Over-washing clothes is not good for the planet, now a wave of startups is designing clothes that require less laundering. But all of these brands wrestle with how to convince customers to wash their clothes less frequently without grossing them out:

“Decades of marketing from the cleaning industry has conditioned many people to throw their clothes in the laundry after one day’s wear, even though this is rarely necessary. So one of the biggest challenges for brands pitching clothes that don’t need to be washed frequently is to convince people that they will not be gross, smelly, or dirty if they aren’t constantly doing loads of laundry.”

This Vox article explains how different fabrics repel odour and how they react to laundering:

“Brands that market their clothing as odor-fighting — from silver particles woven into the fabric, to a finish of triclosan or triclocarban, and fabrics such as bamboo rayon, merino wool, or saltwater seaweed fibers — almost always attribute it to the fabric’s supposed antimicrobial qualities. But according to McQueen, this can be misleading. Yes, the bacteria can continue to munch on your sweat and produce odors after they hitch a ride on your yoga tank, so in theory, incorporating antimicrobial ingredients into your clothing would help. But what really matters is whether the stinky, oily compounds the bacteria has produced will stubbornly cling to your shirt or drift away on a breeze. That is determined by the type of fabric.”

Fab Links from Our Members

Fashintern came across this article about colour in interior design, with a bit about wardrobes at the very end: “I think her thoughts on colour and encouragement to bring more of it into our lives can easily be applied to what we wear too.”

Runcarla is a Meghan Markle fan, and is interested in seeing what she and Misha Nonoo come up with.

She was also reminded of a past collaboration with Reitmans that was quite nice. It was cut short when the relationship with Prince Harry got serious.

L’Abeille directs us to this reflection on heels versus flats.

Angie loves Hayley’s thoughtful and mindful approach to body image. She sums it up beautifully by saying: “Happiness is a choice, and I made that choice for myself and my wellbeing.”

Elpgal reports that Charlotte Tilbury is being criticized for her new ‘Walk of Shame’ make-up line.

Vildy found this article about how Pantone comes up with new colours for its authoritative guide very interesting.