The fast-paced fashion and textile industry focus on delivering frequent, new collections inspired by the latest catwalk trends and influencers, but with very little consideration of the impact, the production of these clothes has on the environment.

 

The current manufacturing model for clothes and textiles has enormous repercussions on land, water, and even humans, where harmful toxins pollute rivers and oceans, textile waste and microfibres find their way into marine life and the chemicals used in the manufacturing process damage workers. Amongst these are textile dyeing - the second largest polluter of clean water globally, after agriculture. 

 

Vibrant colours, prints, and fabric finishes are highly appealing in the fashion world, and unfortunately, most of these are achieved using toxic chemicals with little to no water-decontamination system.

 

This research was based on the dyeing of natural textiles such as silk with the bacteria strain Janthinobacterium Lividum, exploring a range of cultivation,  inoculation and material preparation techniques. The most successful outcomes were then laser cut and sewn into a silk negligee.