Future Fabrics Expo 2024 was a vast amalgamation of what the future may hold for fibre and fashion — and to an extent, agriculture.
The venue was considerably smaller the last time I visited in 2020, though it still packed a punch. I wondered if the extensive array this time was due to investment, increased affordability for startups, or a genuine change in the landscape for fibers and textiles. What was once a smattering of hand weavers and mills with too-high MOQs for any small designer to purchase is now a place where debates on organic vs. regenerative textiles take flight. Below are my reflections from day one, split into key themes.
Fashion and Farming
The discussion on ‘regenerative’ was prominently featured through entrance boards, individual information stands, and a dedicated seminar. Organisations like Fibreshed had a stand to discuss wool, and books on ecology were highlighted at the shop. However, there was a clear emphasis on cotton. Only a few leather hangers were available, along with a smattering of bast fiber products and a tiny selection of silk. A board indicated animal-derived materials as part of a regenerative farming system, while a larger board in a more prominent space presented ‘alternatives to leather.’ Surrounded by synthetics and lab-based ‘biomaterials,’ this bias could influence visitors’ perceptions of what regenerative means — but is it simply about the cost and accessibility of the space?
That being said, speculative designers brought to life truly unusual examples of small-scale regeneration through utilising ubiquitous-yet-invisible ingredients to create a magical material shown with Zena Holloway, Eirinn Hayhow and Fibe.
Commercially-ready or not, they do wow and therefore request that the viewer questions the whole ecosystem wrapped around it, bringing food directly into the picture.
by Eirinn Hayhow
Localism
Farming is also a nod to localism; presently this term includes utilising developments in tech and machinery — and understanding — to create materials contextually in situ. While at previous expos “local” regarded only small-scale weavers, now it also looks to these (mostly) lab-based startups; those for instance experimenting with dyes to reduce inputs such as DyeRecycle, Post Carbon Lab and Colorifix, digitisation/SaaS for minimising textile waste including Graysha Audren, Fairly Made and Bureau 555 and building material knowledge – AiLoupe, robotics for low-volume clothing production through Robotics Living Lab, and laser tech for textile colouration which De Montfort University and Loughborough University displayed.
using the notion of “local”
But importantly, there’s still the artisanal and familiar facet of localism, shown through handwoven fabrics 7Weaves and Diama, ethically-run factories Soko Kenya, relationships with indigenous communities Raddis Cotton, Incalpaca and Neofibers, and adoption of native fibres Ecological Textiles ‘kempenwol’, Himalayan Wild Fibres, and Fibral Material Alliance.
Biomaterials
It’s clearly big business; it felt that half the exhibitors were touting this realm. The scope of such a term spanned from materials made using low input ingredients that readily degrade, to materials made through engineering in labs. A mix of the totally speculative individual designer, to large teams with large investment — yet either way, it’s what visitors want. These “future” fabrics do provide optimism for an industry that can change for the better, and excitement to designers tasked with pushing boundaries.
The home and interiors segment was rife for this topic actually, and more directed at the true sense of the “bio” part of the term. Perhaps this is where the difference lies; fashion will always want the new unusual stuff, while in our homes we want familiarity. Under-utilised wool fleeces such as Bioregion Institute AS and HD Wool, heritage craft techniques from Allwina Ltd and plant-dyed silks by Christiana Vardakou sat beside “techy” living algae lamps from Peter Nasielski, though all with an air of comfort. It was even slower-paced in this room.
by Christiana Vardakou
by Zena Holloway
Supply Chain
Circularity is the unmoving key strategy for improving the textile industry, and rightly so, though it does seem to have slightly moved on from discussing only ocean plastic to include wider challenges of infrastructure, as highlighted in the seminar series – ‘How to make circular systems succeed’ and ‘Solutions to the problem of plastics’.
Resource use is the biggest topic, followed by end of life; designers are tasked in sourcing materials that ultimately allow them to continue producing goods with least impact. Here, data is crucial, but it’s nuanced. Are we receiving enough full ecosystem data in order to make truly informed decisions and produce within planetary boundaries? This is where the lines between “circular” and “regenerative” can blur, and the importance of objective showcases.
Information boards helpfully direct visitors to tools, such as material flow diagrams, certification lists, and sourcing guidelines, that give some frameworks to examine your supply chain with — particularly useful for those incoming to fashion and other textile-using sectors.
The footwear hub featured this conversation well. It visualised the complexities that the rest of the apparel and accessories sector faces, but quite obviously and simply in one product; from the biodegradable totally-plant-based abaca shoe by Purified x Bananatex®, to disassembly/modularity with VYN and Noa Zaidman, to leather waste by Helen Kirkum.
Final words
I’m coming at this show from a somewhat biased perspective based on my background as a fashion designer and textile buyer, and though it’s not where I spend most time, these days as a land worker too.
My experiential definition of “regenerative” is therefore deepened through this intimate connection with land and ecosystems, and so I am frustrated by what appears to me as investment in the wrong places and all eyes on ill-considered solutions. However, I recognise that an awareness of materials being an agricultural product (whether naturally-made or not) is not the case for the majority of fashion folk. We’re all learning, and this expo does bring forth the bulk of possible solutions in a way that excites and entices, drawing people into conversations that should’ve occurred a long time ago, but at least are happening now.
You can’t help but want to create with the myriad of future materials, and support a move to a resilient and continually sensational fashion industry.
