Sustainable Fabrics With ‘Textures’ – Innovative Materials That Feed And Regenerate The Planet
Words by Oliver More
Sustainable Fabrics With ‘Textures’ – The fashion industry is notoriously known for its ‘take-make-waste’ way of operating. It is an approach with a disastrous environmental impact and substantial economic losses. Not only it depletes the planet from critical resources, but nearly 60 per cent of all the clothes produced end up being burned or in landfills within one year of their creation.
However, it doesn’t have to be this way; the fashion industry must change from its old and outdated linear model of ‘take-make-waste’ to a circular one, where the manufacturing of fashion apparel lies on innovative materials that feed, restore, and regenerate the planet, instead of substances that deplete and pollute it.
In fact, it is a change that many brands have already embarked on, all over the world.
Given the stringent necessity of a change and the sensitivity of the matter, the WTVOX editorial team has decided to launch a new series of articles that grant such innovative brands the well-deserved coverage and recognition on our platform.
Today we look at ‘Textures‘, an Indian manufacturer of innovative textiles for the fashion industry. ‘Textures’ has launched an exclusive range of sustainable and eco-friendly spun fabrics made from cellulose extracted from a wide range of plants and vegetable matter, such as roses, lotus plant, banana, corn, soybean, aloe vera, and eucalyptus.
The company can extract cellulose from discarded vegetal waste, such as orange peels, and more recently from milk protein.
Textures’ range of fabrics is ultra-soft and luxurious, with signature dobby weave patterns. Each variety has 10-15 different weaves delivering a complete assortment of over 200 materials to choose from.
Here are some of the most popular choices:
LotFab© is produced by manually extracting fibres from discarded lotus flower stems and woven into a superfine luxurious fabric with extremely high water absorbency and dust repellent properties.
Rozilk© is a new material produced from discarded rose bushes. The resultant fabric is ultrafine which makes it the perfect alternative to silk. Rozilk© is also much stronger than silk and has a subtle shine.
EuFab© is made from the cellulose extracted from the bark of Eucalyptus trees. Interestingly enough, this fabric has a very mild and natural Eucalyptus scent, though not pungent.
MilTex©, as the name suggests, is made of fibres extracted from discarded milk whey, which would otherwise be discarded to sewage.
SoyRic© is originated from the soy whey and follows the same process as used to extract milk fibres above.
AlveTex© extracted from the aloe vera plants results in a fabric also known for its healing and soothing properties to the wearer’s skin.
BooTex© is made from the bamboo fibres.
Zero Poly© is made from recycled ocean plastic waste converted into luxurious and easy to dye fabrics at very affordable pricing. Also, Zero Denims© is a range of recycled cotton and polyester blends mixed with denim fabrics and recycled jeans, respun into yarns and weaving denim fabrics. Moreover, Zero Denims© is ‘Laser Washing’ compatible, an eco-friendly and water free washing treatment for denim.
Seaweed Fabrics is a range of ultra soft and luxurious fabrics produced from the cellulose extracted from seaweeds found in the Indian Ocean.
In the case of the orange peel fabric, the fibres are extracted from discarded orange fruit peels. The resulting material is as soft and soothing to the wearer’s skin, similar to the aloe vera textiles.
More recently, the team of experts at ‘Textures’ is working on a new variety of fabrics blended with hemp. While the team is aware that hemp-based fabrics are not that common in fashion garments due to the hemp’s rough and coarsely feel on the skin, they are confident that with the right blends the hemp fibre will be a total market hit.
But ‘Textures’ eco-friendly approach to fashion doesn’t stop at the fabrics they’ve created and supply. All the company’s products, bulk materials or final products are delivered in biodegradable packaging made from the starch of potato and rice.
Moreover, all fabrics, dyes, and print processes used by Textures are compliant with the Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) and OEKO-TEX.
GOTS is the worldwide leading textile processing standard for organic fibres, including ecological and social criteria, backed up by independent certification of the entire textile supply chain.
Oeko-Tex textiles and fabrics are certified free of harmful chemicals and are safe for human use. Organic certification means that textile and fabric products are grown according to strict guidelines on the use of petroleum-based fertilisers, pesticides and synthetic products.
This article was originally published on WTVOX.