Dressed by Nature

Synthetic fabrics are ubiquitous in modern clothes but many of Asia’s traditional garments were made of natural fabrics that do not poison our environment.

Synthetic fabrics are ubiquitous in modern clothes but many of Asia’s traditional garments were made of natural fabrics that do not poison our environment.

Humans have survived many years with clothes made from natural materials derived from nature prior to the invention of synthetic fibres. Clothes in the past were made out of things people could harvest from their natural environment — grasses, leaves, fur, animal skins, plant fibres, bones and shells. But now, it’ll be tough to find a cheap garment that is made entirely of natural fibres. Cheap and extremely versatile, synthetic fibres like polyester, nylon, acrylic and other synthetic fibres now constitute about 60 percent of the material used to make our clothes worldwide. While they confer certain properties to fabrics they are woven into, these plastic fibres can leach into and pollute our rivers and oceans. Sadly, some of the traditional clothes still worn today are more commonly made using synthetic fabrics rather than the natural ones they used to be made of.