Polimoda alumna and PETA Senior PR Coordinator Sascha Camilli returned to the school to deliver a guest lecture exploring fashion’s environmental and ethical contradictions, spotlighting pioneering innovators working to reinvent materials. While these breakthroughs offer genuine promise, Fashion Design Management student, Soemi Mariotti, argues that innovation alone cannot drive systemic change as long as the industry’s underlying logic of rapid, low-cost production remains intact.
What lies behind the most evident contradictions of contemporary fashion? When can we truly define a system as “sustainable”? And to what extent is innovation responsible for it?
These are just some of the questions raised by Sascha Camilli, who returned to her alma mater after several years to give the guest lecture, Changing the World with Your Wardrobe.
Through the stories of determined inventors, verified data and a touch of philosophy, this article reads fashion beyond the surface of trends, analyzing its contradictions and questioning the very concept of value.
To begin with, the Fashion For Good Scaling Next-Gen Materials In Fashion: An Executive Guide report highlights that 91% of the sector’s emissions is determined by the production and processing of raw materials. One of the most resource-intensive materials is cotton, whose processing requires large amounts of water, combined with toxic and contaminating substances.
In the 1980s, Sally Fox, US-based cotton breeder, set out to reinvent the fiber. Later known as the “mother of organic cotton,” she developed naturally colored cotton varieties cultivated through more sustainable practices. Along the same path of innovation stands Sarah Bellos, CEO and Founder of Stony Creek Colors, is a change-maker in the field of textile dyeing. Bellos developed a natural version of indigo that unlike the synthetic one which is polluting and harmful can be cultivated as part of an agricultural rotation, improving soil fertility while creating new economic opportunities for farmers. The journeys of these entrepreneurs were not without obstacles, yet both have come to represent two of the most pioneering and tenacious projects in the pursuit of sustainability.
However, not all materials originate in the fields. Leather, wool, silk and feathers are identity-defining elements that shape the imaginary of luxury. Historically, these materials could only be acquired by the wealthiest elite, who displayed them as symbols of power and prestige. This perception was further reinforced by the artisanal tradition of the “natural,” through which scarcity and historical heritage themselves became ennobling values.
Yet this rhetoric often obscures production conditions and the ethical implications linked to animal welfare. This topic was one of the pillar arguments of Sascha Camilli’s lecture. As declared by philosopher Peter Singer, animals, as sentient beings, have a fundamental right to life due to their capacity to perceive the world and experience pain. According to PETA around 1 billion animals are killed every year for leather production, and it takes approximately 6,600 silkworms to produce one kilogram of silk, while around 85% of the fur currently in circulation comes from intensive farming systems. Traditional materials raise these questions, so therefore technological material innovation is needed to surpass these problems.
Stacy Flynn, entrepreneur and textile technologist, has developed processes to recycle textile waste. Her company Evrnu creates molecularly regenerated fibers from 100% cotton garment waste, transforming it into new textile fibers. Beyond regeneration, Evrnu consumes 98% less water than virgin cotton, produces 80% less greenhouse gas emissions than polyester, viscose and elastane, and ultimately generates 0 plastic microfibres, 0 deforestation and requires 0 farmland. A solution that drew the attention of Levi’s Head of Innovation Paul Dillinger, who called it “an industrial miracle.”
If in the case of Fox, Bellos, and Flynn, the mission was to rethink the processing of a traditional material, contemporary technological innovation has allowed experimentation to extend to the material itself. Within the landscape of next-generation materials, lecturer Camilli brought out many innovative companies and laboratories experimenting with alternatives to leather and animal-derived fibers, such as Bolt Threads, MycoWorks and Ananas Anam. These realities demonstrate that technological alternatives exist, based on mycelium, agricultural waste and biofabrication.
However, limitations emerge when looking at industrial scale: recent reports by BCG and Fashion for Good show that despite the growing interest in next-generation materials, over 80% of fashion brands still lack structured sourcing strategies aligned with sustainability goals. Moreover, future demand could exceed supply by 2030, highlighting a tension between innovation and productive capacity.
Another critical point concerns scale. Many innovative materials function well in pilot projects or limited collections, but struggle to compete with the cost and availability of conventional raw materials. Innovation thus risks acting as a mere communication strategy, without truly transforming the dynamics of consumption and production. Pollution is the cheapest way to do business, and if the underlying system remains based on rapid production and low prices, no innovation alone will be enough.
But if innovation is not supported and inventiveness not understood, how can one remain within the system we seek to change? As we have observed throughout this reflection, change is not the “click” of a simple electric switch; rather, it is a fragile lantern which, to rise into the sky, must be cared for, protected and nurtured. Taking care of our small garden is one step in the right direction; but it is also time to rediscover ourselves as custodians of the Earth and abandon our intrusive logic of anthropocentric domination.
CREDITS
Written by:
- Soemi Mariotti, Fashion Design Management student
Cover photo:
- Supernature, Polimoda, 2019. © Federica Fioravanti
