For decades, synthetic, oil-derived fibres have become the default in a world where design has been shaped by speed, scale and cost, they offer a cheap, fast and easy-to-standardise solution. The result is a global design culture built on materials that do not return to the earth, do not age well and do not disappear when we are finished with them.
We rarely question this. Material choice is treated as a technical detail rather than a value-driven decision. But materials are never neutral. They shape how objects are made, how long they last and what happens when they are discarded. They determine whether something decomposes, lingers or pollutes.
The uncomfortable truth is that design did not simply drift towards synthetics. It was engineered that way.
The real cost of the synthetic default
Synthetic materials solved one problem and created many others. They enabled mass production, uniformity and lower prices. But they also locked design into extractive systems that depend on fossil fuels, generate microplastic pollution and produce waste that will outlive us by centuries.
Today, synthetic fibres account for around 60 percent of global fibre production, the vast majority derived from fossil fuels (Textile Exchange, Materials Market Report). Across fashion, interiors and furniture, plastics and composite materials have become normalised – often hidden behind sustainability claims that focus on recyclability rather than real-world outcomes.
Most synthetics are never recycled at scale. They are burned, buried or exported as waste, breaking down into smaller and smaller fragments over time. The fashion industry alone generates an estimated 92 million tonnes of textile waste every year, most of which ends up in landfill or incineration (UNEP, Technical Highlight).
These materials do not disappear. They fragment. Synthetic textiles are now recognised as one of the largest sources of microplastic pollution in the ocean (International Union for Conservation of Nature).
Yet we continue to talk about sustainability as though it can be solved without talking about materials.
When fast fashion goes “natural”
There is another truth we rarely confront: even when design moves in the right direction, it often carries the same bad habits with it.
Fast fashion is beginning to flirt with natural fibres, a response to a recent rise in conversations surrounding the detrimental effects of plastics, not only on the planet, but on our bodies. Cotton replaces polyester. Wool blends appear where acrylic once dominated. On the surface, this looks like progress – and in some ways, it is. If the world insists on overproduction, it is undeniably better for landfills to be filled with natural materials than with synthetics that will never biodegrade.
But this is not the finish line. It is the bare minimum.
Global clothing production has more than doubled since the early 2000s, while the average number of times a garment is worn has fallen by around 40 percent (Ellen MacArthur Foundation). Simply swapping fibre types without addressing volume, speed and longevity risks pulling natural materials into the same extractive system that failed synthetics.
Natural fibres alone cannot fix a culture of disposability. Without a shift in how we value care, repair and lifespan, even the “right” materials will be overused and undervalued.
Natural materials as living systems
Natural materials behave differently because they come from living systems. Wool grows back. Wood regenerates. Hemp replenishes soil. Leather, when responsibly sourced, is part of a broader agricultural ecosystem rather than a standalone product.
Many natural fibres are renewable on annual or multi-year cycles and can biodegrade at end of life under the right conditions, unlike synthetic fibres which persist indefinitely in the environment (United Nations Environment Programme).
These materials are not perfect, but they are accountable. They age, patinate and eventually return to the earth. They invite repair rather than replacement. They ask designers to work with constraint rather than against it.
This is not nostalgia. It is material intelligence.
For centuries, natural materials shaped design cultures that understood scarcity, durability and care. Industrialisation disrupted that relationship. Synthetic materials promised freedom from limits, but what they really delivered was distance – from land, from labour and from consequence.
Reconnecting with natural materials is not about going backwards. It is about restoring balance.
Why material bodies matter
Behind every natural material is a network of growers, producers, researchers and trade bodies working to protect quality, standards and long-term supply. These organisations are often invisible, yet they play a critical role in making natural materials viable at scale.
Natural fibre bodies invest in research, land stewardship, education and innovation. They help ensure materials are not only beautiful, but reliable and fit for modern use. In a world hungry for quick fixes, this kind of slow, systemic work is easy to overlook – but impossible to replace.
If natural materials are to become the default again, these systems must be understood, supported and connected to the designers shaping future demand.
Designers as decision-makers
Designers sit at a powerful intersection. Material choices made early in a project influence everything that follows – from manufacturing methods to supply chains to how an object lives and dies.
Research consistently shows that early design decisions lock in the majority of a product’s environmental impact (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development). Yet many designers are educated in environments where synthetics are normalised and natural materials are framed as specialist, expensive or limiting.
What is presented as “standard” becomes invisible. What is framed as “alternative” becomes optional.
Only Natural exists to challenge that hierarchy.
By placing natural materials at the centre of design education and conversation, the movement aims to rebuild material literacy and confidence – not by prescribing answers, but by opening access to knowledge, networks and real-world examples of what is possible.
A foundation, not a trend
Natural materials are not a trend to be adopted and abandoned. They are the foundation upon which responsible design has always rested. They connect material choice to land, labour, longevity and care.
The future of design will not be solved by better marketing or marginal efficiency gains. It will be shaped by deeper questions about what we make, what we value and what we are willing to leave behind.
Only Natural is not here to offer a perfect solution. It exists to challenge the default – to put material choice back at the centre of design and to show that choosing natural is a conscious act, not a compromise.
Because when we change what we build with, we change what design is accountable to, and in turn, the systems it sustains.
Sources & Further Reading
- Textile Exchange – Materials Market Report: https://textileexchange.org/materials-market-report
- Ellen MacArthur Foundation – A New Textiles Economy: https://ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/a-new-textiles-economy
- International Union for Conservation of Nature – Microplastics research: https://www.iucn.org/resources/issues-brief/microplastics
- FAO – Natural Fibres Programme: https://www.fao.org/4/i0709e/i0709e03.pdf
- United Nations Environment Programme – The UNEP Textile Initiative: https://www.unep.org/topics/chemicals-and-pollution-action/circularity-sectors/sustainable-and-circular-textiles
- OECD – Environmental impact and lifecycle resources: https://www.oecd.org/environment
- Design Council UK – Design for the planet: https://www.designcouncil.org.uk/design-for-planet
