The fashion industry has experienced a huge transformation recently and moved towards more ethical and environmentally friendly practices in clothing production. As consumers increasingly prioritise sustainable choices, an important question emerges: how sustainable is knitting?
Cutting down on unnecessary sample-making
According to Medium, sustainable knitwear is tipped to become the future of the fashion industry as consumers have become fed up with the negative impact of fast fashion on the environment.
A common problem in the fashion world is having too many samples. In the knitwear industry, this means creating lots of physical samples to perfect designs, resulting in a large pile of leftover materials. This contributes to a larger ecological footprint and a lot of waste.
By embracing digital technologies, fashion brands can limit the quantity of physical samples manufactured and thereby reduce waste. Now a product like a fisher man sweater can be designed, shared and viewed digitally without a sample being created. Designers can try out different patterns, textures, and colours on the computer, helping them refine their designs before making the real product.
Sustainable materials
In eco-friendly knitwear production, the focus is on using natural and organic materials. Technology has helped to create new, eco-friendly material options for knitwear, like organic cotton, recycled polyester, and fibres that break down naturally.
Organic cotton, produced without harmful chemicals and pesticides, minimises environmental damage, whereas recycled polyester repurposes and reuses old products such as discarded plastic bottles to create new fashion pieces. Now you can purchase a knitted turtleneck or a fisherman sweater that has been crafted from sustainable materials through environmentally friendly processes.
The knitwear industry has the potential to lead the charge towards a more sustainable future in fashion by embracing more environmentally friendly materials in its manufacturing processes. The fisherman sweater, a classic fashion piece, is a great example of how this industry can contribute to sustainability. By crafting fisherman’s sweaters from eco-friendly materials and reducing unnecessary sample production, knitwear brands can set a positive example and inspire the broader fashion industry to follow suit in the pursuit of a more environmentally responsible future.
