New Sustainability Series: return of traditional methods within textile coloration
The sixth and final webinar in the SDC’s new Sustainability Series, themed ‘Natural dyes and alternative dyes’ has taken place.
The session highlighted the return of traditional methods within textile coloration, as well as the benefits they bring to tackle the negative environmental impact caused by current dyeing methods.
The expert speakers for webinar six were Jackie Andrews-Udall of Sustainable Fashion Strategies and Dyer’s Circle; and Jessica Giannotti, founder of Crùbag. The session was chaired by Dr Mohsin of the Department of Textile Engineering at UET, Lahore.
Both speakers highlighted the importance of collaboration, to build momentum around building a more sustainable future, and for these processes to become a bulk production reality, from both a design and application sense, but also from a supply perspective. They both shared how their work aligns with UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Jackie is a sustainable textile consultant. A qualified textile designer and engineer, she has worked for many luxury brands, textile mills, academic institutions, and governmental organisations.
She set up the Dyers’ Circle in late 2020 to promote regenerative and botanical methods of dyeing, and to investigate if we could avoid petrochemicals, their toxic effluent and still dye with colour.
Jackie highlighted that every ancient civilization developed its own dyed textiles using botanicals. She shared details of their practice-based research, combining design anthropology and work to find contemporary botanical dye solutions.
It is a collective hub, with the aim to bring together a community of colourists and dyers, as well as historians, designers and all those who work with dyed fabric, and those who specify and commission coloured cloth.
Her presentation included a matrix for botanical dyes, showing both the positive and negative environmental and social impacts. She also discussed how they meet UN Sustainable Development Goals. She highlighted that there needs to be a minimum standard for natural dyeing if it is to be scaled up.
Jessica, an Italo-Venezuelan living in Scotland, has a background in marine science and entrepreneurship. She founded Crùbag in 2013, after completing her studies in marine science in Scotland.
Based by the sea in Argyll, she explained how this interdisciplinary textile design studio and materials innovation lab create textiles from seaweed and algae. They create colourful textiles that communicate the beauty and importance of the ocean.
She talked about SEADYES™, an exciting project by the Scottish Association for Marine Science in partnership with Crùbag Ocean Futures Lab. This explores the use of seaweed as a sustainable feedstock for dye extraction and application in the textile industry: for screening, extraction, and dyeing. She showed examples of the dye and textiles created.
If you missed the sixth webinar in our new Sustainability Series and would like to watch it, you can access the recordings, free of charge here.