What your clothes reveal about quality, design and sustainability

Clothing is among the most complex products we use in everyday life. A single garment can consist of many different components—textiles, seams, buttons and zips—which together make both production and recycling more challenging.

Researchers and students at Kolding School of Design are increasingly approaching textiles from a systems perspective. This means exploring how materials, products and systems can be designed to extend the lifespan of textiles in, for example, clothing—and potentially enable them to enter new circular flows.

Part of the answer lies at the microscopic level. This is what Karen Marie Hasling from Kolding School of Design explains to host Christian Cherry in the podcast Genistreg, where she takes a closer look at the structure of textiles. Karen Marie Hasling is Head of the MA programme Design for Planet and a researcher at the Lab for Sustainability and Design at Kolding School of Design.

- If you place a piece of fabric under a microscope, you can see a great deal about the textile you are working with, she explains. The differences between woven and knitted materials become clear, as does the structure and quality of the yarn.

Fibres, yarn and weave make the difference
Textiles are, in fact, highly advanced material constructions. The fibres, the yarn and the way the fabric is constructed together determine how the material behaves.

- The longer the fibres in the yarn, the stronger the material becomes. And the thicker the yarn, the stronger it is as well, says Karen Marie Hasling.

Material properties are closely linked to structure. Wool, for example, can absorb large amounts of moisture while still insulating effectively, making it warm even in thin layers.

- Wool is essentially the sheep’s winter coat, she notes.

Silk works differently. Its dense structure acts as a barrier that can retain both heat and coolness close to the body, depending on the surroundings.

Globally, textile production is now roughly evenly split between natural fibres such as cotton, wool and silk, and synthetic fibres such as polyester and nylon. Materials are often blended to combine properties or reduce costs, making textiles increasingly complex.

Design is also about systems
At Kolding School of Design, students and researchers therefore work not only with materials and products themselves, but also with the systems surrounding them. In one project, for example, students collaborated with a municipality to develop solutions for sorting textile waste. According to Karen Marie Hasling, this reflects a broader understanding of design.

- Design is not only about developing products. It is also about understanding the systems in which those products operate.

If clothing is to last longer and become part of more circular systems, it requires new knowledge and new ways of thinking about design.

Quality is difficult to assess
For consumers, it can be difficult to determine what good quality actually is. This is emphasised by Anne Louise Bang, senior researcher at the Research Centre for Textile, Design and Circularity at VIA University College, who also appears in the podcast.

- It is incredibly difficult to assess the quality of materials if you do not work with them on a daily basis, she says.

One of her recommendations is to look at the material composition and, where possible, choose products made from as few different material types as possible. This can both extend the product’s lifespan and make recycling easier.