WHAT ARE MY CLOTHES MADE OF?

On April 14, the fashion social awareness day known as Fashion Revolution Week was held, which aims to make people think about who makes my clothes? A campaign created by Carry Somers and Orsola de Castro that emerged in 2014 after the terrible accident of the collapse of the building in Rana Plaza in Dhacca Bangladesh where 1138 people died. Undoubtedly a "peaceful revolution" that demands a "clean industry" from this industry. Of course who makes my clothes? It is a question that we should all ask ourselves to become more aware of the sustainability of the textile industry and the fulfillment of fair labor and human rights in its manufacture. But have you ever wondered what are my clothes made of?

The main basis of a garment resides in two pillars: the pattern and the use of the fabric. One cannot be understood without the other. But if you work in the fashion industry (designer, stylist, photographer, lawyer, journalist ...) as if not, it is important to know what material your clothes are made of and what name the fabric you wear receives. Knowing the material of a garment transcends beyond the workplace, since this information is also useful for the care of your garments day to day.

Normally, when analyzing a runway, the name of the fiber of the fabric is often confused with the fabric, and clearly it is not the same. Surely you have ever read or heard: "this is a cotton fabric." True, but did you know that there are many cotton fabrics and, although their fiber composition is the same, they do not have the same characteristics? Does a poplin serve the same function as a raincoat? If we think of the first fabric, poplin, a shirt comes to mind; If we think of the second, an outer garment, both are made of cotton fibers, but clearly, they do not fulfill the same function. In this technical aspect, such as the analysis of a show, it is essential for any fashion professional not to make this mistake.

Hence the importance of knowing the differences between the fibers and the names of the fabrics, according to their composition, by which the garments are made. I hope this article will help you delve deeper into the exciting world of fabrics. We are going to start by explaining the difference between fiber and fabric to delve into their classification later.

• Textile fiber is defined as the unit of raw material, characterized by having a length of at least 100 times longer than its own diameter or fineness, which is used to make yarn and is used to manufacture various types of fabrics. To be used as a textile fiber, it must meet several structural conditions and a series of qualities such as: fineness, length, curl or twisted, gloss, elasticity, resistance, elongation, dye affinity, resistance to heat, to light, to alkalis and solvents, the action of atmospheric agents, chemical reagents and bacteria. A series of technical requirements that will also condition the fabric. These fibers are classified by their origin in natural fibers (vegetable, animal or mineral) or in manufactured fibers (natural or synthetic polymers).

• While a fabric is the material that results from weaving, through a weft and warp, threads or threads extracted from textile fibers and used to make garments. In this way, the most common fabrics used in fashion and classified by the composition of their fibers, could be classified as follows:

Describe each of the fabrics named above in detail, it would be appropriate to develop in a technical class, since each type of fabric has specific technical connotations in the same way as the compositions of its fibers, so a brief will be made description of the most common and used in fashion:

• Poplin: fine fabric, usually with a weft and warp of cotton fiber or substitutes. Widely used for shirts and women's garments.

• Muslin: thin, transparent and flowing fabric, originally from Iraq. Normally made with cotton, silk or synthetic derivatives such as polyamide or acetate. Widely used for blouses and dresses.

• Oxford: cotton, viscose or polyester fabric, with a plain weave that combines colored threads in weft and warp. It is usually used for making shirts.

• Gabardine: woven usually of cotton or polyester, with twill weave. Widely used for trench coats, dresses or skirts.

• Vichy: fabric normally made with cotton fiber. Very characteristic for its two-color squares caused by the mixture of threads between the warp and weft.

• Fresh: low density fabric, with strong twist threads, which gives it a lot of drape. Typically cotton fiber or its counterparts manufactured as viscose. It is often used for summer men's suits.

• Cloth: fabric used to make different types of clothing for winter. Its fibers can be 100% wool, 50% wool and 50% acrylic or 100% polyester.

• Tartan: fabric originating in Scotland. It is characteristic for its drawing of large squares that are formed by joining the weft with the warp. They are mainly made of wool fibers or derivatives.

• Tweed: fabric named after the River Tweed in Scotland. It is a mainly woolen fabric, with a cannulated texture and elasticity due to the way it is woven. It could be said that it is the star fabric of the Chanel firm because of how it influenced Coco Chanel in her life.

• Corduroy: velvety, opaque, thick and very resistant fabric. Corduroy is suitable for making pants, jackets or trousers . Its fibers are mainly wool or polyester.

• Brocade: fabric made with mainly silk fibers. Woven like a Jacquard, it usually has a main color in the background and floral patterns in metallic yarns. Used for dress, skirts or jackets.

• Chiffon: silk fiber fabric made in plain weave. A fine, translucent and low-density fabric.

• Velvet: original fabric made of silk, although at present it is made with cotton or rayon. A soft fabric woven on a double loom, so the pile of the fabric has two directions. Widely used in dresses, suits or coats.

• Satin: mainly silk fabric, soft to the touch and shiny. Widely used for lingerie, blouses or dresses.

• Crep: obtained from silk or cotton fibers mainly or their homologues, formed by plain weave and fine twist spinning. It is the most common fabric for dresses, blouses ... because of its lightness and drape.

Last but not least, I would like to comment that, although the textile industry is one of the most polluting, generating a lot of textile waste and environmental pollution, it is working to create circular economies that allow reducing this great ecological impact. Many companies in the textile sector have been investigating different ways to create more sustainable fabrics and implement practices that allow the reuse of their own waste.

Finally, add that materials are an essential element for fashion, therefore, we must not stop innovating in search of more sustainable and even biodegradable textile fibers that can replace petrochemical fibers. Nowadays, biodegradable fabrics are beginning to be created from fibers such as Lyocell (extracted from tree wood) to replace cotton fiber fabrics; or woven from polylactic acid fibers (extracted from corn starch) to replace polyester fiber fabrics. These are just a few examples of the advances that this exciting industry is beginning to experience. It is everyone's job to force fashion companies to research and continue creating new materials that are as sustainable as possible, despite the fact that an ecological footprint is always generated, no matter how slight. Redesigning the textile industry of the future is possible if we all do our bit in favor of a fairer, more sustainable and more circular trade.

If you want to read the article in Spanish, you can do so in issue 9/21 of the magazine FLIS(R) Moda y Derecho al Día https://www.fashionlawinstitute.es/product-page/flis-moda-y-derecho-al-d%C3%ADa-9-2021