The top five fashion innovations of 2021

Take a look at the top innovations that made fashion more sustainable in 2021

Looking good can come at a cost – and not only in terms of the money you must spend to wear the latest designer pieces. The planet pays a heavy toll for our fashion choices too. The fashion industry accounts for around 10 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions from human activity.

Reducing the number of flights we take is often touted as a decisive, positive change we can make to reduce our personal carbon footprints – and this is true. But globally, emissions from aviation pale compared with those from fashion. The truth is we also need to think about the clothes we wear, and the accessories we buy.

Unfortunately, cleaning up the fashion industry is complicated. Supply chains are global, complex, and intertwined. And more so than other industries, rapid change is structurally embedded in the very nature of fashion. In the words of Diana Vreeland, the late fashion columnist and editor, ‘Fashion is part of the daily air and it changes all the time, with all the events.’ These challenges have led some to question whether fashion can ever be sustainable.

Fortunately for fashion lovers, many innovators disagree. Throughout the past year, we have seen a walk-in wardrobe full of innovations aimed at cleaning up fashion supply chains. Here are the highlights from across the fashion lifecycle.

New platform democratises textile design

Around 80 per cent of the environmental footprint of textile production is set during the design process. So what if designers could calculate the footprint of the finished piece while they were still designing? This is what the ‘Create’ platform from Dutch label Byborre empowers designers to do. Designers can upload their designs, make tweaks to reduce environmental impact, and then find responsible partners to produce their work.

Create works like a Photoshop for textiles – users choose the properties they want, such as UV protection or odour resistance, create a colour palette, and then upload or create their own designs. Create is also linked to a library of suppliers and manufacturers, so designers can also find the right partners to responsibly produce their designs. 

Outdoor fashion brand uses fabric made from castor beans

Part of the design process is material selection. And we have seen innovations that use materials as eccentric as mushroom and dog hair. But one material that seems to be catching on is castor beans. The London-based company Asmuss has created an outdoor fashion brand using fabric made from a polyamide fibre derived from castor bean oil.

Castor beans offer a sustainable alternative because they aren’t a food crop and grow easily, without requiring large amounts of water. The designs are also made to last longer, without requiring much washing. This is because the fibre does not provide a favourable environment for bacterial growth. At Springwise, we have also spotted castor beans used to create fabrics for upholstery.

Swedish tech company streamlines supply chain to reduce waste

Once a fashion item is designed, it must make its way through the production process and supply chain – and there are ample opportunities for waste along the way. Swedish fashion-tech startup Material Exchange works directly with leading brands to analyse, optimise, and digitise their material sourcing and development processes. 

The aim is to streamline supply chain processes, helping to reduce material wastage and the need for physical samples. By creating transparency and improving communication between brands, material suppliers, and manufacturers, Material Exchange is driving a much-needed sustainable digital transformation.

Luxury brand repairs its and other brands’ handbags

At the other end of the product lifecycle, as more people become aware of the huge amount of waste generated by fashion, the ‘slow fashion’ movement has begun to pick up steam. This global movement aims to break the wasteful cycle of throwaway clothes by encouraging people to only buy what they need – mending instead of throwing away.

One Portuguese luxury brand, Ownever, has joined this drive by offering to repair both its own bags, and bags from any other brand. The company can change the colour, fix the handles, remove any mould, mend worn corners, eliminate leather stains, and more.

Rental app’s pop-up store pushes back against fast fashion

Rental app, By Rotation takes a completely new approach to fashion. Instead of buying clothes new, the app lets users rent fashion items from other users, while giving them the opportunity to share out their own wardrobe in turn.

Earlier this year, By Rotation brought its concept into the real world with a physical pop-up at the Westfield London shopping centre. Fans could rent fashion items and accessories from brands such as The Vampire’s Wife, Rixo and Ganni – some for as little as £3 a day. 

Words: Matthew Hempstead

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