When I chose which fabrics to use for The Troja Collection my aim was to find eco-friendly fabrics so Troja´s Collection would be environmentally friendly inside out and I also wanted high quality fabrics which will last in any way in the sense of the color not fading and for it to keep it´s original shape even if it has been washed many times.
In the past I have been wearing Vintage clothing for myself to wear mostly made of Polyester. My favorite items come from the 60´s or 70´s and no matter how often I wash it, it always looks as if it has never been worn. This is the magic of Polyester! But is Polyester eco-friendly?
In the past I have been wearing Vintage clothing for myself to wear mostly made of Polyester. My favorite items come from the 60´s or 70´s and no matter how often I wash it, it always looks as if it has never been worn. This is the magic of Polyester! But is Polyester eco-friendly?
I had to do a research on this matter and it looks like it is not. I was quite sad to realize this and started looking at other fabrics even though it was not one I had any experience of using. I checked out fabrics like Organic cotton, Silk, Bamboo, Lyocell, Soy fabrics, Hemp, Cashmere, Linen, Alpaca and Ingeo. Even if some fabrics are made of natural resources there is most of the time a downside to the fabric too. Now, I am not the expert here but it looks as if different things are being published about these fabrics, one person saying a fabric is the most green and the other says it is not.
Marissa Stapley- Ponikowski is a Toronto-based freelance writer and author but she has written an overview of these fabrics at:
After reading her article I got really confused.
She wrote the following:
Organic Cotton: Supporting the organic cotton industry is a big green step, It’s not just your own health you’re supporting when you buy organic cotton but also an economy and a method of agriculture that’s good for the planet. But if the organic cotton you purchase isn’t also assured to be fair trade, or is processed using conventional dyes, or treated with chemicals such as formaldehyde to keep it from wrinkling on its trip overseas, that cute T-shirt is still leaving a sizeable footprint on the earth.
Silk: It is inherently natural because it’s made by silk worms, not chemical-based synthetic processing. But there’s a drawback: vegans don’t wear silk because to get at the silk fibres, the silk worms are thrown in a vat of boiling water once their hard work is complete. A silk called peace silk or vegan silk is made from the worm casings gathered only after the moths have emerged and moved on.
Bamboo: Bamboo receives lots of eco-buzz because it’s easy to grow without pesticides and is quick to replenish itself. Another bonus is that bamboo fabric is naturally antibacterial and repels odour. It’s when the processing starts that it potentially loses its eco status since there’s a chemical component to the manufacture that is pretty toxic.
Polyester: Regular polyester is made from petroleum, which is a byproduct of processing oil, and far from eco-friendly. Now it is possible to get polyester created made out of recycled plastic bottles or even recycled polyester fabric.
Lyocell or Tancel: It is made from wood pulp, so it is both biodegradable and recyclable. Producing this fabric involves less emissions, energy, and water usage than other more conventional fabrics, and it doesn’t get bleached, either. Plus it’s naturally wrinkle-free, so you don’t need to waste time or energy on ironing! Not all lyocell fabric is made from sustainable wood.
Soy Fabrics: It is made from the byproducts of soy oil processing. Just make sure your soy fabric is certified organic, sustainable, and eco-friendly since some soy fabrics are a blend or mix of different fabrics.
Hemp: Hemp has been touted as the ultimate eco-friendly fabric because it requires no chemicals to grow. Hemp is unfortunately not very well regulated, which means there’s little monitoring of the chemicals the crop may have come in contact with or where it was grown. The claim that it’s antibacterial, similar to claims about bamboo, has also yet to be fully authenticated and might be more about marketing than truth.
Cashmere: The fibre comes from combing out the under-hairs of Kashmir goats, a breed native to the Himalayas but now raised worldwide. Perhaps best of all from en eco-perspective, it’s also long-lasting. However, cheap cashmere has become popular but to keep its price down, has probably been treated with chemicals and dyed with carcinogenic dyes. It may also be blended with other fibres.
Linen: True linen is made from flax, a crop that requires very little pest-controlling chemicals. It’s also best when it’s a teeny bit wrinkly, so you can conserve energy by putting away the iron. As usual, watch out for linen blends or cheap, chemical treated garments.
Alpaca: Alpaca sheep don’t require insecticides to be injected into their fleece, are fairly self-sufficient, don’t need to be treated with antibiotics, and don’t eat very much. Alpaca wool is also long lasting.
Ingeo: This is a new fabric made from fermented plant sugars, usually derived from corn. This is actually one of its pitfalls; since conventionally grown corn leaves a particularly large eco-unfriendly footprint via pesticides, water use, and land hogging. But making Ingeo requires almost half as much energy as it does to make cotton, even organic cotton, which gives it some advantages.
So, after some time, confusion and research I came to conclusion. I chose strong fabrics which should last if taken care of properly. The fabric industry is still doing the research and trying to make the perfect green fabric.
With our eyes open to the new and positive changes of clothing fabrics, I want Troja to become eco-friendly in every way in the future but for now quality and changeable clothing is the red thread throughout Troja´s Collection.
The main thing is to choose well when buying so your clothing will last. In time we will have more option when shopping for eco-friendly fabrics and therefore clothing.
Troja will follow that trend to the end.
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