2023-11-18 11:12:39
Dubai, United Arab Emirates (CNN) – There is more in common between a wool coat and human hair wigs than previously thought, as they not only help conserve body heat, but they are both made of keratin protein fibers.
Now, a Dutch startup is asking why you wear one and waste the other.
Human Material Loop hopes to transform the fashion industry by turning human hair into fabric.
So far, the company has designed prototypes of coats, sweaters and jackets from human hair, with the hope that clothing companies will one day purchase rolls of its alternative material for their own designs.
The company has made prototypes of coats, jackets and sweaters from human hairCredit: David can Woerden/Human Material Loop
For her part, the company’s co-founder, Zofia Kollar, said that she has always been fascinated by the possibilities of using hair as a texture. She was interested in the feelings people had about it. “We care about our hair, but as soon as it gets cut, we feel disgusted by it,” she said.
When the Covid-19 pandemic hit the world, Kollar faced an identity crisis as a designer and decided to correct the problem of waste in the hair industry.
No to waste
The company hopes clothing manufacturers will buy rolls of its alternative materials for their own designsCredit: Medina Resic/Human Material Loop
Every minute, salons in the United States and Canada generate 877 pounds of waste. When hair decomposes without oxygen, like a garbage bag in a landfill, it releases greenhouse gases that contribute to the climate change crisis.
According to Human Material Loop, 72 million kilograms of human hair waste ends up in European landfills annually, equivalent to the weight of 7 Eiffel Towers.
“It’s a large, abundant waste stream, and there’s no scalable solution right now,” Kollar said. She adds that most countries burn this waste, and that many alternative solutions are not environmentally friendly, or are not suitable for use on a large scale.
Kollar explains that using hair texture is not much different from knitting a sweater with any other material, as short hair is spun together and turned into a continuous thread to make a yarn, then dyed with pure dyes.
As the company expands production, it may dye yarn or fabric, depending on which is more efficient, she added.
Human Material Loop’s prototype was a sweater with a wool-like texture.
“I needed to make a product that people could relate to, and it was one of the most meaningful prototypes we could make, but also the most relatable,” Kollar said.
Kollar explains that using human hair is not much different from knitting a wool sweater.Credit: Medina Resic/Human Material Loop
Since then, the company has tested other prototypes, including an outer coat stuffed with hair to provide thermal insulation, which it put to the test in extreme conditions during an expedition to Mount Aconcagua, Argentina’s highest mountain.
However, these designs are not available for purchase, they are intended to provide materials for other designers and brands to use.
The company imports human hair from salons in the Netherlands, Belgium, and LuxembourgCredit: Nikola Lamburov/Human Material Loop
Kollar points out that the price should be competitive with the wool once it reaches a larger production volume, saying: “We know that wearing human hair on our bodies is not something that most people are ready for yet.”
But she believes the idea could gain traction with the public. For Kollar, wearing a jacket made of human hair isn’t just about novelty or sustainability; Rather, it confirms that human hair is a very durable material.
Human Material Loop imports human hair from salons in the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg, using hair that has been cut or which it says does not contain the nuclear DNA that could identify an individual. The company is working to create a documentation chain to trace where its materials come from and where they go.
A growing industry
Human Material Loop used human hair as a heat insulator in the design of this jacket.Credit: Pablo Betancourt/Human Material Loop
Historically, human hair has been used as a textile in many different cultures. In Micronesia, the Kiribati tribe made woven armor made of natural materials including coconut fibres, shark teeth, palm leaves, and human hair. In the 13th century, in what is now the southwestern United States, people made socks by tying strands of hair together.
Higashi Hongan-ji Temple in Kyoto is one of the largest wooden structures in the world. After it was destroyed in a fire, ropes made of human hair, donated from all over Japan, were mixed with hemp and used during the temple’s reconstruction in the 19th century.
But using hair as a textile is not without its challenges, explains Sunny Visser, a Dutch materials researcher, designer and associate lecturer at the University of the Arts London, with no connection to Human Material Loop.
“There’s still controversy about using human hair as a material,” Visser said. “We don’t really value it as a resource, it’s seen as waste, especially when it’s cut.”
In her project for the Design Museum in London, Visser worked with hairdressers and envisioned how hair would become a valuable resource in the future. She coined the term “hair transplant” and redesigned a barber’s chair so it could pick up cut hair, saving time for hairdressers and recyclers.
Visser emphasized that using human hair in our products is not easy after all.
“There is still a lot of work to be done to get people to accept it (hair) as a material, and I can definitely see it entering our daily lives more, over time,” she said.
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