Innovative yarns and fabrics created from materials such as seaweed and fungi can be sustainable, biodegradable, and even vegan. Fungi are being grown into compostable packaging and sheets of supple, leather-like materials. Seaweeds are harvested to make into fibers and eco-friendly dyes. Let’s take a look at a few of the latest innovations.

Fungi

Mycelium is a fungus that threads through soil and plant bodies, breaking down organic matter, thus providing nutrients to plants. US-based Bolt Threads have developed a leather-like fabric called Mylo, made from mycelium. Spores of mycelium are grown on organic matter, such as sawdust, to create a foam-like layer which is harvested after just a few days. This layer is processed to make sheets of Mylo, which is then finished and dyed to make shoes, wallets, or handbags. Soft and supple, it is used as a vegan alternative to leather. Bolt Threads—and one of their consortium partners, adidas—created what they claimed to be the first-ever shoe made from mycelium-based Mylo material, in 2021. Bolt Threads have conducted a Life Cycle Assessment on Mylo. This assessment tool quantifies the resources used by a product (or a process) and any associated impacts on the environment over the entire life of the product. Results indicated that Mylo consumes significantly less land and emits fewer greenhouse gases than raising livestock for leather, and the material is certified bio-based, which means it’s made predominantly from renewable ingredients found in nature. Verified vegan means zero animal products are used in its production. This vegan alternative inspired another of Bolt Threads consortium partners, Stella McCartney, to create a bustier top from panels of Mylo laid on recycled nylon scuba material. McCartney has recently introduced fungi materials into her summer 2022 fashion collection. Mycoflex is a mycelium-based product designed by Ecovative Design, which was designed to replace plastic and urethane foam and be 100% biodegradable. The mycelium is grown in what the company calls ‘bio-fabrication trays’ which control the shape and structure of the mycelium like a mold. This can be adjusted to alter for texture, porosity, and strength. New York-based Ecovative Design have recently acquired a bigger facility in California and are in a licensing partnership with Bolt Threads. Mycoflex is already used in gloves as insulating liners, and as support in straps and footwear. They also produce biodegradable packaging. A branch of Ecovative, Mushroom Packaging, has focused solely on custom-molded protective packaging for goods and now license their services out to others. Mushroom Packaging is a grown from mycelium in just seven days, and is used as an alternative for plastic foams used in protective packaging. It is home-compostable in 45 days, the company claims, and made from just two ingredients, hemp hurds and mycelium.

Seaweed

Smartfiber AG has been working with lyocell fibers with various properties for the textile market since 2005. Now, through a patented process, they have incorporated seaweed into cellulosic fibers, with the added benefit of the natural properties of seaweed having what they call ‘positive effects on skin and body.’ Smartfiber AG has developed SeaCell, a fiber made from renewable resources, such as wood and seaweed, using a method that saves energy and resources and ensures the fibers are completely biodegradable. The seaweed harvesting is designed to be gentle, only collecting the part of the seaweed that is able to regenerate. SeaCell is produced using the lyocell process, dissolving pulp and then reconstituting it by dry jet-wet spinning, a production method in a closed loop with no chemicals released as waste. The organic seaweed powder is added during the liquid stage of the cellulose before being spun into a fiber. For SeaCell, powdered seaweed (ascophyllum nodosum) is added to cellulose fiber from wood pulp made out of beech tree and/or eucalyptus in the ratio in volume weight of 69% cellulose, 15% water, and 16% seaweed. As seaweed is naturally rich in substances such as vitamins, trace elements, amino acids, and minerals, the patented process is designed to embed the seaweed and cellulose fibers together so that they retain the natural properties of the seaweed, preserved within the fibers, even after multiple washing cycles. The company claims that this fiber is suitable for a vast range of applications, from sport and fashion clothing, underwear and loungewear, to home textiles and combines easily with other fibers. The fibers themselves are produced exclusively for Smartfiber AG at production plants in Lenzing AG in Austria, where a highly specialized team of engineers and scientists supervises production on site. SeaCell has received the EU-Ecolabel and also meets the requirements for OEKO-Tex 100 certification for baby products. Andreas Knezovic, Group CEO of Smartfiber AG, describes how the project came about. “SeaCell was born out of a high tech innovation the company started more than 20 years ago,” he explains, “with the idea to implement seaweed power into a cellulose fiber.”

Textile Dyes from Seaweed

Artist Nienke Hoogvliet’s dream has always been to radically change the textile industry. She believes that the sea has so much to offer, and always had a fascination for colors, textiles, seaweed, and sustainability. Working on the perfect recipe for artisanal and circular textile dyes from seaweed for the last eight years, she joined forces with Anne Boermans to establish the seaweed dye company, Zeefier. Together with a team of experts, the pair wanted to replace as many synthetic dyes with seaweed dyes as possible, and so decided to upscale the artisanal seaweed dye process created by Hoogvliet to an industrial level. The seaweed is sourced from seaweed farmers, waste streams, and from beaches. Pigments are extracted through a bio-based, environmentally friendly process, they say. A wide variety of colors can be obtained by this method, and the dyes can be applied on natural textiles like cotton, wool, silk, linen, or viscose. The dye and dyed products are currently manufactured in The Netherlands. Anne Boermans is the Business Founder of Zeefier, based in Amsterdam. “We’re making textile dyes out of seaweed, which is sustainable,” she says, “our plans for the future are to color the world with our seaweed textile dyes. Seaweed has been utilized, harvested, and cultivated in coastal communities for centuries. Yet only recently, seaweed has emerged as a novel resource for the textile industry. Seaweed doesn’t need precious agricultural ground or freshwater to grow. It even cleans the air from CO₂ and produces oxygen….The change has to start right now.”

Sequestering Carbon

While making innovative new fibers may be enough for most, Australian brand Piping Hot  and the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) recently announced a new research partnership to not only develop a sustainable fiber made from seaweed, but are also building a prototype bio-based solution that will sequester carbon from the ocean to reduce the environmental impact of synthetic fibers. Piping Hot commissioned the biomaterial research as an investment in its mission for clean oceans and as part of its coastal lifestyle offering of fashion and footwear. UTS has a strong model of research performance, and a leading reputation for industry and professional engagement, with an emphasis on social impact and sustainability. The development of sustainably-sourced materials is crucial not only to protect the environment, but developing new nature-derived alternatives for the fashion and textile industries can open up new markets and revolutionize textile products.

About the Author Fi Forrest is a TABBIE award winning writer, interested in sustainability, textiles, design, and science.