To mitigate the fashion industry’s environmental impact, Werewool is designing a revolutionary fiber development platform to create biodegradable fibers with tailored aesthetic and performance properties. Inspired by nature, and utilizing the tools of biotechnology, Werewool is developing a platform to design fibers at the DNA level for sustainable textiles with inherent properties such as color, moisture management, and stretch, that meet the demands of today’s consumers

Microfibers are the major marine pollutant throughout the world estimating 13 million tonnes of coastal synthetic fabric waste entering the ocean each year, out of which 2.5 million tonnes enter through adjoining rivers. It is anticipated that, to date, 1.5 million trillion of microfibers are present in the ocean. Microfibers are one of the major cause biodiversity loss, adverse impact on marine life and subsequently end up in our food cycle.

The challenge was to seek a solution to the pollution caused by microfibers. Werewool fiber development platform can reduce the fashion industry’s impact on our dwindling natural resources, by eliminating the ecotoxicity of dyes, reducing the raw material impact of fiber production, and the end of life implications of synthetic fibers. Werewool is made with a circular lifecycle, returning nutrients to the ecosystem at the end of their useful life, and protecting biodiversity (Earth’s greatest resilience to climate change) from the effects of microplastic pollution. By creating fibers with inherent color, they are preventing the pollution associated with conventional textile dyes that cause dead zones in rivers, streams and other freshwater resources.

Company's mission is to reduce the industry’s reliance on socially and environmentally impactful fibers whose production is degrading our environment. Their platform will have far reaching impacts on communities and environments around the world, increasing the availability of arable land for agriculture and potable water for human consumption. Company is still under early stage of development and expecting to make a prototype garment in next 3-5 years.

Picture from Flickr by Adrian