Could “green” be the new black? Perhaps if you can imagine wearing stilettos made from pistachio nuts and coffee beans and clothes from orange peel, fungi and mould.
While the fashion pack is hitting the catwalks at Paris Fashion Week, students at London’s Kingston University are trying to lower the clothing and accessory industry’s carbon footprint by using biodegradable materials.
The fashion industry has a high environmental footprint.
The manufacture of synthetic fibres like polyester alone produces nearly five times as much carbon dioxide per kilogram as some organic cotton and more than twice as much as hemp, according to a Stockholm Environment Institute study.
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According to waste industry reports, more than one million tonnes of textiles are thrown away every year, with most going to landfill and only 25 per cent recycled.
InCrops, an initiative based at the University of East Anglia, sponsored the Kingston fashion project, asking students to create designs that show renewable raw materials derived from crops can be used to create low or zero carbon fashion.
Designs also include a wood chip corset by British designer Stefanie Nieuwenhuyse.
