Global Impact of Textiles
It has been a long known fact that the textile industry has been a major contributor to global pollution for decades now. It is no surprise that some of the textile factories that supply fast-fashion manufacturers are creating an absurd amount of waste and pollution. An article on Sustain Your Style states that the textile industry is the second biggest polluter on our planet, right behind the oil industry. In fact, this article goes into depth on what impacts this industry has on our environment. For example, the usage & dumpage of water used to help dye textiles, cause a large problem in rivers and lakes, as dye tends to leak and leave various chemicals within the water. Sustain Your Style also points out that it takes roughly 20,000 litres of water to produce 1kg of cotton. Larger companies need to start looking for alternatives to start producing textiles in a more sustainable way.
The Story of a Independent Textile Designer
Wendy Mandelbaum is an independent textile designer and owner of Cherry Textiles, which creates beautiful, hand-woven, one-of-a-kind fabrics out of her studio in Toronto. Wendy grew up in and around the Canadian fashion industry all her life, from her father being a big Canadian designer, running a clothing store in downtown Toronto. Her mother, who designed knitwear and worked with her knitting machines, taught her about designing garments, and the construction behind it all. Wendy grew into the family business, as a buyer, searching for new fabrics to create garments out of. Wendy says, from this she discovered her love of textiles and wanted to learn more about the process of designing and creating textiles from scratch. Now she has a studio in downtown Toronto, where she houses four different looms to be woven on, a couple of embroidery machines as well as a few sewing machines. Wendy doesn’t only specialize in creating wonderful textiles, she also has a collection of beautiful garments that she designed, some even made from fabrics that have been woven in her studio. Wendy described many different projects that are currently being worked on such as a scarf for winter weather, a 60’ wide carpet and some tapestry artwork for a synagogue.
Sustainability at Cherry Textiles
It is known that the textile industry has a large negative impact on the environment, but the practices that Wendy uses, set an example of what to do to make textile production more sustainable. Several different projects all run at once in Wendy’s studio, from weaving on the four different looms, to constructing a trench coat, lined with one of the textiles she created, lots of fabric and thread are being used. First off, it’s important to note that large scale textile manufacturing uses very different technology that can be powered on water or electricity which creates tons of emissions and pollution, so by using looms that are mostly powered on labour, there is not a huge carbon footprint being created. Wendy says that projects can take up to months to be completed, because of the labour it takes to weave a certain amount of yards. For sustainability, Wendy states that there are a few things she does to ensure they are not creating tons of waste. Excess thread that has been used in a finished project will be unwound from the purn, and kept on a separate spool, to be used for later. Wendy says that ordering the spools of thread is an important part of making sure the project goes smoothly, so to avoid over-ordering spools, the correct math is done to ensure there will be enough yarns for the warp and the weft.
Any scraps of textiles that won’t be used for a project can be used in any garments that Wendy has designed, whether it’s used for lining or trim. Wendy wants to make sure the future of the fashion industry and her business is more sustainable, and by doing her part, it feels like individuals can make a difference in this industry.
The Future of Cherry Textiles
When asking about the future of Cherry Textiles, Wendy was very excited to talk about it as she has big plans and more ideas to push for sustainability in her work. Wendy says she frequently visits her farm up north, where she plans to start planting hemp in order to turn it into yarn, then use it to weave her textiles. Wendy wants to make her process as sustainable as possible, by having complete control on knowing exactly where her yarns come from, how they’re spun and put to use. Wendy has set a great example of how young designers in the fashion space can learn and apply sustainability to their work, but sadly, the larger textile companies however, remain the same.
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