It’s mid-2021, but the fashion industry is still fraught with challenges that came in the wake of COVID-19. According to an analysis by the McKinsey Global Fashion Index, fashion companies saw a 90% decline in profit in 2020. With stores closed down, slow sales, and customer loyalty slowly fading away, retail brands and manufacturers are being forced to find innovative alternatives to stay afloat.
Fortunately, some brands aren’t sidetracked from their sustainability goals as they tackle the COVID-19 blowback. Interestingly, many are recycling and upcycling leftover fabric and waste material in their pandemic-inspired collections, with recycled wool being the most favoured fabric.
To be fair, the benefits of using recycled wool are manifold—it has a low environmental impact, it avoids new fibre production, and it uses no harmful chemicals in its creation. Without the carbon emissions that are released during rearing sheep or the consumption of water and chemicals used in the dyeing process, recycled wool actually becomes a great eco-friendly resource to champion. What also helps is that woolen clothes have a longer lifespan (as they are washed less frequently at lower temperatures) and that the protein-based fibre is recyclable and biodegradable.
Indian designer Gowri Shankar of Faborg is one notable leader whose experiments with wool led to the birth of Weganool—a plant-based, vegan alternative that has the potential to change the future of wool. Canadian brand Frank And Oak is another eco-friendly trendsetter using recycled wool made from textile waste. Celebrated designers Stella McCartney, Eileen Fisher, and Mara Hoffman are some others who are reinterpreting recycled wool in their recent collections.
Reusing resources is the best form of sustainability. Recycled wool production breaks down clothes to fibre and respins them back into yarn, thus reducing its carbon footprint drastically. If the global population is set to reach 9 billion by 2030, we need to become more mindful of our consumption patterns. If you have woolen clothes you’re not wearing, consider donating them to your nearest clothing bank to ensure it doesn’t end up in the landfill.
