This expo is uniting designers with thousands of responsibly sourced materials

8th Future Fabrics Expo
8th Future Fabrics Expo Copyright Suzanne Plunkett /The Sustainable Angle
By Rosie Frost
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The Sustainable Angle is hosting its ninth Future Fabrics Expo to show brands and designers how they can change fashion for the better.

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A showcase of thousands of completely sustainable fabrics is coming to London, organiser The Sustainable Angle has announced.

The not-for-profit organisation has been a relentless supporter of innovative lower carbon solutions to fashion’s biggest problems since 2010 and hopes that this event will encourage even more designers and creators to adopt responsible solutions.

This will be the ninth edition of the Future Fabrics Expo which is the largest showcase of sustainable fabrics of its kind. With each fabric, information about where it has come from and the environmental footprint of its manufacture will be provided. Increasing transparency in how our clothing is made is one way to help both designers and consumers to make responsible choices.

Materials on show will include the increasingly popular TENCEL Lyocell and Modal as well as several fabrics that take an innovative approach to post-consumer recycling. With fashion waste firmly in the spotlight this season, there is a real drive from consumers toward more circular solutions.

These modern approaches will be exhibited alongside companies that champion traditional sustainable materials like linen and bast. Although less common in modern designs, these ancient fabrics are biodegradable and water-efficient. The plant fibres from which they are grown can even sequester CO2 from the atmosphere.

Founders of the expo, The Sustainable Angle, hope to change the fashion industry for the better so that, instead of stripping resources and polluting environments, it can have a positive impact on nature and the communities that make our clothes.

Read More | What is Tencel? The sustainable fabric everyone is talking about

Suzanne Plunkett /The Sustainable Angle
Claire Bergkamp, Global Director of Sustainability and Innovation, Stella McCartney (left) in conversation with Orsola de Castro, Co-founder of Fashion Revolution (right).Suzanne Plunkett /The Sustainable Angle

As well as showing off materials that designers can use to decrease the environmental impact of their own designs, the Future Fabrics Expo will also host panels to help educate attendees and facilitate discussion between industry experts. Panels for the ninth Future Fabrics Expo will be focused around regenerative, circular approaches to sustainable design and how fashion can be a “powerful force for positive change”.

Suzanne Plunkett /The Sustainable Angle
Future Fashion ExpoSuzanne Plunkett /The Sustainable Angle

At a panel at last year’s event, Claire Bergkamp, Global Director of Sustainability and Innovation at Stella McCartney emphasised the value of events like this in helping to eradicate unsustainable materials from the fashion industry; “We have to replace them with innovative, sustainable alternatives. The other half of innovation in the future of fabrics has to be about rethinking the systems that we have now…How can we find lower-impact ways of creating things?”.

Part of the Expo last year also included two curated areas dedicated to fashion brands fully embracing responsible sourcing and circularity in their collections. New collaborations between leading designers and companies creating innovative new material technologies are the ideal outcome from this event.

Suzanne Plunkett /The Sustainable Angle

The event will take place from the 29th-30th January 2020 at Victoria House, Bloomsbury Square, London. Ticket registration for designers and brands can be found here.

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