of production hinges on a present-tense relationship with the sun and therefore products. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201c[Cement, steel, and plastic] materials are carbon emitters. Because they are fossilized life,\u201d explains McCurdy<\/a>. \u201cThey are ancient sunlight. So what do I mean by ancient sunlight? Big beautiful carbon based molecules are how life stores the energy of the sun\u2026Thinking about materials as ancient sunlight, raises the question for me. What would happen if we made them out of present tense sunlight? It turns out we can and if we need our materials out of present tense sunlight, which is to say the product of photosynthesis happening right now. We could not only reduce our dependence on ancient carbon, we could\u2014if we do it just right\u2014trap our current carbon in our materials.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n And her ideas hinge on the powers of biotech to become a reality. McCurdy, for her part, created a raincoat made out of marine algae that is carbon negative, but acknowledges that she is far from alone in her designs production and entrepreneurship. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Indeed, German-based company, SmartFiber<\/a>, has created a seaweed-infused cellulose fiber containing 19% seaweed content referred to as SeaCell fiber that \u201chas limitless applications in textiles\u2026for a broad spectrum of uses in sports and leisure textiles\u2014from underwear and loungewear to soft furnishings.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSeaCell allows your skin to harness the power of nature as its fibers are rich in minerals, antioxidants and vitamins,\u201d as stated on the company\u2019s website. \u201cThis means that the fibers are not only good for your skin, but good for the environment, too.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n And the company has partnered with brands like Lululemon and Pangaia to create trial products. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Mycophiles will have more to celebrate as the myriad uses of fungi continue to expand. Whether in construction, electronics, and now fashion, fungi is slowly becoming the most versatile tool in the biotechnology toolkit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Fungi offers help in the fashion industry in two ways: by breaking down old generations of textile and plastic waste, while also building up the new generation of mycelium-based textiles. And the best part\u2014mycelium-based textiles break down when discarded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cA 2017 study led by researchers from China and Pakistan identified a strain of the fungi Aspergillus tubingensis<\/em> that was breaking down plastic at a landfill in Islamabad, Pakistan,\u201d reported Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and partners<\/a>. \u201cTo date, 436 species of fungi and bacteria have been found to degrade plastic and Kew scientists and partners believe their latest findings could lead to the development of efficient enzymes designed to biologically degrade plastic waste.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The discovery and development of plastic and petrol-consuming fungi is angling to be a game changer in the waste industry, but what about how fungi is growing next-gen fashion? You can start by asking the vegan leather industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the past, if consumers wanted a leather alternative, their only option was plastic-based leather products\u2014hardly a step in the direction of sustainability. Mycelium, however, is working to create a better-quality, more sustainable product.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Early in the research and development cycle, Bolt Threads partnered with companies like Stella McCartney, Kering, and Adidas to create vegan leather and other textile alternatives. Sadly, Bolt Threads ceased production of last year saying their mycelium-based leather, Mylo, \u201cwas \u2018devastatingly close\u2019 to commercial scale, but inflation and waning funding opportunities have brought the company to a standstill,\u201d as reported by Vogue<\/a>. Though the company is still running and continues to highlight Mylo<\/a> on its website. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Bolt Threads is not alone in its struggles to reach sustainability. Companies like \u201cReishi from Mycoworks, Mirum from Natural Fiber Welding and Forager from Ecovative\u201d are also fighting the good fight to reach commercial scale. And there continues to be an ever-growing hunger for their products by consumers, indicating that it is really a matter of when<\/em> these products can reach commercial viability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe are not immune to the same macroeconomic pressures everyone else is facing, so we have paused Mylo to reassess what works and what will work in the future,\u201d Bolt Threads CEO Dan Widmaier tells Vogue Business. It\u2019s not out of the question that Bolt Threads would sell the technology in the hopes of getting Mylo to market. \u201cThere\u2019s no finality to this story yet. Humanity needs a more sustainable future, or we will cook ourselves on this planet with climate change, and fashion has a huge role in that. My hope is that we solve this problem for the good of everyone on the planet\u2014that\u2019s why all options are on the table.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n And Bolt Threads and other\u2019s stories point out the investment and policy needs of alternative, sustainable production to become viable options in the market. Just as we saw in the solar industry<\/a>, it takes time and investment to make new technologies affordable and available on the market. And while much of that is dependent on the ebbs and flows of investment markets from year to year, on the policy end, the same subsidies that are allotted to fossil fuel-based companies and production could be diversified to include more sustainable options.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As JP Morgan points out<\/a>, \u201c75% of consumers view sustainability as \u2018extremely\u2019 or \u2018very important\u2019 in their fashion purchasing decision. And over 50% of consumers would switch for a brand that acts in a more environmentally and socially friendly way. But in practice, are consumers really willing to pay? Not yet, it seems. Only 7% of consumers say sustainability is the most important factor in their decision making.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n It would seem then that the impetus is still on producers and innovators to drive down cost. Luckily, a number of brands in the sports arena, especially Adidas, are still acutely interested in alternative and sustainable clothing production.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Algae and fungi production are just two of the sustainable options that biotech is exploring when it comes to fashion, but the options hardly stop there. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Biotech is also combining the powers of yeast, bacteria, and spider\u2019s silk to brew some interesting textiles as well. Spiber, a biotech company based in Yamagata Prefecture, has partnered with Goldwin, a sportswear manufacturer, to create next-gen sportswear. <\/p>\n\n\n\n As reported by the Japan Times<\/a>, \u201cCompany founders ventured out to catch spiders and analyze their DNA as part of an effort to replicate spiders\u2019 silk genes and see if microbes could reproduce spider silk. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The company\u2019s offering\u2014which it calls Brewed Protein\u2014is now fundamentally different after it was discovered that garments made from spider silk protein shrunk dramatically\u2014a quality shared with actual spiderwebs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The product isn\u2019t spider silk exactly, but a material all its own, using \u201c94% less water and [contributing] 97% less habitat damage,\u201d according to the company\u2019s 2022 sustainability impact report, which also found their products have lower associated carbon emissions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On the bacteria front, there are also a number of bacteria-based dye alternatives that are being developed as well. \u201cFaber Futures is developing colorfast dyes that don\u2019t fade with time or washing,\u201d reports Labiotech<\/a>, all using bacteria such as Streptomyces coelicolor.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Typically, dying fabric is a water-intensive process, but \u201cwater is reduced massively [in our process] and we don\u2019t need to use any chemicals because the dye is deployed directly onto the textile,\u201d said Natsai Audrey Chieza, founder and CEO of Faber Futures, with early tests using 500 times less water than conventional dyeing. <\/p>\n\n\n\nExpanding natural textile alternatives<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Algae<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Fungi<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Infinite options for the natural world<\/h3>\n\n\n\n