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Chennai
August 20, 2025
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Special Feature

Fashion, fibers and farming – steps to sustainability

As sustainability becomes a central concern not just for agriculture but also for consumers, a new “farm to wardrobe” movement is developing.

The fashion industry is responsible for 10% of the global annual carbon footprint, and fast fashion contributes 35% of the microplastics polluting our oceans. Wearing sustainable clothes from wool, flax, hemp, and leather could become as everyday as buying free-range eggs, something which just a few decades ago was a niche part of egg production.

Fashion helps us to confirm who we are, how we feel and what we value. It’s about personal and group identity, and there is a growing movement among consumers against fast fashion and a turn towards quality and longevity.

Wool’s credentials as an eco-friendly material – breathable and biodegradable, and offering insulation and resilience – ensure that it is increasingly the choice of many clothing makers. British farmers, textile producers, designers and eco-conscious consumers are joining forces to create a local fashion supply chain, from field to fabric to finished garment.

Beyond environmental benefits, the movement supports rural economies, preserves heritage crafts, and promotes supply chain transparency.  For farmers, it introduces new markets and adds value to traditional outputs. As interest in provenance and sustainability deepens, farm to wardrobe offers an opportunity to reimagine British fashion from the soil up.

This also fits in well with a younger generation of farmers succeeding to their family businesses and bringing in approaches that show a raised  awareness of health, the environment, and wellbeing. In this growing movement, designers aren’t just end users of materials, they are facilitators, educators and collaborators, working to bring natural British fibers back into fashion.

All these efforts, across wool and leather, education and product development, share a common thread: they are producer and designer-led responses to a system in need of change. These innovators are creating guides, platforms, partnerships, public showcases, and educational initiatives that support and celebrate British-grown fibers.

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