Demystifying Cotton Fibres

As one of the oldest fabrics to be used by mankind, cotton has a far and wide-reaching impact on the environment and people. We know that there are many complexities when it comes to working with cotton - but what are the key issues that you as a designer or business owner need to know about?

Bringing together highlights from insightful conversations on The Sustainable Fashion Collective, we break down the key challenges for cotton, including water usage, GMO crops, and forced labour.

In this Lesson we bring together key segments from across the platform that cover the cotton market and the fascinating production process of cotton fibres and fabrics. We focus in on organic fibres and regenerative fibres, helping you get to grips with definitions of both. We also look at some of the cotton by-products and how these take cotton beyond its use in fabric production. 

We've heard how cotton affects millions of people across the world from a host of experts at the World Food Programme, Traidcraft Exchange and the GVK Society for Rural Development. In this 9-minute Lesson, we bring together the key clips from these conversations and delve into the reasons working with cotton has a positive impact in terms of providing employment and contributing to socio-economic development when done in the right way. 

Watch the video and read the Key Takeaways to learn more.

In our previous Lessons, we explored the positive impact working with cotton can have. But how do you as a business ensure that you are working with the right producers and in the right way? Ensuring your materials are high quality, from trusted sources and align with your brand's principles will set you off on the right course to successfully navigate the complex world of cotton. Find out how in this 27-minute Lesson.

A 22 minute lesson that looks at the problems associated with traditional fibre production systems, and where improvements could be made for a sustainable model that contributes to the three pillars of sustainabilty: environmental, social and economic sustainability. We were joined by the Sales Manager of Varvaressos S.A., a vertically-integrated spinning mill with an innovative cotton farming, ginning, spinning and garment production system that aims to revitalise and make sustainable the complex supply chain of the commodity crop cotton.

Head to part two for a technical tutorial on sustainable and ethical solutions for the cotton production chain.

Niels Wielaard, founder and CEO of satellite intelligence company Satelligence joined us for a conversation about how fashion and textile production impacts deforestation. What fibres cause the biggest devastation? How can fashion brands work with farmers to monitor issues of deforestation, land grabbing and water stress? Why is traceability so important in reducing environmental and social damage? Dive in to this 38 minute conversational lesson to learn more and understand fashion production's impact on deforestation and subsequent issues, and how you can monitor and prevent future damage.

In this 20 minute lesson from fibre science company Oritain, learn from various members of the Oritain team about how to prove where your products come from, and why this is important in fighting counterfeiting, greenwashed marketing claims and ethical production issues.

This is part one of a two part lesson from Oritain; part two looks at the actual science behind how they use traceability methods to provide data.