AW 24-25 Sustainability : Fabrics The - Autumn-Winter 24-25 - Fabrics - Fabrics - Première Vision Paris
Autumn-Winter 2024-25 radiates a solar energy with positive-impact solutions.
Care is taken to preserve and improve a range of criteria as part of a global sustainable approach.
In order to move away from intensive cultivation models that weaken soils and reduce biodiversity, raw materials are sourced from textile waste, or waste from the agri-food industry. More and more material solutions are being developed to better anticipate a product’s end-of-life, notably by choosing compositions that facilitate recycling or biodegradability.
Among other highlights this season, we see a broadening diversity of protective materials drawn from traceable renewable resources, and climatic wools that respect the pillars of animal welfare.
While a sustainable approach in itself must be rigorous, it is not forcibly synonymous with visual austerity. In fact, textiles with reduced environmental impact embrace fantasy, with appealing motifs, embroideries, jacquards, laces and hues.
Aiming for circularity
To achieve the fundamental goal of circularity in fashion, all the production stages must be involved.
Recycling is already well established, and is now moving towards closed-loop production processes, regenerating textile residues from wool, cotton, synthetics or cellulose.
Alongside the traditional mechanical recycling of wool and cotton, artificial fibers obtained through chemical recycling, derived from cellulose residues or agricultural by-products, are gaining ground in the offer, helping to take the pressure off of virgin resources.
Several levers are used to promote the recyclability of materials. Choosing long fibers upstream of the spinning process aims to enhance the quality of the product. Improvements in functional treatments and decorative finishings also target recycling.
To anticipate the impact of products at their end-of-life, synthetics are improving their biodegradability timeframes. Under suitable conditions and thanks to specific additives and polymerizations, their decomposition can now be reduced from several hundred years to just a few months.
Long-lasting protection
Manufacturers are stepping up their creativity to propose materials providing protection against the cold, wind and rain, without drawing on fossil resources.
Polyamides designed for outdoor applications are made from polymerized natural resources. These biopolymers are developed in knits, wovens, membranes and coatings, for water-repellent, windproof and waterproof performance, free of petrochemicals.
Another option in terms of rain protection is the use of natural wax coatings or finishings made from vegetable oil.
Fighting the cold has never been so naturally fanciful. Faux furs are bursting with ingenuity, reinventing themselves in low-impact compositions.
Synthetic proposals are transposed into biopolymers, with fluffy, long-haired fabrics or shearling effects.
Conventional and recycled wools come in a myriad of knit and woven versions, in shorn faux-furs, extra-shaggy pelts, and wavy fleeces. Organic cotton knits also take to the stage in plant-fibre faux-fur versions with a comforting softness.
Fantasy looks to the future
The ecological transition is also underway among the specialists in fantasy, and this season sees a flourishing of proposals for new products with reduced environmental impact.
Prints proposed on bases enhanced with ecological added-value go well beyond their sheer demonstration of know-how.
Motifs developed on cellulose bases sourced from sustainably managed forests are now firmly rooted in fashion. Woven designs, houndstooths, herringbones and checks are obtained without the use of dyed yarns, and instead rely on contrasts in the wools’ own natural shades, in tone-on-tones of cream, grayish hues and warm browns.
Reduced-impact coloring processes are proliferating, with vibrantly hued vegetable dyes thanks to natural pigments and fermentation technologies for agricultural by-products.
Laces and embroideries compose airy bouquets on recycled polyamide bases. The most refined Leavers laces feature new compositions with organic cottons and biosourced polyamides. New-generation sequins are made from recycled materials.
Ultimate fantasy and ecological mindfulness join hands, for fashion that combines reduced environmental impact with maximum visual appeal.
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