I’ve recently been working with a lovely client who works in the world of sustainability and has a real passion for being as eco-friendly as possible in her home. One of her specifications was to find suitable sustainable fabrics for the soft furnishings in her living room. My initial thoughts were, well that should be pretty straight forward! After all sustainability seems to be a hot topic in the world of interiors with large home brands such as H&M Home and French Connection all launching sustainable and ‘conscious’ homeware products in their new ranges. However, on closer inspection I actually found the choice to be very limited and many of the designs to be a little bit too organic looking (think hopsack heavy linen style) rather than elegant and interesting. The search began in earnest with many emails sent to the major fabric houses, many emails were ignored or answers brief such as ‘it’s linen therefore sustainable’ but how about how and where these fabrics are dyed for instance?? However, I finally uncovered some beautiful options which ticked many boxes and stood out amongst the tiny crowed! So today I’m sharing my favourites with you so maybe in the future when you’re choosing new soft furnishings for your home you may also consider doing the right thing and becoming a little more environmentally friendly.
The Favourite: Charlotte Gaisford
Charlottes’ fabrics and wallpapers are all printed in the UK and use 100% natural products. She also runs a tight ethical ship by producing to order only equalling as little waste as possible. Unlike many other sustainable fabrics, her’s have beautiful interesting designs with vibrant colours printed on a lightweight linen mix fabric.
Fermoie
This venture is by the founders of Farrow and Ball, Tom Helme and Martin Ephson. Using raw natural ingredients and water based pigments, sustainability is at the forefront of this operation. The colours are rich and the prints range from contemporary to the slightly more traditional so would work in many different settings. As well as selling fabric by the metre they also offer ready made lampshades and cushions.
Weaver Green
Specialising in producing what feels like soft wool from recycled plastic bottles, in 2019 they recycled their 100 millionth plastic bottle! Weaver Green produce beautiful and characterful home products including rugs, cushions and throws. Their fabric patterns range from tribal, Scandi and country with a laid back style and usable colours.
Kirk by Design
A large fabric producer that seems to be developing and embracing the concept of sustainability. Their new collection is made from 100% PET recycled polyester from such things as waste plastic bottles, recycled wool and recycled acrylic. A percentage of their profits is also shared with the charities Marine Conservation Society and Trees for Life. Their eco ranges are named, Fleck Eco, Wave, Leaf II and Flow.
Clarke & Clarke
Their recently launched ‘Eco’ range is made from 100% recycled polyester. Presented in a range of colours and differing weaves these fabrics would work nicely for upholstery items due to their weight with beautiful textures. The ranges are Avani, Gaia and Tierra. Part of the bigger Sanderson group it’s great to see Clarke and Clarke launch their Eco range but would be even better to see this group research and develop more especially into sustainable fabric with pattern which seems to be missing from the larger fabric producers portfolio.
Ian Mankin
Produced solely in the UK in their own weaving mill in Burnley, Lancashire. In July 2019 they committed to a fully sustainable approach to production with all fabrics being made from natural, recycled or certified organic fibres with no chemicals added during the weaving process.
Zoe Glencross
A rapidly growing designer and producer of wallcoverings and fabric, Zoe Glencross produces all of her products in the UK. This is particularly notable as many of the larger fabric producers researched who have launched sustainable ranges make their fabrics from sustainable materials but they are then produced in countries such as China and Turkey which makes me a little dubious about mass production dying techniques and of course transportation. Working with One Tree Planted, making non-woven wallpapers from natural fibres and water based inks and striving to introduce more sustainable ways in her overall operation must only be a good thing.
So there’s my little round up of my favourite’s currently catching my eye, my search continues and I promise to add more sustainable fabric producers to the blog when I discover them. Encouragingly it seems that sustainable soft furnishings have an increasing presence in the market and I guess the best we can do to support this trend is to make a more informed decision and decide to opt for Eco rather than Eek-no!