Sustainability in lingerie and fashion is still a talking point
Sustainability has been and continues to be an extremely popular subject for discussion, but what is it exactly? Sustainability means meeting our own needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. There are four pillars of sustainability covering human, social, economic and environmental and everyone has a different priority list. In creating a sustainable future for intimate apparel, Lara intimates for example consider areas such as textile manufacturing, fabric dyeing, energy use, safe disposal of chemicals, waste reduction, fair pay for workers, safe working conditions, environmental pollution and end of garment lifecycle.
Lara Intimates make sustainable bras
Lara Intimates is a London based privately owned lingerie brand who claim to offer one of the world’s widest range of sustainable bras. They source deadstock fabric, and operate a zero-waste policy for offcut materials.
“I love how we use deadstock fabrics and source components from the UK or Europe. It’s important to me that we are making products in small batches in London and not exploiting workers and creating excess products which aren’t sustainable.” Zoe, Head of Product at Lara Intimates. https://laraintimates.com/pages/sustainable-underwear
Also, if we want to help the planet, we shouldn’t be pumping hard chemicals into rivers like many companies do with their dye waste.
Creating eco-friendly sustainable lingerie is not an easy task
Lingerie is typically very difficult to create as both a sustainable and eco-friendly garment due to the varied components required in its construction. The single worse component being the pads that traditionally go into the cheaper bras on the market. Most underwear is a complicated mix of natural and synthetic fibres, meaning that at best it can be shredded for insulation or incinerated for energy recovery.
So what fibres are out there that eco conscious lingerie brands can use?
- ECONYL® REGENERATED NYLON, where every ton of plastic waste contains enough nylon to make over 10,000 swimsuits, which is why conscious fashion designers have been turning to techno fabric ECONYL. This soft lycra is cleverly made from regenerated ghost nets and textile waste that can be recycled and remoulded again and again. It’s extra resistant to chlorine and sun cream, meaning it keeps its shape and colour for longer.
- Organic cottons and bamboo, but do your research as it has been reported that sometimes it’s more ecological to buy non-organic.
- Lyocel, Tencel, uses deadstock fabrics. Made from the wood pulp of trees that are grown and replaced on specialized tree farms. Unlike most cellulosic fabrics, Tencel is produced using recyclable, earth-friendly solvents.
- Seacell, is an eco-friendly fabric made from seaweed and is certified organic.
- Smartcel™ sensitive is skin friendly thanks to zinc oxide’s soothing and anti-inflammatory capabilities. An innovative and eco-friendly production method where no chemicals are released. This meets the expectations of our industry both today and in the future. The European Union awarded the procedure the 2000 European Environmental Award in the category “technology for sustainable development”.
- TENCEL™ is a botanic fibre found in nature. It is harvested from Eucalyptus trees and produced through a closed loop manufacturing process, which means it’s eco-friendly and safe for the environment. Eucalyptus trees are sustainable, regenerate quickly, and grown free of herbicides and pesticides.
- Recycled polyester, also known as RPET, is obtained by melting down existing plastic and re-spinning it into new polyester fibre. To give an example, five soda bottles yield enough fibre for one extra-large T-shirt.
- Organic Hemp – one of the fastest growing plants. One acre of hemp could produce as much paper as 4.1 acres of trees. Hemp fabric dates to approximately 8,000 BC and as s it grows, hemp breathes in CO2, detoxifies the soil, and prevents soil erosion. What’s left after harvest breaks down into the soil, providing valuable nutrients. Hemp requires much less water to grow, and no pesticides, so it is much more environmentally friendly than traditional crops.
On top of using the options above, brands should also consider making smaller batches of production to ensure limited waste if any at all, sourcing local fabrics and using locally manufactured fabrics and components.
It’s for you to decide which aspects of sustainability are most important to you and your lingerie brand and use that information to inform consumers to enable them to make educated shopping decisions.
Lastly, price needs to stop being the main focus of our products. Cheaper and cheapest isn’t everything and that’s where the consumer needs to be educated about further, buy less and wear better quality garments for longer.