The fashion world is undergoing a sustainable revolution, and it was on full display at this year’s Fashion Weeks. No longer a niche movement, sustainability is becoming the driving force in fashion, powered by groundbreaking innovations like seaweed-based textiles and lab-grown leather alternatives. Designers and scientists are working together to usher in a new era—one that’s as stylish as it is responsible. As fashion month comes to a close, it’s clear that these innovations aren’t just about aesthetics; they’re about fundamentally transforming how fashion is designed and produced.
This past month has shown that sustainable fashion can become the new normal. What was once a conversation about 'what could be' has evolved into one about 'what must be done.' From emerging manufacturers to established fashion houses, there’s a collective commitment to pushing the industry forward, embracing solutions that promise a more responsible future.
Textile Innovation Meets Fashion
Textile innovation and sustainable fashion are precisely why I’m pursuing a PhD in materials science and engineering. The intersection of science and fashion isn’t just a personal passion—it’s the future of this industry. From biodegradable materials to lab-grown leather alternatives, we’re witnessing a paradigm shift in how fashion is conceptualized, designed, and manufactured.
I was thrilled to see these scientific breakthroughs on full display during fashion week, where brands introduced their spring collections with a keen focus on sustainability.
Keel Labs x Stella McCartney: Seaweed as the Future of Fashion
Keel Labs, known for developing kelp-based yarns and fibers, has long been a leader in material innovation. This year, their collaboration with Stella McCartney truly stood out. By incorporating Keel’s seaweed-derived textiles into McCartney’s collection, the partnership not only showcased the fashion-forward potential of alternative materials but also demonstrated their scalability for luxury brands.
Seaweed fibers like those developed by Keel Labs are incredibly versatile. They're biodegradable, have a minimal environmental footprint, and offer a viable alternative to both synthetic and cotton fabrics. The collaboration with Stella McCartney proves that sustainable textiles can not only meet aesthetic expectations but also align with the luxury sector’s high performance standards.
As someone studying the potential of bio-based materials, I find this collaboration incredibly exciting. It demonstrates that sustainable textiles can meet the demands of even the most discerning luxury brands, paving the way for wider adoption across the industry.
Polybion’s Celium™ x Ganni: Fusing Science and Fashion
Ganni’s debut at Paris Fashion Week SS25 was another monumental moment for sustainable fashion, featuring Celium™, a revolutionary biomaterial developed by Polybion. Made by feeding bacteria with agro-industrial fruit waste, Celium™ offers a durable, versatile, and biodegradable alternative to leather and conventional textiles. Unlike synthetic materials, which are petroleum-based, or animal leathers that rely on environmentally damaging processes, Celium™ is fully organic, vegan, and can be customized in terms of thickness, color, and water resistance.
What makes Celium™ a standout material is its ability to be grown in a lab, which reduces reliance on resource-heavy traditional textile production. By utilizing waste from fruit, Polybion ensures that the material’s creation is part of a circular process, minimizing both waste and carbon emissions. This is the kind of innovation we need as fashion brands continue to seek lower-impact alternatives.
Ganni’s use of Celium™ is part of their larger Fabrics of the Future initiative, launched in 2019, which focuses on exploring and scaling innovative, sustainable materials. This initiative has introduced groundbreaking alternatives like Savian, a plant-based fur substitute, and Ohoskin, an eco-friendly leather. With these innovations, Ganni is paving the way for a fashion industry that prioritizes low-impact materials without compromising on style or quality.
Ganni's Commitment to ‘Fabrics of the Future’
In addition to Celium™, Ganni’s collection also featured cutting-edge materials such as Tex2Tex™, Cycora by Ambercycle, Simplifyber, and Oleatex™. These innovations collectively represent the brand’s ongoing “Fabrics of the Future” initiative.
Tex2Tex™: A 100% recycled polyester made from textile waste using the TMR™ (Thermo Mechanical Reactor™) recycling process. This fiber has very low carbon emissions for recycled polyester, making it a game-changer for minimizing fashion’s environmental footprint.
Cycora by Ambercycle: This is a material created through a closed-loop recycling process that breaks down old polyester garments into new fibers. The technology highlights the potential for circular fashion, where clothing can be continually recycled without new raw materials.
Oleatex™: Made from olive industry byproducts, this leather alternative is not only biodegradable but also eliminates the need for harmful tanning processes.
Scaling Sustainability: From Runway to Reality
While these innovations are promising, scalability remains a key challenge. Sustainable materials need to reach beyond luxury brands to become mainstream. As Nicolaj Reffstrup, founder of Ganni, stated in a recent LinkedIn post,
“We have an obligation to support these innovations, get them in front of the world, and enable them to reach the market at scale. This is an attempt at driving real impact and a major step towards our 2027 goal of reducing emissions by 50% from the 2021 baseline. Action over perfection!”
Reffstrup’s words reflect the importance of scaling these solutions to make them widely accessible.
Moreover, brands must prioritize transparency. As consumers become increasingly informed, they want to understand the lifecycle of the products they buy. Those that communicate their sustainability goals and material choices clearly will be at the forefront of this movement.
Bridging the Gap Between Science and Fashion
As someone who is deeply invested in the science behind these innovations, I believe the future of fashion lies at the intersection of design and engineering. By embracing scientific advancements like bio-based materials and recycled fibers, the fashion industry can finally start to make a meaningful impact on the environment.
Climate Week in NYC, which followed just a week after New York Fashion Week, brought further momentum to this movement. Large fashion conglomerates like Tapestry hosted discussions with nonprofits like Textile Exchange, highlighting the importance of collaboration across the supply chain to make sustainable fashion a reality.
The fashion events this month demonstrated that we are on the cusp of a sustainable revolution, but there’s still work to be done. We need more collaboration between designers, textile manufacturers, and scientists. And we need more brands to follow in the footsteps of Ganni and Stella McCartney.
As a materials scientist, I find it encouraging to see sustainable innovation taking center stage in fashion. The technology and desire for change are here, but there is still much work to be done. These innovations are only the beginning—scaling them and making sustainable practices mainstream is the next critical step. The future of fashion is promising, but continued collaboration and commitment will be essential to ensure that sustainability becomes the standard, not the exception.
TLDR:
Sustainability is becoming increasingly important in the fashion industry. Designers and scientists are collaborating to find new sustainable materials and manufacturing processes.
This year's Fashion Weeks highlighted the use of innovative, sustainable materials. Notable examples include Keel Labs' seaweed-based textiles used in Stella McCartney's collection and Polybion's Celium™, a biomaterial made from fruit waste, featured in Ganni's collection.
Ganni's "Fabrics of the Future" initiative highlights their commitment to sustainable materials. In addition to Celium™, their collection featured other innovative materials like Tex2Tex™, Cycora by Ambercycle, and Oleatex™.
Scaling these sustainable solutions is crucial for wider adoption. Making these materials accessible beyond luxury brands is essential for a significant impact.
Transparency is key for brands. Consumers are becoming more environmentally conscious and want to know the environmental impact of their clothes. Brands that are open about their sustainability efforts will be more attractive to these consumers.
Collaboration between designers, manufacturers, and scientists is crucial for the future of sustainable fashion.
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