Image credit: PANGIA
PANGAIA: Creating an earth positive future for fashion.
Initiating their mission in 2019, PANGAIA is shaking the fashion industry by blurring the lines between a materials science company and a sustainable apparel brand. Pangia focuses on crafting its products from bio-based, regenerative, recycled and responsibly sourced materials.
The B Corp-certified company, known for its brightly coloured loungewear, has been busy building its brand on pioneering sustainable material solutions while still providing wardrobe staples.
At its core, PANGAIA’S mission is to create products that meet people’s needs while nurturing the future of our planet – implementing a business model that prioritises progress for people and planet.
PANGAIA Offers a range of more than 200 products using a constantly evolving catalog of many sustainable materials with over 96% of their collection using organic, recycled, regenerative or bio-based materials.
To gain an understanding of the brand on a deeper level, it is essential to examine the materials used throughout its product range to give valuable insight to their approach to quality, innovation and sustainability.
PANGAIA’S Core Materials
FRUTFIBER™
FRUTFIBER™ is at the core of PANGAIA’S material catalog. Repurposing food waste and turning banana and pineapple leaf fibres, as well as bamboo into a new, innovative fabric that feels and drapes just like cotton, but with no cotton used at all.
Bamboo is a fast growing non food crop that does not require pesticide, fertilisers or any additional water other than what is already provided by mother nature. Their bamboo lyocell is created in a closed loop production line that reuses any necessary solvents while reducing water and energy use. Additionally, natural fibres from pineapple and banana leaves, which are by-products of the food industry, are used which would typically be burned or thrown in a landfill.
FRUTFIBER™, with its pineapple and banana leaf powers, offers an alternative to cotton which can be extremely consumptive of water while using heavy pesticides and fertiliser to promote growth which, in turn, destroys soil health.
This innovative solution to cotton with its inherent biodegradability is offering an alternative that is not only less harmful, but also contributes to the restoration of soil by carbon, doubling up on planet health brownie points.
(gaia)PLNT Nylon
Similar to FRUTFIBER™, (gaia)PLNT Nylon is yet another cutting edge plant based material providing an alternative to petroleum derived synthetics . It uses a range of responsibly sourced plant material, from wildflowers to grapes and seaweed to nettles.
The primary base of this revolutionary material is spun from 100% biobased nylon, created from castor oil extracted from the beans. As a plant that thrives on parched land, requiring little water, castor seeds have not required any genetic modification to survive and thrive, making it a non-GMO crop, supports its natural habitat.
PANGAIA creates (gaia)PLNT Nylon by taking monomers derived from a crop that thrives on limited water in baron land, transforming them into a material that’s resemblance is uncanny to traditional nylon, just without the negative environmental impact.
European Flax™
PANGAIA uses European Flax™ Linen, cultivated in France, Belgium and the Netherlands – regions which are known for their long-standing expertise in flax growing. The cool, temperate climate supports strong, fine fibres that offer a smooth feel and natural durability. The flax is typically rain-fed and grown within certified supply chains that follow defined environmental and social standards, providing traceability from farm all the way to your linen product.
AeoniQ™
The list doesn’t stop there. PANGAIA recently released a limited edition 55 piece, unisex capsule using AeoniQ™, the world’s first climate-positive continuous cellulose filament yarn, replicating the properties of polyester and nylon yarns in a cellulosic and endlessly recyclable fiber.
Each year, an estimated 92 million tons of textile waste end up in landfills, with much of it being synthetic and non-biodegradable, a figure that is projected to exceed a whopping 134 million tons by 2030. AeoniQ™ helps to stop this. This isn’t green washing either. In the lab AeoniQ™ undertook a soil biodegradation experiment, five different fabrics were buried and monitored over a three month timeframe. Within the first two weeks, microorganisms had begun colonising the materials and after just one month, biodegradation had already begun on the AeoniQ™ fabric. By the end of two and a half months, the AeoniQ™ fabric was biodegraded by over 90% and after three it had fully disappeared. In comparison,. polyester, polyamide and elastane mesh showed no degradation, showing the astonishing differences between biodegradable and conventional textiles which can take thousands of years to degrade..
Made of sustainable raw materials such as wood pulp, textile waste, bacteria cellulose and non-valorised agricultural waste, each ton of AeoniQ™ can potentially enable 3.2 tons of CO2 emission reduction. Textiles made from AeoniQ™, which deliver performance comparable to synthetics, do not require agricultural land, pesticide or fertiliser. With the end of life product being fully biodegradable making them eternally environmentally circular. An exciting alternative to that could be a potential candidate to current destructive, traditional synthetic fibres.
Algae Ink™
You’d think this level of innovation would be enough for PANGAIA, but no, they don’t just stop at the clothes you’re wearing, they also use natural materials in their clothing tagsusing Algae Ink™, a bio-based alternative to traditional pigments. Created to lower their environmental impact, this innovative formula enables responsible printing on garment hangtags.
Developed by Living Ink Technologies, Algae Ink™ for PANGAIA hang tags is created by combining a soy base carrier with Algae Black™ pigment. Made using waste algae biomass, Algae Black provides a renewable alternative to traditional petroleum-derived colors. According to its Life Cycle Assessment (completed in January 2023), when compared to carbon black pigment, Algae Black™ can reduce carbon emissions by 200% and water usage by 98%.
These are only a few of the innovative natural fibres PANGAIA are using to help drive their mission towards nurturing both people and planet alike. They are creating a strong president for other brands to follow, from the way they research to the implementation and real commitment to their core vision.
It is hard to not be in awe of their drive to pave the way to the future of textiles. However, one could question whether we should still be creating new materials, at high research costs and potential implications of creating a new global supply chain. Would we be best placed to use g the natural fibres we already have such as wool, hemp, nettle and leather etc, and direct our focus towards consumer habits and sustainability. Or perhaps there is a balance to be struck combining both innovative materials with traditional natural fibres? PANGAIA has proven its commitment to longevity, Natural materials have too, the question now is whether our commitment to them can hold the same permanence.
“Buy less, choose well, make it last.” – Vivienne Westwood
