Potential of ligno-cellulosic and protein fibres in sustainable fashion

Abstract

Fashion can be encapsulated as the prevailing styles manifested by human behaviour and the latest creations by the designers of textile and clothing, footwear, body piercing, decor, etc. Fashion can trace its history to the Middle East (i.e., Persia, Turkey, India and China). Natural fibres such as silk, wool, cotton, linen, jute and ramie (a flowering plant in the nettle family) and man-made fibres such as regenerated rayon, cellulose acetate, polyester, acrylic, bamboo, and soy protein are intensively used for the production of traditional to specialty apparel, home furnishings and interior decorative textiles. To prepare fibres for use they are enhanced during spinning, weaving, knitting and chemical processing. Linen/flax is considered the most important and useful natural fibre as far as fashion is concerned for tops, shirts and summer dresses. Recently (as of 2016), a few more protein fibres—such as angora, pashmina and yak—have also been exploited to produce luxurious fashionable textiles, owing to their exotic features. Natural fibre–based textiles are being increasingly dyed in a sustainable manner using eco-friendly natural dyes that are fixed by using bio-mordants (plants that accumulate alum in their leaves). Similarly, the potential naturally coloured cotton has for traditional to fashionable end applications is also highlighted in this chapter. As far as sustainable development is concerned, textiles are preferred to be made of natural fibres and to be value-added with eco-friendly chemicals and auxiliaries, preferably derived from natural resources such as plant/herbal extracts, bio-materials, bio-polymers and bio-molecules.