University of Borås

Renting clothes can reduce the fashion industry's enormous environmental impact, but so far, the business models have not worked very well, says a study arguing that the best chance of success is for a rental company to provide clothing within a niche market, such as specific sportswear, and to work closely with the suppliers and clothing manufacturers.

With only a fraction of all textiles being recycled today there is an urgent need to change that and a doctoral thesis at the Swedish School of Textiles contributed unique knowledge about mechanical recycling: which processes and materials give the best results.

Ongoing work on ‘textile muscles’ has been further strengthened as researchers develop haptic sleeves that give an extra boost during heavy lifting, enable ‘remote’ hugs, help the visually impaired navigate the urban environment, and also complement VR in gaming.

A doctoral thesis at Sweden’s University of Boras is exploring the possibilities of sustainably printing enzymes on synthetic textiles and further develop advanced textiles for applications like antimicrobial, drug delivery and biosensing.

As pressure builds up on enterprises in the business of textile-fashion to be more transparent across their supply chain, industry outreach shows there’s many a slip twixt cup and the lip.

Ionofibres, or ionically conductive fibres, may in the future be used for such items as textile batteries, textile displays and textile muscles, according to researchers. A texfash.com report.

Your next trendy handbag could be fashioned from “leather” made from a fungus. Researchers have harnessed this organism to convert food waste into sustainable faux leather, as well as paper products and cotton substitutes, with properties comparable to the traditional materials.