Fibres

Lower fossil-carbon content is increasingly presented as proof of sustainability, though a single percentage can obscure emissions, water use, durability and end-of-life outcomes. Kiki Chen, Global Marketing Communications Manager, Sorona Apparel at Covation Biomaterials, argues for clearer distinctions between feedstock, polymer and finished-product content, independent certification and fuller lifecycle disclosure before bio-based performance materials are judged.

Sourcing of cotton, polyester, nylon, viscose and wool through verified sustainability programmes climbed from 68% to 72% among the brands and retailers reporting to Textile Exchange's Materials Benchmark across 2025, against 20% of global production. Even so, 79% of the raw materials these brands used carried an unknown country of origin.

Biofabricated materials have become a fixture at trade shows and sustainability conferences, presented as the next chapter in clothing. Fungi, bacteria and agricultural waste now yield fibres and leather-like sheets with unusual properties. Yet wardrobes remain dominated by cotton, polyester, wool and leather, and the distance between laboratory promise and retail reality is widening.

Stretchy clothing could soon be recycled as easily as plastic bottles, thanks to a new elastic yarn that rivals spandex yet melts down and respins into fresh thread. Built entirely from one plastic family, it needs no chemical separation, and could support more circular production and recovery across the textile industry.

A dietary modification to silkworm feed has produced silk fibres with significantly greater tensile strength and markedly reduced shrinkage under wet conditions, new research shows. Developed at Tohoku University, the method adds plant-derived cellulose nanofibres to silkworm feed without chemical treatment, with performance gains persisting through spinning and weaving into finished textile products.

New Zealand's fibre sector is worth more than $926 million at farm gate, new research has found. The findings, part of the first study to examine the industry as a whole, are released ahead of a full Foundational Fibre Report due in August, led by Fashion and Textiles New Zealand and supported by the Agricultural and Marketing Research and Development Trust.

Indian wheat straw has been successfully converted into lyocell fibre, yarn, and finished garments comparable to wood-based alternatives, in a proof-of-concept pilot led by Canopy and Laudes Foundation. The project has shown that agricultural residues can replace wood-based pulp in lyocell production, cutting forest pressure and reducing crop-burning pollution across northern India.

A protein-based textile material that dissolves in a common industrial solvent and reforms into fibres of equivalent strength across multiple recycling cycles has been developed through synthetic biology research. Derived from mussel, spider silk and amyloid protein sequences, the material produces biodegradable microparticles and supports a circular manufacturing model that reduces bioproduction costs over time.

As industries seek bio-based materials with lower environmental impact, alternative plant fibres are drawing new policy and commercial attention. Yet output remains marginal and forecast to contract, constrained by fragmented chains, weak processing capacity and uncertain offtake. A FIBRAL report argues diversification will depend on standards, investment and market architecture, not fibre discovery alone at scale.

Researchers in the UK have developed an openly accessible library of infrared spectral signatures designed to improve identification of textile fibres. The FasTEX dataset combines laboratory measurements, reference spectra and analytical tools, enabling machine learning approaches that could accelerate fibre identification across environmental monitoring, forensic investigation and textile sustainability research.