The Next Big Thing in Fashion 2023? Not Washing Your Clothes:

 The Next Big Thing in Fashion2023? Not Washing Your Clothes:

We run the danger of alienating the customer by giving them the impression that we are encouraging them to be less hygienic. Years of cultural conditioning stand in our way here.

Through Elizabeth Segran:
I want to admit something: 

I haven't washed the black T-shirt I've been wearing every day for the past two weeks. Anyone who is familiar with me will recognise how unusual this is. Laundry is my addiction. 

My toddler's mud and applesauce-covered clothes make me incredibly happy when I turn them into newly washed, orderly stacks. And yet, I might wait a few more weeks before washing this T-shirt. Amazingly, it seems and smells freshly cleaned. Unbound Merino, a 2016 business that makes wool travel clothing that can go weeks without being washed, makes this $65 T-shirt.

Unbound is a part of a larger group of entrepreneurs developing less-laundry-intensive clothing. An eco-friendly company named Pangaia makes $85 seaweed fibre T-shirts that are treated with peppermint oil to keep the garments fresher longer between washes. Pangaia debuted late last year and already counts superstars like Jaden Smith and Justin Bieber among its supporters.

 In comparison to a typical cotton T-shirt, the business predicts that this will save roughly 3,000 litres of water over the course of a lifetime. Then there is the menswear company Wool & Prince, which uses wool to make a variety of items from $42 boxer shorts to $128 oxford shirts, all of which are meant to be washed infrequently.

The business debuted a companion womenswear line called Wool& last year, which produces gowns that can be worn continuously for 100 days without needing to be washed.

This new crop of wash-less clothing companies are capitalising on the convenience of not having to frequently wash your clothes, which is especially helpful if you're on the go or short on time. However, they are also advancing an environmental point: washing garments too frequently is bad for the environment. 17% of the water used in our homes comes from washing machines, and cleaning clothes contributes 25% of an item's lifetime carbon footprint. However, according to AEG, a manufacturer of washing machines, 90% of the laundry that is washed isn't necessarily filthy enough to be placed in the hamper.

Part of this is due to the fact that manufacturers of laundry detergent have persuaded consumers that they must often wash their garments, sometimes even after each wear, in order to keep them clean and hygienic. For instance, a lot of advertising for laundry detergent feature parents washing their kids' filthy, muddy clothes, giving the impression that proper parenting necessitates doing a lot of laundry. Wool & Prince's creator, Mac Bishop, witnessed this personally. His first job out of college was in the marketing division of Unilever, a company that manufactures numerous types of laundry detergent all over the world. "The only way to grow as a laundry detergent brand is to make customers feel like they need to keep washing their clothes more and more," he claims.
Even though it's rarely necessary, decades of promotion from the cleaning industry have conditioned many individuals to wash their clothes after just one day of use. Therefore, persuading consumers that their garments won't smell bad or be unclean if they don't wash them frequently is one of the biggest problems for companies pitching items that don't require frequent washing.

Designing a wash-less shirt:
Brands must first create clothing that will deliver on this promise if they hope to persuade consumers to stop cleaning their clothes. The key is to carefully choose fabrics that are odour- and dirt-resistant. All of these companies think that a key component of their purpose is to inform consumers about how much laundry is necessary and when cleaning is no longer essential. It's critical to comprehend the root causes of clothing odour, according to Bishop. "Sweat is clean by itself. It only starts to draw bacteria and smell nasty when it absorbs into garments. Finding fabrics that don't retain sweat is therefore crucial.

Because wool has so many benefits, Unbound Merino and Wool & Prince both rely heavily on it.

that reduce the likelihood of contamination. Because wool is inherently breathable and moisture-wicking, sweat from your skin escapes into the air rather than becoming trapped inside the fabric when you perspire. However, it also means that wool materials regulate temperature. The evaporation of your sweat helps you feel cool while it's hot outside. However, the wool develops an insulation layer that retains your body heat when you are cold, keeping you warm. (When you consider that wool developed to assist sheep cope with various weather situations, its remarkable properties make sense.)

Of course, many cultures have understood for ages that wool is suitable as a fabric for clothing. 

Wool has also lately been employed by outdoor clothing companies like Patagonia and Icebreaker to make temperature-regulating inner layers and flannel shirts that keep clean when hiking or camping. Wool shoes made by the sneaker company Allbirds keep your feet fresh even when worn without socks. But these more recent start-ups have made an effort to incorporate wool into daily-wearable clothing.
For instance, Unbound Merino debuted with T-shirts, underclothes, and socks that are incredibly light and soft to the touch and have the familiar cotton or polyester blend feel. Before deciding on their final fabric, the brand's creators carefully considered the great variety of wool fibres available on the market. For instance, the shirt I've been wearing for the past two weeks is made of 17.5 microns of ultra-fine 100% merino wool. (Remember that the thickness of your hair is 50–100 microns.) The co-founder of Unbound Merino, Dima Zelikman, asserts that not all wool is created equally. "Various sheep produce various types of wool .

Our aim was to produce a thin, incredibly soft fabric that nonetheless possessed all the advantages of wool.

For his part, Bishop chose to combine wool with other fabrics like nylon and linen to get various effects. Because they are tougher, synthetic fibres, for example, can be used to create clothing that is more durable. This was a challenging choice since while wool and other natural fibres degrade, nylon, polyester, and other synthetic fibres are made of plastic and will remain in landfills indefinitely rather than decomposing. When it came to sustainability, Bishop recalls, "We had to make some tough choices." But we made the decision that our brand's mission was to help customers own fewer clothing and maintain them.

So we made the decision to use synthetics.
Pangaia adopted a different strategy. It uses organic cotton and seaweed fibre, two sustainable textiles, to make T-shirts, sweatshirts, and joggers in place of wool. Aside from using less water and less harmful materials than conventional synthetic dying techniques, the company also produces colours from food waste and other natural resources. Pangaia collaborates with material scientists to find strategies for improving the sustainability of the products. For instance, peppermint oil, which has antibacterial characteristics and guarantees that clothes don't need to be cleaned as frequently, was used to treat the fabric. Dr. Amanda Parkes, the chief innovation officer at Pangaia, explains via email that "[it] helps to keep the garments fresher for longer without any toxic chemistry."

The wash-less idea is more about sustainability for Pangaia than it is about convenience. However, Parkes argues that it is actually very difficult to persuade someone to stop often washing their clothes. According to her, the only way to truly alter customer behaviour is to allow them to wear the product so they can verify that it does not smell unpleasant or feel dirty. Building customers' faith in the effectiveness of our products, she claims, is the key to effective behaviour modification.

Unbound Merino has found success by concentrating on customers who are looking for apparel solutions when travelling. The company first went public with an Indiegogo campaign that assured buyers that their wool T-shirts, pants and socks would stay fresh for weeks on end. According to Zelikman, "We were going after folks who already thought that doing laundry while travelling was a hassle. But we figured buyers would want to add the shirts to their regular wardrobe after they witnessed for themselves how well-kept they are.

 The Next Big Thing in Fashion2023? Not Washing Your Clothes: 

Wool & Prince also made its debut with an emphasis on practicality and minimalism. Bishop sought to design things that clients could wear again and in a variety of settings, allowing them to possess fewer items. In order for this to function, it was necessary to make sure that clothing could be worn without needing to be washed for a long because, in principle, the client would only have a few items in their closet. The company discovered that male consumers, especially those who already detested doing laundry, responded favourably to this marketing.

However, Bishop was concerned that women would not be as receptive to the idea of not washing their clothes. This was in part because cleaning goods primarily appeal to female consumers, who are predisposed to being more conscientious about cleanliness.

He was fully aware of the historically extremely sexist background of laundry detergent advertising, which drilled in the perception that laundry was exclusively a woman's job. He worked in Unilever's marketing division. Because of this, when he made the decision to design womenswear last year, he established a new brand for women called Wool& and developed a unique marketing strategy. According to the brand's early customer research, women would be more receptive to messaging about how washing less was more environmentally responsible, whereas males appeared to be more interested in how washing less saved time.

Bishop told a reporter that he would wear Wool's $128 dress for 100 days without washing it if someone wanted to, just like he had done with his shirt.
He offered to donate a dress for nothing. Wool& had to limit the quantity of complimentary gowns to 50 due to the flood of women who were eager to take on the task. Wool& is now producing a wider variety of styles in addition to its original offering, a swing dress. For women who want to own fewer things, Bishop adds, "We're committed to creating versatile, functional clothing that can be worn year-round, as with our menswear brand." "I believe that more and more consumers are attempting to reduce their overconsumption."

Will the rest of the industry catch up?:
There has been a rising understanding among consumers over the past several years that we may be over-washing the majority of the clothing in our wardrobes, despite the fact that the businesses I have included in this article have made less frequent laundering a central aspect of their design and marketing. 

In order to inform consumers about the negative environmental effects of over-washing their clothing, the organisation Fashion Revolution, which advocates for sustainability and social justice in the fashion industry, launched a significant campaign in 2017 called the Care Label Project. The group collaborated with AEG, a manufacturer of washing machines, to assist 14 designers in adding labels that read "Don't Overwash" on 18,200 different clothing styles.

The project's goal was to demonstrate how outmoded the present system of care labels on clothing is. The symbols you see on garment tags are generally not very well thought out and were initially created fifty years ago. Doriane van Overeem, a designer who participated in the initiative, thinks that many fashion firms simply don't want to go to the trouble of enlightening the consumer on how to clean clothing most sustainably. To avoid being held accountable if a garment is damaged, they advise the buyer to dry clean it instead, a practise that is not very sustainable.

This new generation of wash-less businesses is helping consumers understand the environmental implications of caring for their clothing as part of a larger initiative. In the end, Bishop is right when she notes that it takes time to alter someone's behaviour and psychological outlook, particularly after years of hearing that they are dirty if they don't have clean clothes on. All three of these companies think that giving their customers a positive shopping experience is the greatest way to communicate their message. "Once the clothes are in the customer's hands, you've already won half the battle," advises Bishop. They'll suddenly realise that their clothing still feels clean despite not having been washed in a few weeks.
I've been sporting the black T-shirt for three weeks now. I've paired it with shorts, skirts, and jeans because it is so adaptable. 

When I took my child to a theme park, it helped me stay cool during several scorching days. And as promised, it still has a fresh scent and a sharp appearance. (Trust me, I've given it a lot of sniffs.) It might be just enough to convince me to stop using my cherished washing machine, even though I'm a laundry addict.

Jewelry:
This goes beyond the Apple Watch, which is only a notification tool besides having the ability to monitor your health. Tech firms can reach a bigger audience by collaborating with fashion designers.

Take the partnership between Fitbit and Tory Burch. Activity trackers are transformed into sophisticated accessories suitable for life outside of the gym by Burch's beautiful leather and silver bracelet designs.

Then there is Ringly, a collection of traditional rings that connect to your phone via Bluetooth and discreetly let you know when you get a text or call. You won't be rudely checking your phone every five minutes to see if someone has called because of the subtle vibration and side light, which don't disrupt social interactions.

A little metal disc called Chronos may make any watch into a smartwatch. It attaches to the back of your watch and adds a number of smartwatch capabilities while measuring only 33 mm wide and 2.5 mm thick. Perfect for someone who wants the functionality of a wristwatch without the garish appearance.

 The Next Big Thing in Fashion2023? Not Washing Your Clothes: