Textiles and fashion need a serious makeover
30 05 2023 | Amy Varney
Have you ever stopped to consider how many textiles surround you on a daily basis? From the clothes on your back to the furnishings in your home and workplace, we rely heavily on textiles to clothe and comfort us. We produce an alarming amount of textile fibres globally each year – about 114 million metric tonnes.[i] Whilst textiles are used in multiple industries, such as automotive, aviation and furnishings, we’ll focus here on their use in fashion. Unfortunately, fashion is one of the most pollutive industries in the world, responsible for enormous greenhouse gas emissions, water usage, and toxic chemical release.
The good news is that change is possible, and innovation is leading the way. Big fashion brands have made firm commitments to clean up their act, consumers and organisations such as Fashion for Good are driving change, and supportive policies such as the EU Strategy for Sustainable and Circular Textiles are incentivising buyers to adopt sustainable practices. These initiatives aim to reduce the industry's environmental impact and promote a more sustainable future.
The fashion supply chain is full of opportunity for innovation
The fashion supply chain consists of four main tiers, each playing a vital role in the production and distribution of fashion products, and each primed for innovative disruption.
Tier 4 of the supply chain is all about resource extraction - think growing cotton, cow hides and synthetic fibers. Innovators at tier 4 mitigate the climate impact of petrochemical, animal-derived and plant-derived materials and include Materra (growing cotton by hydroponics to reduce water impact), Rubi Laboratories (creating viscose from captured CO2) and Vitrolabs (cultivated cow leather without the cows).
At tier 3, raw materials are processed and transformed into fabric and other materials needed for fashion products (e.g. by yarn spinning and fibre processing). It is great to see companies creating innovative alternatives to traditional fibres, such as Keel Labs (seaweed-based yarn).
As we progress through the supply chain, we reach tier 2, which involves dyeing, printing and laundering and is where rolls of fabric and leather take their final form. Dyeing is a big problem in fashion, responsible for massive amounts of water usage and toxic chemical release. There are startups in this tier focusing on developing innovative dyeing methods to reduce water usage and chemical pollution, such as Ever Dye (electrostatic dyeing) and Colorifix (pigments from nature).
Finally, at tier 1, fabric is cut, sewn and assembled into final products. Material wastage is a big problem at tier 1 because of the associated consequences of landfill dumping and textile incineration. However, innovators are trying to circumvent this problem, including Smartex (AI/ML to prevent defects and reduce fabric waste) and SXD (innovative waste free designs). Waste is also a big problem post-consumption - only 1% of waste textiles are recycled back into new clothes. However, circular economy business models, such as Super Circle (reverse logistics platform), For Days (clothes recycling platform) and Queen of Raw (AI-powered B2B textiles marketplace) aim to address this.
All this supply chain innovation is supported by cross-cutting businesses operating across multiple areas of the fashion and textiles landscape. These companies are helping make supply chains more transparent and efficient, and connecting fashion entrepreneurs with established players. Some examples include Reverse Resources (SaaS for textile-to-textile recycling) and Common Objective (marketplace connecting fashion entrepreneurs and established players).
Bright future
By developing sustainable processes at each tier of the supply chain, companies can significantly reduce their environmental impact and enable a more sustainable future for the fashion industry. With increasing pressure from consumers and a supportive policy environment, there has never been a better time to pursue a more sustainable and circular approach to fashion.
At Systemiq Capital we are particularly interested in the following areas, because we believe that innovation here could enable the greatest climate gains:
Efficiency improvements and waste reduction, particularly at tiers 3 and 1 of the supply chain
Circular economy innovation such as B2B marketplaces and reverse logistics
Cross-cutting solutions that span multiple layers of the supply chain (e.g. traceability)
If you're a founder building a Series A business that addresses one of these areas, please get in touch.
contact@
systemiqcapital.earth