fashion’s new materials keep failing... here's why 

ooh interesting - i’ll have to look into this! thanks for sharing 🫶

I think it's still better for the environment because of all the resources needed to feed animals, the methane produced by cows and there's also a looong list of unhealthy ingredients used in leather tanning that are affecting people who work in the tanneries and people living nearby. These ingredients also affect the biodegradability. And yeah of course the animals aren't being bred to existence to be in captivity and then needlessly murdered. There's a great documentary about the impact of leather, it's called "Slay".

@@grzxsiu as a vegan i agree with all your points. I just wanted to highlight that the new leather alternatives are more problematic than the marketing around them makes us believe. Personally i would never buy real leather products and PU-leather is often the only option left.

@@detlef3000 I think we'll have to wait for the better and cheaper alternatives though what we can settle on now is second hand leather or durable alternatives (yes, surprisingly some PU, nylon, vinyl etc can be very durable, also there's durable vegan leather from brands like Virón) xo

I kinda wish, that when good quality leather (and some 'real leather' products are of such atrocious quality, they fall apart as quickly as PU) isn't an option, designers would just ditch the leather look and go for other materials. But somehow that only seems to be acceptable for utilitarian bags. Just why? Why does a handbag need to look like it's made from leather?

sorry for the late reply this comment got lost!! i do definitely agree but there's growing evidence that leather has become more of a commodity than meat and farmers can charge higher prices for it, so sometimes it's almost like the meat is a byproduct for the leather industry! overproduction is definitely the main issue in fashion, i speak about this in lots of other videos and it's definitely true here!

I agree! I have been getting more sensitive to different things over time and trying to get away from plastic based fabrics and eventually synthetic dyes as well. My entire system seems to just be inflamed all the time and I do wonder about petrochemicals in everything and if that has anything to do with it.

this!!!! sensitive skins are just showing the reaction first and it'll take normal-skinned people a lot longer to see the effects but they're definitely happening 😬

where do you get clothes are do not have this? I feel like almost all clothing stores are using it to some degree

I've been making all of my own clothes for about a decade now.

I have similar skin reactions and was diagnosed as being allergic to plastics. I didn’t have this when I was younger, but apparently allergies take repeated exposure to develop. When I saw a doctor for a fabric-patterned rash, that was considered diagnostic. I never had sensitive skin until this problem developed in my 40s. Now I can’t even wear makeup or other cosmetics from certain plastic containers, especially around my eyes! My sympathies, I can relate. There is just too much plastic everywhere. I wonder if the reactions could be caused by phthalates, they’re ubiquitous plasticizer chemicals, even in our soils and waters.🙂

such a good idea and love that it’s v realistic!!

I’ve been doing this for a decade or more. It didn’t start out as concern for the environment as much as durability of the item. I’ve never cared for polyester - it doesn’t breathe & is usually scratchy (along with looking cheap). Jeans with spandex (or whatever they want to call it this week) fall apart faster & pleather shoes have always been uncomfortable. I remember when clothing & shoes lasted a decade or more & now search for both in natural materials. Not easy but they’re out there if you’re willing to forego trends.

Linen would be a good material to consider as its made from the flax plant and gets softer with consecutive washes.

I’ve been doing this as well! It’s led me to such a good place with used clothes and smaller brand.

Same

ugh i have the same issue - my scarf keeps shedding so much fluff it ends up EVEYWHERE it’s so infuriating

Honestly the quality has degraded so much. So many comment on here saying they have items from pre-fast fashion (like the mid 90s) that is still going strong and the quality is night and day compared to what they've bought recently. it's so infuriating to hear when all you've grown up with access to is awful-quality polyester rubbish!!

PURE silk velvet is almost impossible to even find anymore. I've found a seller out of Australia who has it, and it's going for about $200 USD per yard. Undyed. I have very sensitive skin, and hyperhydrosis. So natural fibers are all I can wear. I've realized that I'm going to have to make my own clothes. I can find prepared for dying and predyed silk and linen online. But to find it in ready to wear clothing is so far out of my budget that I kinda choke on the price every time I get frustrated with accidentally poking my fingers with pins and go looking. Guess I need more thimbles lol.

@@ericakusske3321 😧 that price is insane!! no wonder fashion brands prefer cheap plastic versions

ugh yes, i know we’ll be seeing studies in the coming years that show just how bad polyester is for our skin and health and be shocked by the fact we wore it so long 🤧 thanks so much for watching!

I get the BO problem too with polyester and then you can't wash polyester in high enough temperatures to fully get rid of it or it'll disintegrate.

Same. But antibacterial wash gets it out. Like Canestan. I think Dettol has one.

I don't know if this is helpful...but have you ever considered learning to sew? The kind of thing you're looking for really isn't very hard to make. I mean, we're not talking ball gowns here. You could probably master the necessary skills in a couple weekends and used sewing machines aren't expensive. It opens up a whole new world of affordable natural fiber clothing in exactly the design and color you like best.

I do that. But it's actually not that easy to find fabrics that are made out of natural fibers either. Except maybe for viscose/rayon, which rips as soon as it gets damp. I have to order most of my fabrics in, and then I can't touch them to evaluate them before I buy...

hate that 😭it's so hard to find good quality these days!! it's literally a full time job

@@katierobinson frrr it’s sad when i find a piece i really needed and i can tell it’s the same terrible material ☹️

@@saige2975 🥲

completely agree and i've spoken about the issue of overproduction in so many of my videos, it's the most important issue standing in the way of a better fashion industry imo but also the hardest obstacle to overcome for brands since it means decentralising profits 🫠

haha where do you live?? i can imagine in a cold climate polyester would just be so useless that it'd be easier to avoid!

It is the Modern Plague! I wouldn’t touch it with a barge pole. It means instant overheating, sweating (yes, the stinky kind) and skin welts/rashes. I include all petrochemical-based plastic fibers in with polyester: acrylic, nylon, acetate, etc. and Spandex, which I loathe - it makes one’s clothes items we have to battle with daily to get off and on, even just with hangers. It reduces softness and breathability, too.🙂

agree with everything you've said!! we don't know a lot about biomaterials bc they've never been to mass market and the industry as always is opaque about their production process and qualities :( and of course they still focus on production which is definitely not a solution as you said!! thanks for sharing your thoughts!🫶

love that!! it's hard bc cotton is linked to the cost of crops / labour for the fields etc, so lowering the tax may result in unfair wages or issues for farmers!

Yup. Add to that the fact that when you put your time and effort into making something, it's not disposable any more. I have three pairs of jeans that I made, all of which are now 15 years old. I'll probably be wearing them until I die. One pair has some fun visible mending that I did with funky embroidery and is sort of a conversation starter. Right up until I decided to stop shopping, I thought my style was somewhere on the androgynous punk spectrum. Is that in any way what I sew? Nope. My style is now what a coworker described as "anarchist kindergarten teacher." And if I get bored with that, I'll pick my seams apart and make something else. Best thing of all? I no longer own a single skirt or pair of pants that doesn't have pockets big enough to carry a paperback book!

i think this is what everyone should be doing!! completely agree about the feel, it's always so jarring 😬

i literally agree with everything here but the most infuriating to me is def the first - brands literally stopping mass marketing just bc they want exclusivity should be illegal 😭

this sounds like the perfect plan for your situation, i hope you find some beautiful garments and pass on your old ones sustainably!! 🫶

completely agree!! majority of brands will always place profits over people or the environment and it's rare to find one that won't. I can't imagine being allergic to plastics in today's world, it must be so hard 😭

agreed! although fast fashion is made from polyester and should therefore last ages, the way they’re put together is rushed - poor quality stitching and designs - so they end up falling apart really quickly! thank u sm 😅🫶

so happy you found a solution that results in a better wardrobe haha

thank you sooo much, i'm so glad you found me!!! that's so inspiring, i really hope to be able to do a year-long challenge like this soon but for now i'm doing one month on (low buying, secondhand, rule of 5 only) and one month off (no-buy the entire time)! 🫶

aw i’m so glad you enjoyed!! where did you study? id love to have formally studied all this 😭

@@katierobinson it‘s a new master program in Berlin! :) also I wanted to add that polyester recycling is so popular and supported by many companies because it justifies the existence of oil giants in a post-petrol automotive industry 😒

@@xJuliaGrimesx that sounds amazing, i’d love to know what your syllabus was like! 100% and such a good point, i always think of these things after 😅

​@@xJuliaGrimesxHopefully graduates of this program will affect EU regulations when it comes to fashion sustainability in the future!

oooh thank you for providing this context!! I hadn't really had time to delve deep into the story but this was so easy to understand 🫶

thank u sm 🫶🫶🫶

that's so interesting - i wonder how they would even work out tax for how much you drive? like would people have to self report their miles or would thye put in tracking tech or??? i completely agree, consumerism is the heart of the issue more than polyester or any material companies use, and getting people to change their shopping habits is the biggest hurdle. I'm also trying to do the same thing! even though it's harder work I know I'll value the clothes more if i've waited and saved for them 🫶

agreed!! i won't shop anything with a polyester count above 50-60%, it's just uncomfortable and unnecessary!

it definitely is do-able like you're proving!! there's no need for such a massive % of our clothing to be plastic based 😭

@@katierobinson Thank you for making this video, it’s great to see more people talking about the impacts of polyester and fast fashion! If enough people stop buying it, the companies will have to make less of it.

love that you know so much about the materials! i guess you've had to learn thanks to your allergy 😭

100% - sometimes it's necessary in a garment (but even then some natural materials are sweat-wicking and therefore good for workouts) but the way the fashion industry overuses it and relies on it above other materials is completely wrong!! honestly completely agree with leather lasting for generations and if consumed responsibly it's a great option, but as you said the demand is so high becoming more of an issue 😬

oof this sounds rough!! luckily we have enough polyester clothing to clothe entire world for the next six generations 😭

!!!! agreed. There's no point producing anything if no one wants it/ is going to wear it!

i really don't think i said this at any point of my video. As I said in a couple other comments I speak a lot about the issue of overconsumption in other videos and agreed that it's the main issue at play, but for this video I wanted to speak specifically about materials!

so divisive 🤫

i do agree! i didn't mean for my words to come off as completely anti-recycling, but more that the industry is focusing on it too much and ignoring other alternatives, and seeing it as an excuse to keep producing polyester despite its environmental issues! thanks for commenting 🫶

I actually did a whole video on things to do instead of a wardrobe clearout, you can watch it here: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-hbS-yQ5kauI.htmlsi=TjBLDffoZQmv8Fp_ i always struggle with guilt when removing anything from my wardrobe, so I know exactly how you feel, but sometimes you do need to pass along things that you're not wearing - bc it's not doing anyone any good sitting in the back of your wardrobe! it's all about making better decisions in the future however, moving away from trends and focusing on buying quality pieces that you'll love forever!! Hope this helps 🫶

wish we could go back to that time!!! the rise of fast fashion is hopefully coming to an end now we see how destructive it is 😭

completely agree! 🫡

that must be so hard in our current fashion industry 😩

agreed!! i've spoken about this on other videos but overproduction is the most important issue in fashion rn and brands should be focusing on that more than anything!

I have a maternity shirt I bought from Goodwill almost 10 years ago, have worn it regularly through 4 pregnancies and it is STILL unfaded, no stitching or seam issues, and completely wearable (aside from a hole that is my fault :P ). I can't find anything remotely that durable anymore.

This! On some level, I feel like trends are unsettling psychologically. Like, your clothes tell people (and yourself) who you are. So going out and buying a whole new you once a season like the fashion brands want us to is like taking your sense of self and shaking it up. That can't be healthy. I know for me, that when I need to be fully present as myself, I dress from the skin out only in things I made by hand. The socks are a bit bumpy and the bra doesn't fit quite right, but it's all 100% me.

i've spoken a lot about overconsumption being the major issue with the fashion industry a lot in other videos so I 100% agree! but this video i wanted to focus on materials and where they're heading in the future, and why they aren't developing bc fashion is obsessed with polyester. Biomaterials/ next gen definitely have issues like being mixed with plastic and I forgot to mention this!!

i agree completely that natural materials are the way forward!! but like i said in another comment, i feel like biomaterials may be the bridge to get fashion to move away from polyester and towards more eco-focused alternatives - we're in a race against time and anything that helps is important. Of course it would be amazing if brands completely cut back on producing and became much more focused on the quality of what they're creating, but it hurts to say i don't think that;s likely. I've talked about many other issues in my other videos, maybe you'll enjoy them 🫶

agreed that overconsumption is the main issue, i feel like i repeat myself saying this in other videos a lot 😅 "just because you use plant based products doesn’t mean it is better" - completely agree again!! i do think that fashion as we know it rn could never be sustainable, but I think there's definitely a future we could create where it could be fine for the planet!

and honestly ? let's go back to making clothes on demand instead of mass production, this will give people more jobs and slows the pace of life a little, and it's waaaaay BETTER for the environment. but who's going to do that ? brands ripping your wallets for low quality products with inaccurate sizes.

it's more complicated imo - obviously you need to look at what the brand is doing as a whole before supporting them (if they're really unsustainable in other ways then don't shop there!) - but if they're a small brand experimenting with biomaterial collections and otherwise have a good sustainability foundation, then i think it's ok to shop from them (obviously also providing you love the item and will hold onto it forever) I guess it's hard because no one can be perfectly sustainable 🫶

hey! i think what you said is right in regards to the Caperni bag bc I didn't actually check the material's environmental properties (i guess i was drawn in like everyone else by the idea of 99% air and assumed that was sustainable!) my bad, it's a lesson for next time not to rush to include something without fully understanding it! I feel like i did explain my thoughts on recycling polyester: i said that it's being used as a scapegoat from the fashion industry to keep oil-based materials in production rather than investing in better alternatives. I understand that we do need a way to recycle the polyester that brands have already made, but i worry that brands will see it as a scapegoat to keep producing polyester which can only harm the environment. Like you guessed I do talk about the issues with the fashion industry a lot in other videos, including the overarching issue of overproduction! This video was centred completely on materials, but i think it's gone outside of my usual audience so I can see why you wouldn't know that! 😅 Hope you'll stick around to watch a few more of my videos, i'd be interested in your comments 🫶

i'm glad! haha i'll look into it, thanks 🫶

taxing polyester would mean it's no longer the cheapest material for brands to use, so they would (hopefully) be less likely to depend on it over, say, cotton - which is not itself completely sustainable but better for the planet than an oil-based alternative! i don't think i said anything about small-scale businesses being wrong, maybe you're referencing the fact where I said there's lots of next gen materials on the market for brands to choose from? i didn't mean for that to mean lots of smaller companies are wrong but rather a way to understand why these materials are struggling to scale since they can't all get funding! i guess there's many definitions of a crisis and a lot of people would disagree, but imo the "crisis" of polyester here is down to the rampant overproduction of a product which is only bad for the environment, and the refusal of the fashion industry to acknowledge how bad it is! hope i've explained further 🫶 thanks for watching!!

i'm not sure i agree! i don't think government intervention / legislation had anything to do with renewecell failing, I think it's just brands refusing to put their money into sustainable tech - and they won't unless they're forced to by legislation! 🫶

@@katierobinson ah, that's neocorporatist thinking. (sorry for the long response, this area is a burgeoning passion of mine and i could talk about it for hours. i'll try to keep it brief!) these things don't exist in a vacuum. regulations from the government keep smaller firms like renewercell from succeeding, because of the levies, taxes, and other financial barriers they are forced to pay that bigger firms who use cheap materials either don't have a problem paying or do not have to pay depending on the level of government intervention. forcing taxes on polyester is going to cause artificial demand for other materials, and while it might solve the problem of using polyester in that specific country with those specific laws, it's not a plausible solution to the problem of the fashion industry's reliance on polyester. as always it comes down to what individual buyers are willing to pay for, and if 1000s of tiktok gen z'ers are doing massive shein hauls, then that will keep shein in business pumping out faille garments made by starving, underpaid and overworked sewists. the government has more invested in powerhouse firms like shein than it does in firms like renewercell, which means that the chances of renewercell succeeding without h&m backing it are non existent -- which is exactly what happened. it's precisely the government's intervention using taxes, levies and restrictions that means renewercell and countless other smaller businesses fail. anyway i understand if you stand by your stance. i don't want to harass you so i'll go now! i did enjoy your video though and it taught me a lot about what's happening in the industry right now.

Deregulation and other libertarian fever dreams about industries never work and don’t make the companies do a single thing. There is no real world example of it because regulation and “interference” is not the issue. Get off your soapbox.

i do completely agree that so much of sustainability is performative and that brands are greenwashing and dragging their heels! i try to be hopeful about the future in my videos but maybe this one was a bit too hopeful 😅

lmao sorry for confusing you 😅 i never saw this until you said!!