In the growing and evermore important conversation about sustainability and how we utilise nature for fashion, we are pleased to be exhibiting a selection of our sustainable designs and newly-innovated bio materials in the Victoria & Albert Museum’s ‘Fashioned from Nature’ exhibition in London.
This pioneering exhibition is a first for the UK, exploring the relationship between fashion and nature and presenting dress from 1600 to present day alongside natural history specimens.
Colorifix
We are taking this opportunity to announce for the first time our exciting sustainable collaboration with Colorifix who have innovated a process that dramatically reduces the environmental impact of the dyeing process, depicted in the below video. An organic cotton dress from our Summer 2018 runway that we donated to the V&A exhibition was sustainably dyed using Colorifix technique.
But what makes the Colorifix process less environmentally damaging and how have they achieved this? Simply put, they combine engineered microorganisms; DNA. This means isolating the DNA that creates colour in nature. For example, the DNA in an apple that makes it red. The DNA is later transferred into a microorganism (a form of bacteria) and the microorganism is then used to transfer the colour onto a fabric.
As a result, Colorifix use 10 times less water than traditional dyeing processes and do not use heavy metals, organic solvents or acids. Instead of using ubiquitous petrochemicals that are non-renewable and toxic, Colorifix use innovative biofabrication to create a range of colours produced by the microorganisms we mentioned earlier.
This method also comes without the drawbacks of the vegetal options that are often non-scalable and expensive.
We need disruptive technologies like this to transform the fashion industry.
BOLT Threads: Mylo material
In the next stage of our partnership with BOLT Threads, we are developing a new biomaterial grown from mycelium (an underground root structure). We have created an iconic Falabella using this new Mylo material especially for the V&A’s exhibition, though this highly unique process is still in development stages.
Our dedication to sustainable fashion brought us together with BOLT Threads, a breakthrough biotech company, to create the next generation of advanced luxury materials. We first set our sights on creating a vegan silk, which BOLT were able to create using yeast. Solution oriented, this process reduces pollution, creates long-term sustainability, and always remains cruelty-free. Two of our designs using BOLT Microsilk are exhibited in ‘Fashioned from Nature’.
We are also lending products made from our sustainable viscose and recycled nylon to the exhibition and you can learn more about our sustainable materials here >
* ‘Fashion from Nature’ at the Victoria & Albert Museum runs from 21st April.
