DTS22: How Innovative Materials and Sustainable Clothing are a Part of our Tech Future
Dublin Tech Summit returned in-person at the Royal Dublin Society on June 15th and 16th, 2022. This year’s event featured panellists Grace Beverley from TALA, Dr. Amanda Parkes from Pangaia, and moderator Elizabeth Hotson from BBC, who sat down to discuss sustainability in fashion and how the two clothing based brands are moving towards a sustainable future.
TALA is a sustainable, activewear retail brand founded by Grace Beverley, that uses recycled and natural materials. Headquartered in London, Beverley created her company with the mission to make sustainable clothing more accessible to consumers.
Pangaia is a materials science company co-founded by Dr. Amanda Parkes in London. The company’s mission is to produce materials and products that create an Earth-positive future.
How are tech, business, and sustainable apparel linked?
These companies introduce two aspects of sustainability: the science behind it and growing a business around it in the market. The materials used when designing the clothing involve new environmental technologies that are constantly changing and evolving.
- Flowerdown is a biobased fiber created by Pangaia, which is a cruelty-free and environmentally conscious alternative to the harmful materials used in the past. It is produced using a combination of wildflowers, a biopolymer and aerogel.
- C-Fiber is another innovative biobased fiber produced by Pangaia that turns eucalyptus pulp and seaweed powder into material for clothing.
- Organic Cotton is biodegradable and avoids unethical manufacturing practices, such as monocropping.
When dealing with a concept like sustainability and marketing your product to increase sales, there should be conversations with consumers.
- Radical Transparency involves consumers in the conversation by informing them how the products are made, what the science is behind them and why they should choose the sustainable alternative. This is important in starting up a company.
As innovation scales, the price points will come down.
- Accessibility to sustainable materials plays a role in the lack of eco-friendly apparel companies. With that, consumers can be turned off by high pricing points when compared to fast fashion companies. Allowing these materials to be more accessible will grow the market, improve the business models in place, and bring down the costs.
Sustainability is complex, but is a growing economy and allows for new technologies to emerge while simultaneously playing a role in protecting the Earth.
To learn more about sustainability and ethical fashion, you can watch the talk here.
