Tag: Fashion

Banana paper protects potatoes from parasites. After harvesting, potato stems are often burned, since they are hard to compost and unsuitable as animal feed or fertiliser. A London-based startup has recognised their value. In their patent-pending process, fibres are extracted from stems using biological and mechanical processes and spun into yarn. Like cotton, linen or synthetic fibre, it can...

Cocoa waste is a sweet deal for farmers. And pineapple plant leaves could prove just as useful. A startup in London has combined with farmers in the Philippines to use the plant’s leaf fibres to create an alternative to leather. First the fibres are extracted from the leaves - with remaining waste used as fertiliser or as basis for...

Naturally-occurring colour pigments in purple maize have anti-inflammatory properties. Clothes, meanwhile, are rarely manufactured using natural colours. But all that could be about to change thanks to the work of two textile engineers and their New York-based startup. The team is using biotechnology to create colourful yarn without using dye. First, in a fermentation process, special bacteria produce natural...

A robot shapes dresses. If we ourselves don’t feel in great shape, perhaps because we are experiencing stress, a special ball can help us calm down. Now, thanks to a design student’s award-winning concept, items of clothing could soon fulfil the same function. Inflatable elements of various sizes are sewn into the upper part of her garment. Where exactly...

Outgrown sustainable children’s shoes dissolve when cooked. A short hairstyle can be transformed with environmentally-friendly extensions. But making bespoke clothing more sustainable presents a challenge. Enter an interdisciplinary US-based research team and its revolutionary new knit-dress. A three-dimensional template is created using high-tech yarns and computerised knitting. Next, a programmable robotic arm with a hairdryer-like extension shapes the dress...

A glassy mousse-like mineral powder can insulate houses without using oil-based materials. Shoe soles, however, are still mainly composed of plastic. Enter a Canadian startup aiming to cushion our steps sustainably while recycling a precious resource: wine corks. After years of research, its product is now ready to hit the market. Both recycled corks and the waste from cork...

Sweet coffee cups provide a solution to throwaway culture. Coffee grounds, meanwhile, are an effective substitute in the construction industry. And as a startup from Ukraine has recently proved, they have other uses too. In this case, as spectacle frames. The team collects the grounds from cafes in Kyiv. After they’ve been dried, the grounds are mixed with natural...

Artificial body parts can be tailor-made for extra comfort. For women who have had mammary tissue removed because of cancer, there are bras with built-in prostheses. Still, these are not always comfortable. A London-based architect, a cancer survivor herself, teamed up with underwear specialists to create one-cup lingerie and swimwear. Because not every woman chooses breast reconstruction, and losing...