Shopper demand grows amid microplastic issues

From natural cotton to cashmere, most fashionable shoppers search out natural fibres as markers of style and eco-consciousness. But there’s one class the place pure fibres may be arduous to return by: activewear.

Byron Bay designer Laura May co-founded Nagnata in 2015 after struggling to seek out non-synthetic garments to train in.

“There weren’t many brands in the activewear space that worked with any form of organic or natural fibres. There was organic cotton … but it wasn’t really in performance wear – it didn’t offer compression, and stylistically, it just wasn’t really what I wanted to wear,” she says.

Knowing wool has many pure properties – odour resistance, temperature regulation and fast drying – that make it nicely suited to activewear, May reached out to international wool authority Woolmark for assist in growing a seamless merino product that would mimic the stretchy qualities of synthetics.

More than a decade on, Nagnata has develop into one in all Australia’s hottest high-end activewear strains. Yet it stays an outlier in its use of pure fibres.

Before the mainstream adoption of Lycra (or Spandex, each model names for elastane) within the Eighties by means of leggings and leotards, what individuals wore to train was much less outlined. In the Twenties, for instance, feminine tennis gamers favoured free cotton clothes or separates.

Fast-forward to 2026, and train put on – a billion-dollar class in itself – can really feel just like the final frontier of the style business’s sustainability push, though slowly, manufacturers like Nagnata are main the change.

Trend forecaster Tully Walter sees rising shopper urge for food for “natural” activewear as pushed by sustainability issues in addition to “rising plastic and petrochemical anxiety”.

As media headlines round microplastics and documentaries like Netflix’s The Plastic Detox gas fears round what the tiny particles are doing to our our bodies (though the science on the health impacts is still young), shoppers have gotten extra acutely aware about what they put inside and out of doors their our bodies.

“What’s interesting about activewear is it’s a marketplace synonymous with health and wellbeing,” says Walter, making the patron ripe for “plastic-free” choices.

Broader developments, like Gen Z’s disdain for the “homogenised aesthetic” of activewear (learn: Millennials’ uniform of black leggings) in favour of substances that displays their character, like vintage athleisure, might also be at play, says Walter.

Upheavals within the trend business might hurry these adjustments alongside. Last week, Lycra filed for bankruptcy, citing decreased demand and competitors from lower-priced, generic opponents. Meanwhile, The Business of Fashion has reported that the worsening oil shock might elevate the price of artificial fibres, which, in fact, come from fossil fuels.

Dr Nga Wun Li, a trend and textiles researcher on the University of Technology Sydney, says the largest benefit of artificial fibres is their limitless adaptability.

“If we want a fabric that’s water-repellent, or rainproof or stretchy, then we can change the shape of the fibre to allow this special function in the fabric,” she says.

While supplies like bamboo or cotton have some elasticity, Li says that is typically not sufficient in comparison with artificial choices.

All the artificial fibres Nagnata does use are recycled, one thing May says was arduous to return by in the beginning. As a small enterprise with finite assets, sourcing one thing like recycled nylon (now pretty frequent) was a ready sport.

“It’s a shame because the companies that can be affording to do this and be innovating in this space – the Nikes, Lululemons – have the money and volume,” she says, explaining a very synthetic-free yarn is the subsequent benchmark to attempt for.

“So, it actually is them that need to make the shift in their supply chain, sourcing and yarn choices because then all the [smaller] brands like ours can tap into that … So that was my pain point from so early on because none of this was accessible to me.”

Slowly, some business massive gamers are catching on, like Lululemon, which final 12 months introduced a partnership with Australian textile firm Samsara Eco to extend their use of recycled fibres.

Dr Lisa Lake, director of UTS’ Centre of Excellence in Sustainable Fashion + Textiles, thinks we’re getting nearer to discovering a plastic-free various to the artificial fibres favoured for activewear.

Work round biosynthetics, created from uncooked supplies like corn and sugarcane, reveals specific promise, she says, though it’s not but clear after they’ll be commercially viable.

May says Nagnata is within the means of growing a seaweed-based textile.

Sydneysider Ellie Tam began activewear model Estroni in the course of the pandemic. While she started with a variety of synthetic-based bodysuits, final 12 months, Tam pivoted to leggings, sports activities bras and bike shorts made primarily from merino wool.

“Figures like Dr Rhonda [Patrick, a biomedical scientist popular on social media], and Bryan Johnson [the American venture capitalist best known for his quest for immortality] are drawing light to these things and the issue of microplastics,” she says of the rebranding.

Most shoppers at present, Tam says, aren’t as acutely aware concerning the plastics of their clothes.

“Like, why isn’t anyone thinking about wearing plastic activewear to a sauna when you’re sweating, when your pores are open, or if you’re going to a hot yoga class?”

Tam factors out that wool has lengthy been favoured by sure athletes, like hikers and skiers, however is just not but synonymous with athleisure.

For Tam, then, a giant a part of the model’s promotion has been round training.

“I used to wear polyester to do hot yoga, and I would think, ‘oh, this is breathable’. But once you wear merino wool, the sweat doesn’t pool against your skin, it is actually absorbed off your skin, and you feel cool. It was a game changer,” she says.

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