The nonprofit Think Thank Material Innovation (MII) recently published a report titled “What Makes Silk, Silk?” Revisited 2023”, which explores the unique properties and innovation possibilities of silk. It also highlights key opportunities and challenges to inspire a new generation of scientists and entrepreneurs to develop next-generation high-performance, luxurious and sustainable silk materials.
While silk is favored by the fashion industry due to its strong properties, recent discoveries about its large environmental footprint, human rights violations and animal welfare concerns have inspired scientists and innovators to develop a new generation of silk fabrics that match silk’s unique properties, without harming the planet or its inhabitants.
“Fashion designers like to use silk. It is one of the most luxurious and oldest textile fibers, and its smooth, uninterrupted filament gives silk yarn some unique properties such as strength, elasticity and resistance to pilling. “However, the silk industry accelerates climate change and environmental degradation, relies on inhumane and unsustainable animal farming practices, and provides little protection for workers in processing plants,” summarizes Thomasine Dolan Dow, MII’s director of materials innovation and design, in a press release.
Next-gen silk can circumvent animal welfare and environmental issues
“Popular synthetic alternatives to silk such as polyester and nylon contain microplastics that accumulate and persist in ecosystems for hundreds of years. Next-gen materials are a solution to these problems, and it is very exciting to see so many innovators developing next-gen silk,” adds Dolan Dow.
So the report aims to shed light on important questions, such as what makes silk so special, how the composition, structure, properties and performance of silk make it the luxurious fiber we know today and, most importantly, how we can imitate or recreate silk, without using animal or petrochemicals.
The report also examines the key challenges and opportunities in developing next-gen silk as well as existing innovative companies such as Alt Tex, AMSilk, Circ, Eastman Naia, Ettitude, Kintra Fibers, Lenzing, Nanollose, Orange Fiber, Renewcell, Rubi Laboratories, Spidey Tek, Spiber and Tandem Repeat.
“In our report, we make the connection so that next-generation silk innovation can meet the needs of the fashion industry and beyond. We are already seeing some promising innovations in this area, and our goal with this report is to inspire a new generation of scientists and entrepreneurs to develop next-generation high-performance, luxurious and sustainable silk materials,” explains Nicole Rawling, CEO and Co-founder of MII.
In addition to the report, which can be downloaded from the MII website, the organization is hosting an exclusive webinar on January 31st where three innovators from Kintra Fibers, AMSilk and Circ will explain key findings.