Today, we have a much more dangerous and insidious enemy because it is invisible to the human eye, and I am talking about microplastics. They are everywhere: in the food we eat, in the air we breathe. I read about recent studies where their presence has been detected in the placenta, even if minimal. This is a huge alarm bell, which should make us jump out of our chairs, because it is a tangible sign that we are causing irreparable damage to future generations. Not just the place they have to live in, but the most precious thing we have: their very health from before they open their eyes.

This is a big issue, and the starting point is a better understanding. To do so, I defer to science. I had an exchange on the matter with the STIIMA research institute in Biella (Italy), and with [engineering group] Pangea, a company that also conducted some interesting tests in Centro Tessile Cotoniero of Busto Arsizio. The outcome was that the fabric woven with filament polyester releases six times less microplastics compared to a fabric woven with staple polyester.

Considering that washing clothes releases half a million tons of plastic microfibres into the ocean every year, equivalent to more than 50 billion plastic bottles, it is clear that at the industrial stage, we can already start to significantly decrease this huge amount, choosing the filament polyester. Having specific filters in every domestic washing machine would also help catch microplastics.

The second big issue is waste. Every second, the equivalent of one garbage truck of textiles is landfilled or burned and only 1% of the global textile production is recycled. Today, not only can we transform waste into different garments, but there are beautiful creative solutions to turn your garments into chairs, tables, Ipad cases, shopping bags (Denim X), even dyestuffs (Officina+39)… 

To address the waste issue, the designer, but also the producer, must take responsibility for the product – a responsibility that involves not only the production phases but also how that product will be marketed, shipped, how long and how it will be used and, very importantly, disposed of. All garments should be made to be easily recyclable once the customer want to get rid of them – the less fibres in the composition, the better (especially if synthetic) and made with detachable buttons. But the bottom line is that people must buy less, and things must be designed to be durable.

How does your background as a chemist influence how you work?

“Nothing is created, nothing is destroyed, and everything is transformed.” Since the first time I heard it, it has never left me. To have a chemical background has significantly influenced the way I looked at things and especially in 2011, when Greenpeace launched its Detox campaign, my first reaction was to subscribe to a local group in Verona to see if what they were claiming was true. I realised that there were professional chemists making the analysis. I used lots of chemicals when working for industrial laundries for the first eight years of my professional life, so I knew that what they were talking about was true. To see that people outside of the business were fighting against it was an alarm bell for me, something in my head started to work differently. This experience inside Greenpeace was a starting point to address the matter, unconsciously. In 2012, Wrangler, the brand I was working for at that time, presented on catwalk the first six washes realised with ozone, a technology that helped to reduce the amount of water (the third excessively big issue), energy and chemicals used.

All life-sustaining processes are based on chemical reactions, and I think that the wonder is often happening in chemical and research laboratories. The research starts from curiosity, which leads us to ask questions in the form of experiments. The knowledge that comes from the results of the experiments often leads to other, deeper questions, which lead to new experiments, new knowledge and new wonder. Every scientific discovery generates more questions than it answers and this extremely fascinating side of it is what made me progress and I still adopt “a scientific approach” to textiles.

You worked as a denim finishing specialist at Wrangler for 10 years. Can you tell us any highlights of that time, and how it led to your current role as a sustainability consultant?

During my experience in Wrangler, there were two main projects that were thrilling for me to guide. One was “Denim performance” and was about the application of technical fibres to improve body thermoregulation (Coolmax and Thermolite from The Lycra Company). I worked very closely with The Lycra Company and Arvind Mills, which engineered the fabric. What we discovered, during the many lab tests, was that the garment was not only wicking moisture away (as claimed by the supplier) but was also drying faster, and the jean was pleasantly lighter. Those characteristics helped us create great “traveller jeans” for Wrangler customers.

A second challenging project, Denim Spa, came from an idea to the challenge the “masculine” perception that people had towards the Wrangler woman stereotype. It was about the application of three different products. The moisturising properties came from natural oils and butters: hazelnut oil, oil extracted from passion fruit and that of rose hips, mixed with shea butter and Tahitian monoi, a Polynesian ingredient made with flower buds of tiara and coconut oil.

The reason I am mentioning those two projects is that they were not only a positive achievement in terms of final product, but that nobody believed in ‘performance denim’ at the start. The main reasons for this were that communication with suppliers, considering distances (one in the US, one in Belgium and one in India) was often challenging, and that there were many technical rules to follow, especially at the washing stage, to keep the fibre performing. The result of all this was it made me confident that collaborations between many different companies are possible, and therefore we have no reasons to not switch to circularity.

With Denim Spa, the cost of the cosmetic chemical products was challenging, with specific margins. But the precise work made to discuss each cent, where it could be saved, going through even custom clearance total shipping costs of the products, helped us reach the target. The project was explained in detail to all stakeholders (mill, garment maker, chemical supplier) to gain their support on lowering their margins, together with the brand, to get the products on the shelf. It was a massive effort from everyone. At the end we succeeded, and this was due to the transparency, they had to openly communicate their costs (and I use the word ‘transparency’ carefully; today it is clearly needed at every level).

I cannot explain the feeling when going to the laundry that applied the treatment on the jeans - the smell of Tahitian monoi was everywhere. I can assure you that normally laundries do not smell that  good! This convinced me it was time for “gentle chemistry”. Some of the great people I had the pleasure of working with include Ogun Sefer, Semih Aksakal, Cem Baciram, Nevzat Kaya, Asli Akinturk…and I could mention many more.

You have worked as a lecturer on fashion courses. What are the most important lessons you teach young people about the industry?

To students, I recommend looking at companies and people with eyes wide open. To be empathic, to stay human and talk to people from the management to the workers, and watch how they move on the floor. I also instil that this is a specific period in the history, where they have the wonderful opportunity to reshape their future as they imagine, and to attempt to reset the rules, because now, the few we have are under discussion. I make sure they deeply understand that knowledge is what gives the power to break pre-existing schemes, and they should not be afraid to do so. They must  stay true to themselves, as any battle they chose to fight will strongly represent who they are. And then I talk about responsible chemistry, transparency, recycling processes, ozone treatment…etc.

What are you most proud of in your career?

This question is the most difficult one for me to answer, as the project I am really proud of is the next one, and there are quite a few starting to take an interesting shape. But the one that has been meaningful for me, amongst all, is the experiments with ozone technology I started in 2011.

It was during a call with the R&D manager of a laundry in Turkey, where he told me that ozone was more powerful at degrading indigo on wet areas of garments, that I asked to spray some denim fabrics with water (instead of using potassium permanganate, as we normally used to). When I saw the positive result, during a trip to Turkey, I still remember the sense of “discovery” I felt and the indescribable joy and excitement running through my body.

This intuition led the management of the laundry in Turkey (a property of VF at that time) to go deeper in testing and trials, and the outcome in terms of water, energy and costs saved was impressive. This resulted in a significant change for the operations, and they brought the project to Greensboro, at Wrangler’s headquarters, and they got funds to invest in ozone machinery.

What are your hopes for the denim (or fashion) industry in the future?

That inclusivity will take the place of the egocentric attitude and accept the fact that nature’s rules are the fundamental ones to respect. I dream of a future where we will select raw materials according to rhythm of nature, allowing farmers to have a proper rotation to be able to replenish the nutritive elements to soil.

Designers will select fibres according to “seasonal availability”, like we do when shopping for food. I see a lot of connections with food industry: fibres made from orange waste (Orange Fiber), vegetable leather made from pineapple (Pinatex), dyestuffs made of organic raw materials that are fully compostable (Tonello’s Wake) or achieved from leaves or nut shells (Archroma’s Earth Colors). This will allow the industry to embrace the cradle-to-cradle kind of approach, that guides through a continual improvement process and looks at a product through material health; material reutilisation; renewable energy and carbon management; water stewardship and social fairness. One of the garments’ disposal options should be to use it as fertilizer (Candiani’s Coreva). I believe it is coherent with our life, with the fact that we also go back to ground at the end; things should not be made to survive to us, but to transform and support the life cycle in a natural and harmonic way.

Dalia Benefatto is the founder of Devalia, a consultancy that offers a scientific approach to the textile industry, collaborating with research institutes. She works both for industrial laundries and for clothing brands, including Wrangler. She also consults in recycling, transparency and traceability procedures and lectures on sustainable fashion course Out Of Fashion at the Gianfranco Ferrè Foundation in Italy.