Textile Exchange releases updated Material Summaries for its membership community 

Textile Exchange has released updated Material Summaries covering six priority fibers and materials that are critical for addressing the fashion, apparel, and textile industry’s impact on the climate and nature.  

Last updated between 2014-2021, the refreshed Material Summaries offer a streamlined look at key characteristics and sustainability considerations of bovine leather, cotton, manmade cellulosic fibers, nylon, polyester, and wool. 

They are now available to Textile Exchange members through its online community, The Hub. 

New more user-friendly format 
The summaries have been redesigned to improve how information is organized and presented, so users can quickly examine key aspects of the different fibers and materials.  

Each summary is structured to align with what Textile Exchange looks at within preferred production systems. They follow the same general structure where appropriate, which includes an overview of the feedstocks, a closer look at key considerations related to climate, nature, animals, people, governance, and succinct guidance as to best practices for more sustainable sourcing.  

The summaries also include subcategories on production methods or variations in feedstocks, such as organic, recycled, or biobased.  

Deeper insights 

While each summary provides streamlined guidance on a fiber or material, they also contain links to other foundational resources, so users can quickly access additional relevant information. Textile Exchange plans to create updated Material Summaries for additional fiber categories in the future. 

How to access the Material Summaries 
The summaries are available for Textile Exchange members through The Hub. You can find out more about becoming a Textile Exchange member here.