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Material guide

Sixteen materials, and why we chose each one

Where each one comes from, why it’s lower-impact, how it feels, what it’s best for — and the trade-off we haven’t solved yet. Every claim is numbered to a source at the bottom of the page.

Plant-based

Grown in fields and spun from plant fibre. Undyed and unblended, all three return to the soil.

3 materials · 2 in the first collection

Organic cotton

GOTSBiodegradable

In the first collection

Where it comes from

Cotton grown from non-GMO seed without synthetic pesticides or fertilisers, certified from farm to finished fabric. Indonesia grows less than 1% of the cotton its mills use1, so ours is imported from GOTS-certified growers in India.

Why it’s lower-impact

GOTS requires certified organic fibre and restricts the chemicals used in spinning, dyeing and finishing.2

How it feels

Soft and breathable; softens further with washing.

Best for

T-shirts, underwear, everyday shirting.

The trade-off

Still thirsty where it’s irrigated, and yields are lower than conventional cotton, so it needs more land.

Linen

OEKO-TEX®Biodegradable

In the first collection

Where it comes from

Flax grown along the coast from Caen to Amsterdam: France, Belgium and the Netherlands produce three-quarters of the world’s long flax fibre.3

Why it’s lower-impact

Grown without irrigation, barring exceptional circumstances, with a reasoned use of fertilisers and pesticides. It’s retted by dew in the field, not in water, and the fibre is separated mechanically.3

How it feels

Crisp at first, cool in the heat, softer with every wash.

Best for

Shirts, overshirts, trousers, dresses.

The trade-off

Creases easily — and it travels far: about 20,000 km by road and sea to reach Bandung. The Field Overshirt’s page shows every step.

Hemp

OEKO-TEX®Biodegradable

On hold until importing it is legally confirmed

Where it comes from

A fast-growing bast fibre from the stalk of the plant. Indonesian law lists every part of every cannabis plant, hemp included, as a Group I narcotic4 — so it can’t be grown here, and we won’t import it until we have written legal confirmation that we can.

Why it’s lower-impact

It needs far less irrigation than cotton — 84% less, by one 2023 review of 28 studies.5

How it feels

Sturdy and canvas-like; softens a lot with wear.

Best for

Chore jackets, workwear, bags.

The trade-off

Rough on its own and grown in small volumes, so it costs more than cotton. And until the legal route is clear, it stays out of our collections.

Wood-based

Cellulose from certified or controlled forests, dissolved and spun into smooth, fluid fibres.

3 materials · 2 in the first collection

TENCEL™ Lyocell

FSC® / PEFC™ woodBiodegradable fibre

In the first collection

Where it comes from

Wood pulp from certified (FSC® or PEFC™) or controlled forests, made into fibre by Lenzing.6

Why it’s lower-impact

Made in a closed-loop process that, according to Lenzing, recovers more than 99.8% of the solvent used to dissolve the pulp.6

How it feels

Smooth, cool and fluid; drapes well and resists creasing.

Best for

Trousers, shirts, dresses.

The trade-off

Closed-loop isn’t zero impact: making pulp and fibre still takes energy and chemicals.

TENCEL™ Modal

FSC® / PEFC™ woodBiodegradable fibre

Approved — for later collections

Where it comes from

Pulp from certified or controlled forests, made into fibre by Lenzing in a modified viscose process with high recovery rates of chemicals.6

Why it’s lower-impact

Traceable wood sources, and a fibre that Lenzing says keeps fabrics soft even after repeated washing — so pieces last.6

How it feels

Silky-soft and cool to the touch, wash after wash.

Best for

Long-sleeves, loungewear, underwear.

The trade-off

Less structured than lyocell, and often blended with elastane elsewhere, which blocks recycling. Ours won’t be.

LENZING™ ECOVERO™

EU EcolabelFSC® / PEFC™ woodBiodegradable fibre

In the first collection

Where it comes from

Viscose made by Lenzing from wood from certified or controlled sources.7

Why it’s lower-impact

At least 50% less water and at least 50% lower carbon emissions than generic viscose, according to Lenzing’s life-cycle data, and certified with the EU Ecolabel.7

How it feels

Fluid and light, with a soft sheen.

Best for

Dresses, blouses, linings.

The trade-off

Still viscose chemistry — better, not perfect. Weaker when wet, so it needs a gentle wash.

Recycled

Made from waste — bottles, nets, offcuts and old clothes — instead of new raw material.

4 materials · 4 in the first collection

Recycled polyester

GRSTake-back & recycle

In the first collection

Where it comes from

Post-consumer PET bottles, cleaned, shredded and re-spun into fibre.

Why it’s lower-impact

Uses waste as its raw material instead of new fossil oil. GRS certifies the recycled content and every step of its chain of custody.8

How it feels

Light, quick-drying, warm when brushed into fleece.

Best for

Fleece, linings, outerwear.

The trade-off

Sheds microfibres in the wash, so every fleece comes with a wash bag. Bottle-to-fibre is a one-way trip, not a closed loop.

ECONYL® nylon

RegeneratedTake-back & recycle

In the first collection

Where it comes from

Nylon waste — fishing nets, fabric scraps, carpet flooring and industrial plastic — regenerated by Aquafil.9

Why it’s lower-impact

Aquafil reports 74% lower CO₂ emissions than its own standard, oil-based nylon (cradle to gate, per kilo of polymer, in a third-party-verified LCA).9

How it feels

Smooth, strong and very light.

Best for

Shells, swimwear, bags.

The trade-off

Still a synthetic: it sheds microfibres and can only be recycled through specialist schemes.

Recycled cotton

GRSBiodegradable

In the first collection

Where it comes from

Cutting-room offcuts and worn-out cotton clothes, shredded back into fibre. We want ours to start as offcuts from Bandung’s own workshops.

Why it’s lower-impact

No new cotton is grown for it. GRS certifies the recycled content.8

How it feels

Slightly textured and heathered; canvas-like when woven tight.

Best for

Chore jackets, sweatshirts, denim.

The trade-off

Recycling shortens the fibre, so it’s blended with longer fibres for strength. We’ll list the exact percentage on every piece.

Recycled wool

GRSTake-back & recycle

In the first collection

Where it comes from

Old knitwear and offcuts, sorted by colour and re-spun — a long-standing craft in Prato, Italy.

Why it’s lower-impact

No new fleece is needed, and sorting by colour means the yarn isn’t dyed again. GRS certifies the recycled content.8

How it feels

Warm, slightly rustic and hard-wearing.

Best for

Coats, heavy knits, blankets.

The trade-off

Usually blended with a little nylon for strength, which makes it harder to recycle a second time.

Responsible animal fibres

Wool, alpaca and silk from certified sources that audit animal welfare and land management.

3 materials · 2 in the first collection

RWS & ZQ wool

RWSZQBiodegradable

In the first collection

Where it comes from

Merino and other wool from farms certified to the Responsible Wool Standard or ZQ, in Australia and New Zealand.

Why it’s lower-impact

RWS prohibits mulesing and audits animal welfare and land management on the farm.10 ZQ, from New Zealand’s Zentera Wool Company, certifies wool grown with care for animals, land and people.11

How it feels

Warm, breathable and naturally odour-resistant, so it needs washing less.

Best for

Sweaters, base layers, socks.

The trade-off

Sheep produce methane, so wool’s footprint per kilo is high. It only makes sense if it’s worn for years.

Alpaca

RASBiodegradable

In the first collection

Where it comes from

Fleece from alpacas in the Peruvian Andes, certified to the Responsible Alpaca Standard.12

Why it’s lower-impact

RAS audits animal welfare and land management, and follows the fibre from the herd to the finished yarn.12

How it feels

Light, very warm and silky, with no lanolin.

Best for

Cardigans, scarves, coats.

The trade-off

Delicate to wash and slow to produce — which is why we only make it to order.

Peace silk

Supplier-auditedBiodegradable

Approved — for later collections

Where it comes from

Cocoons from which the moth is allowed to emerge before the silk is spun, from northeast India.

Why it’s lower-impact

No silkworms are killed: the fibre is spun from opened cocoons rather than reeled from whole ones.

How it feels

Matte, softly textured and warm against the skin.

Best for

Camisoles, shirts, scarves.

The trade-off

“Peace silk” isn’t a regulated term, so we’ll rely on supplier audits. It’s also less lustrous, and costs more.

Leather alternatives

Plant- and fungi-based materials in place of animal hide — each with an honest note on what holds it together.

3 materials · 1 in the first collection

Piñatex®

By-product fibreTake-back only

On hold: its maker is in administration

Where it comes from

Fibre from pineapple leaves — a by-product of the pineapple harvest in the Philippines — made into a non-woven by Ananas Anam.13

Why it’s lower-impact

Puts leaves that would otherwise be left to rot or burned to use, in place of animal hide or a fully fossil-based synthetic.13

How it feels

Textured and flexible; a little papery when new, softer with use.

Best for

Small goods, bags, trims.

The trade-off

Not biodegradable: the pineapple-leaf base is bound with PLA and coated. And supply is in doubt — Ananas Anam’s UK company has been in administration since August 202514, so we won’t plan on it until that’s resolved.

Mycelium leather

Grown, not farmedTake-back only

Approved — for later collections

Where it comes from

Grown from mycelium — the root network of fungi — in weeks rather than years. One of the few makers in the world, MYCL, grows its Mylea material in Bandung itself.15

Why it’s lower-impact

No livestock involved, and it grows indoors on sawdust and other crop waste.15

How it feels

Supple, from suede-like to smooth depending on the finish.

Best for

Belts, card holders, trims.

The trade-off

Early-stage, small-volume and costly: Bolt Threads paused its mycelium leather, Mylo, in 2023 after failing to fund a scale-up.16 We’ll publish each supplier’s full composition, finishing coat included.

Cactus leather

Perennial cropTake-back only

In the first collection

Where it comes from

Nopal (prickly-pear) cactus grown in Mexico, made into material by Desserto®.17

Why it’s lower-impact

According to Desserto, only mature leaves are cut, so the same plants keep growing, and the cactus isn’t irrigated.17

How it feels

Soft, with a leather-like grain.

Best for

Totes, wallets, shoe uppers.

The trade-off

Only partly biodegradable, because it’s bound with polyurethane — so we treat it as take-back only. It’s why our cactus tote scores a D.17

What we leave out

Materials we don’t use

Not because they’re always worse, but because we can’t trace them well enough to stand behind them.

  • Conventional cotton
  • Virgin polyester & nylon
  • Generic viscose
  • Animal leather, fur & down

Sources

Where every claim on this page comes from

Manufacturer figures are the manufacturer’s own claims, cited as such. Text with a dashed underline is a planned origin, confirmed when our supplier certificates are published before launch.

Textile Exchange is folding the Global Recycled, Responsible Wool and Responsible Alpaca standards into its new Materials Matter Standard, mandatory from the end of 2027. The mulesing ban carries over; we’ll update these labels as our suppliers move across.

  1. 1USDA Foreign Agricultural Service — Indonesia: Cotton and Products Annual (ID2025-0017) (2025).
  2. 2Global Organic Textile Standard (Global Standard gGmbH) — GOTS — how the system works.
  3. 3Alliance for European Flax-Linen & Hemp — All about European linen, and key figures (2023 data) (2023).
  4. 4Republic of Indonesia — Law No. 35 of 2009 on Narcotics (UU 35/2009) (2009).
  5. 5Wise et al., Journal of Agrometeorology 25(3) — Comparative study of water requirements and water footprints of fibre crops hemp and cotton (2023).
  6. 6Lenzing AG — TENCEL™ sustainability: Lyocell and Modal fibres.
  7. 7Lenzing AG — LENZING™ ECOVERO™ fibres.
  8. 8Textile Exchange — Global Recycled Standard.
  9. 9Aquafil — Life Cycle Assessment data for ECONYL® polymer (third-party verified) (2025).
  10. 10Textile Exchange — Quick Guide to the Responsible Wool Standard (2019).
  11. 11ISEAL — Zentera Wool Company (ZQ and ZQ+), formerly The New Zealand Merino Company (2026).
  12. 12Textile Exchange — Responsible Alpaca Standard.
  13. 13Ananas Anam — About Piñatex®.
  14. 14FashionUnited — Textile innovator Piñatex heading for liquidation (2025).
  15. 15Asia Media Centre — From fungi to fashion: how Indonesia’s MYCL is turning mushrooms into leather (2026).
  16. 16FashionUnited — When change slows down (Bolt Threads pauses Mylo) (2023).
  17. 17Desserto® — Cactus-based material information.