Following my previous post about 5 Cruelty-Free Leather Alternatives You Should Know About, I have slowly started to incorporate more sustainable items in my wardrobe over the past couple of months. I believe that clothes must be produced differently and we should be able to wear our clothes for longer too. If we continue like this, the fashion industry will be consuming a quarter of the world’s annual carbon budget by 2050.
Now, in terms of fashion, I understand what’s vegan and what isn’t. But as I delved into my research on cruelty-free AND sustainable materials, I found myself a little lost, to be honest. Of course, Stella McCartney is one of the big ones, but today I am super happy to announce I have found 5 vegan and sustainable materials should know about. The team at Miss Green fashion have kindly sponsored and helped me with the realisation of this blog post, and I hope that you will enjoy it as much as me!
Eco-fashion is becoming more and more mainstream and As you can imagine, cotton is the number one vegan material, but I already wrote an entire blog post about cotton over here: 5 Reasons Why You Should Invest in Organic Cotton.
Today we are talking materials that are cruelty-free by nature, but don’t get as much exposure as cotton. You will find that you will have heard of these materials let’s delve into a bit more detail!
About Miss Green
Established by Maaike Groen, it’s s a slow fashion brand based in Netherlands that offers sustainable, affordable and stylish designs.
Here are the main things I’ve gathered from the brand:
- They encourage buying sustainably and reject Fast Fashion.
- They offer Fair Trade and/or GOTS garments, and all garments (except for the wool) are PETA-approved.
- They choose ethically made clothing and sustainable fabrics.
- They offer garments that will last longer and of higher quality.
Tencel
Tencel is a 100% natural man made fibre also referred to as Lyocell. It is very soft and ensures optimal moisture and heat control. This material is usually made from wood pulp from sustainable tree farms. Tencel has been named the fabric of the future as it is completely biodegradable, and because of the closed system in which water and solvents are almost 100% recycled.
The Caroline Skirt by Miss Green is PETA approved, has the EU Ecolabel and the raw material wood comes from sustainable eucalyptus tree plantations, crazy right?
Hemp
Hemp is one of the world’s strongest natural fibres – second only to spider silk! Hemp enriches rather than depletes the soil by shredding its leaves throughout the season, creating a rich compost. Hemp requires about half the amount of water than other agricultural crops do. Hemp requires no pesticides, herbicides, or fertilisers to grow either. Hemp helps purify the soil, removing heavy metals. Hemp is considered a carbon negative raw material because its growth actually produces an outlet of CO2 from the earth’s atmosphere.
Modal and Micromodal
So what is Modal and MicroModal?
The two are very closely-knit (pun intended) the only difference being the fineness of the fibres produced with MicroModal being finer in comparison to Modal. Both are classified as rayons, which is fibre made from regenerated cellulose (viscose).
Micromodal is extremely soft and silky, and this Shirt Aubrey is no different! As a fabric, it can absorb dyes quickly, making the colour long-lasting (for longer than cotton and unlike polyester), and it’s also is breathable!
My roll neck from Miss Green is made precisely of Micromodal, and this garment is completely biodegradable, is PETA approved, and has the EU Ecolabel. It’s such a long-wearing piece and I am sure it will last me for many years. It’s so soft and warm!
Recycled Plastic Bottles
PET stands for polyethylene terephthalate. As you may know already, 95% of all plastic ever created is still in existence today. It takes 50% less energy to produce recycled polyester than to produce virgin polyester, and only 7% of plastic bottles collected last year were recycled in the UK.
So what is this PET? It’s a fabric that is made from recycled plastic bottles. The bottles are collected, cleaned and melted down. Then, they are turned into flakes, then heated and turned into a fine thread, which is then woven into soft, durable, beautiful fabric.
Cupro
Say hello to Cupro! Cupro is a regenerated cellulose fiber made from cotton. It’s isuper soft, strong and silky. It is actually derived from cotton cellulose with cuprammonium salts. Cupro was first made in 1890s in Japan and it is widely used to make dresses and shirts, also in the high street!
Asahi Kasei is the only manufacturer in the world. Overall, this material is highly absorbent, has a smooth feel, and suppresses static buildup too.
Soy Silk
Soy silk fibre is made from the residue of soybeans from tofu manufacturing waste. How cool? This process is 100-percent natural and free of any petrochemicals, making it an extremely environmentally friendly product. Soy protein is liquefied and then extruded into long, continuous fibres that are then cut and processed like any other spinning fibre. Soy is a completely renewable resource, coming from the earth and being wholly biodegradable. It is also chemical free, contains natural anti-bacterial agents, and has the same moisture absorption as cotton but with better moisture transmission.
Conclusion
Obviously you can also choose to buy your clothing second hand to build your sustainable wardrobe. But I also think it is important to buy some of your sustainable garments new.
In conclusion, we have to be conscious of creating fashion that’s healthy for the people and the planet. Fashion is one of the quickest moving industries in regard to changing trends. By supporting vegan and sustainable fashion, this helps build our genuinely sustainable motives to the conventional fashion industry. Hopefully this list shows you that is is possible to make vegan choices for your wardrobe that are also sustainable ones! It is so it’s important to read the labels of your clothing and increase the demand for garments that are sustainably and ethically produced. Luckily, we have brands like Miss Green that are creating high quality, fashionable and sustainable clothing, and I am super glad I discovered them recently.
I WAS WEARING
Outfit 1
OLD FOREVER 21 SHIRT (I’ve had it for 5 years now! – use and reuse)
OLD VEGAN ZARA BOOTS
THE LOVELY THINGS BAG
Outfit 2
ESPRIT COAT
PEOPLE TREE TROUSERS
MATT & NAT BAG
BOURGEOIS BOHEME SHOES
With love,
This post contains paid advertorial from Miss Green.
