stomers with a biodegradable, hyper-allergenic and vegan alternative to traditional bedding.  The business’ ‘Cloud Corn’ bedding range was developed alongside its 100 per cent recycled down quilts and pillows, which launched earlier this year to give customers more options to choose from.  “Down is obviously a really premium fibre, and so giving our customers a more affordable, but still sustainable, option was important to us,” Sheet Society founder and chief executive Hayley Worley told Inside Retail.  “And the big focus was on making something sustainable. We’re not a sustainable brand, that’s not how we market ourselves, but we do have really strong internal sustainability goals in terms of product innovation.” The team at Sheet Society spent several years researching different fibre alternatives in an effort to avoid polyester – a common material that is particularly damaging to the environment because it’s derived from fossil fuels – and eventually settled on processing corn into a fibre.  To make the material, corn starch is first fermented into a sugar. This is then converted into a biopolymer and spun into a fibre that is fully plant-based and compostable, and can be utilised in myriad ways. In order to use it to make both pillows and quilts, the fibre is produced in two separate ways: one that allows the fibre to be supportive in the form of a pillow, and another that enables it to feel closer to traditional down quilting. For Sheet Society, Worley said, ‘Cloud Corn’ signifies the business’ plan to be a leader in the bedding space. “We’re not going to be one of those brands that goes periphery from our core offerings. We’re experts in sheets, and people know and love us for that,” she said. “What’s next is being really innovative and owning that, it’s not just about adding on another product category as a peripheral to the business – it’s almost like launching a new business within Sheet Society that could stand on its own.” From the ground up Sheet Society is far from the only brand exploring new materials to make its products more sustainable.  Danish fashion house Ganni worked with Mexico-based materials company Polybion to make a blazer out of repurposed fruit waste, for example, while last year, footwear company Balena launched a slide made of BioCir material: which is fully biodegradable and made without fossil-based petrochemicals.  Closer to home, textile recycling company Upparel has found a new use for the excess clothing it collects but is unable to donate or break down into raw materials, thanks to the recent launch of Uptex – a building material crafted out of textile waste. Uptex can be used for many purposes – including creating shopping bags. According to Upparel’s partnerships manager Riley Aickin, Uptex can help reduce the impact of textile waste in Australia. At the end of its life, it can either be repurposed or turned back into more Uptex. With the concept now in the wild, a number of external partners have already come up with uses that Upparel didn’t even consider.  “We’ve had construction companies reach out about how they could use it in terms of insulation, and plenty of businesses have reached out to use it as a circular packaging solution — both for product protection and to replace shipping boxes, but then also for customers to send their textile waste back to us in, which we can use to create more Uptex,” Aickin told Inside Retail. “Even a surfboard company reached out to see if they could replace cork with Uptex. It’s been really interesting.” As for its applications in the retail industry, Aickin believes Uptex can be used to create signage and other elements in physical stores, as well as to solve a lot of companies’ textile waste problems. “It’s a brand new offering, not just for us, but in general,” Aickin said. “Fully recyclable signage products simply don’t exist. Uptex aligns with Upparel’s vision of creating circular products and being better for the next generation.” It’s not simply about creating and using more sustainable materials because the next generation demands it,, Aickin noted. Sooner rather than later, retailers and brand owners will run into material scarcity issues in their supply chains, and alternatives will need to be found.  Brands like Upparel and Sheet Society are simply getting a head start.