Towards a Life-Conducive System Reset for Textile Colouring

How can new bio-informed textile colouring practices participate in the process of regenerating our soils, our oceans and our biodiversity? We are on the cusp of a colour revolution in the textile sector. Two key factors are driving this change. First the relatively recent emergence of biodesign – the integration of biological tools in the design process – is expanding our approach to colouring textiles. Secondly, an increased understanding of the environmental impact of the fashion and textile industry is fast stimulating radical innovations. There is a rise in start- ups developing disruptive nature-positive colourants made with microbes, algae and biomass waste. Whilst for millenia, we have solely relied on using natural ingredients derived from plants, minerals, soil, metals and insects to pattern fabrics, the twentieth century advancement in oil-based chemistry has established the prevalence of synthetic dyes harmful to life. Today a whole new landscape of possibilities is opening up with the development of alternative bio-informed dye technologies. Some of these techniques rely on fermentation, bio-assemblage or bio-engineering. Understanding their ecological contribution and limitation is critical in the context of our planetary emergency. This chapter proposes a framework centered on living systems thinking to position bio-colouring processes in relation to life-conducive environmental and ethical principles.

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