When Food Became Fashion. Is Your Outfit Made From Corn or Crude Oil?

The fashion industry has made huge strides to address its environmental impact but mainstream media focus has often been fast fashion, clothing manufacturing and human rights. While glossy campaigns tout conscious collections and earth tones, the lesser known challenge is a fibre problem. Most clothes are still made from synthetic materials derived from fossil fuels or water-intensive crops like cotton. The underlying fabric hasn’t actually changed much, until recent years.

Recently, PANGAIA, the materials science company-slash-fashion brand, has just launched its most advanced plant-based activewear to date: the 365 Seamless Activewear collection. It marks the commercial debut of a new bio-based elastane called regen™ BIO Max, an innovation made from mostly agricultural feedstocks, like industrial corn, developed by fibre specialists Hyosung. Combined with EVO® Nylon derived from castor beans, the range is then finished with the brand’s signature peppermint oil treatment to reduce odour and washing frequency. The new range shows that sustainable fashion is finally growing up – not just in ethos, but also in engineering.

And yet, it’s taken decades for these kinds of materials to make it to market. Why?

The Fabric of Fashion Wasn’t Built to Change

Despite Fashion’s reputation for reinvention, the industry supply chain is notoriously rigid. Most clothing garments still rely on conventional cotton, polyester, and elastane– materials that are cheap, scalable, and readily available across global manufacturing networks.

Polyester alone accounts for over 50% of global fibre production. Sure, it’s durable– but derived from petroleum. Traditional elastane (also known as Spandex) is also energy-intensive to produce and non-biodegradable. These materials linger in landfill long after their athleisure lifecycle has ended. Cotton, although natural, isn’t entirely a get-out-of-jail-free card either. Cotton is thirsty, chemically intensive and contributes to pesticide runoff in many parts of the world.

More importantly, all of these materials are deeply embedded within the industry and across all of it’s major players. This is the backdrop against which alternative materials have struggled to gain traction. Like many young businesses, promising innovations often stalled at the intersection of cost, consistency, and scale. Many were relegated to the realm of fashion experiments or future-gazing lookbooks – merely a marketing campaign for some brands looking to greenwash some of their impact.

The Innovation Inflection Point

So why are we seeing a shift now? The turning point is perhaps less about tech breakthroughs and more about mindset shifts. As climate risk becomes more urgent and regulatory scrutiny gets tighter, brands are under pressure to think beyond a one-off planet-friendly product and tackle their upstream impact. Consumers, too, are asking smarter questions: not just where a garment is made, but what it’s made of and how.

Patrick Baptista Pinto, Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree and cofounder of Really Clever, a company developing sustainable biomaterials from fungi and among the first globally to build a pilot factory says:

“We’re seeing a real shift in the market—brands are no longer just looking for leather alternatives, but for biomaterials that can replace synthetic materials more broadly. With the consistent stream of research highlighting the harm microplastics have on our health, there’s growing urgency to find better solutions.”

Inbound demand from consumers and brands is one thing, but perhaps the most crucial change is that new material innovators are finally delivering on functionality without compromise. They look, feel and perform just as well as the legacy materials – not just for consumers but from a commercial standpoint too.

“With the completion of our pilot factory earlier this year, we’ve met key industry standards and reached price parity with synthetics in select product categories,” continues Pinto, “This puts us in a strong position to help drive systemic change across the materials industry.”

PANGAIA: A Brand Built on Materials First

PANGAIA’s strength lies in its R&D-forward model. It’s not a fashion brand dabbling in green—it’s positioned as a materials science company with a fashion arm. By working directly with fibre manufacturers, it brings some more scientific rigour to what is often a superficial space.

Their model is also clear: develop innovative materials, validate performance and environmental impact, and then bring them to market in wearable, design-led formats. Although some industry voices argue PANGAIA’s narrative veers into marketing gloss, this approach has earned them a loyal following and positioned them as a quiet leader in textile innovation.

What sets this new collection apart is how seamlessly (pun intended) it blends performance with planet and without slipping into the tired tropes of ‘eco fashion’. No hemp-heavy silhouettes. No guilt-ridden greenwashing. Just well-designed activewear that happens to be better for the planet.

The Mainstream is Catching Up, Slowly

PANGAIA may be leading the charge, but it’s not alone. Alternative materials are showing up across the consumer landscape.

Stella McCartney was an early mover in mycelium leather, debuting mushroom-based Mylo handbags. Ganni has experimented with grape leather and even Hermès has quietly tested lab-grown materials. Their participation is proof that innovation isn’t just for disruptors. In footwear, brands like Vivobarefoot have introduced a range of supernatural materials from micro algae, banana fibre and seashell waste. Patagonia’s biobased wetsuits and Levi’s hemp-blended denim also signal some much needed change within the performance and heritage categories too.

What these examples show is that the idea of “alternative materials” is becoming less fringe, and more foundational.

But We’re Not There Yet

Despite the promise, adoption is far from widespread. Most alternative materials still account for less than 1% of the market. Costs remain hig and certifications are patchy. Ultimately, any meaningful scale requires buy-in from the biggest players—not just disruptive start-ups and independent eco-friendly businesses.

There’s also a branding problem. Many consumers still equate “plant-based” with weak performance or scratchy textures. There’s work to be done in rebranding these innovations and positioning them as upgrades, not compromises.

That’s where the storytelling comes in. Brands like PANGAIA are helping to rewrite the narrative—not by dumbing down science, but by making it wearable, desirable and emotionally resonant. They’ve shown that you don’t have to choose between function and ethics or between good looks and good impact.

The Next Material Revolution

If we want fashion to become truly sustainable, we need more than recycled polyester and organic cotton on our shop shelves. We need a reinvention of the very fibres we have come to rely upon.

That reinvention is finally underway but it won’t be fast. It requires long-term investment, system-wide collaboration, and a willingness to rethink what “normal” looks like in fashion. Brands need to back innovation but also educate their communities on why it matters. Investors need to back brands doing their bit to make systemic change.

Consumers (and the communities they make) have more power than they realise. Every purchase is a vote for the type of future we want to wear. Every voice on social media is an amplification of what’s important.

PANGAIA’s latest drop isn’t just another collection—it’s a signal. A signal that material innovation has matured and that alternatives are here. A signal that the fabric of fashion itself might finally be ready to change.