Kaltenbacher, Brigitte G;
(2025)
Community-led textile resilience in Southeast England.
(Community & Culture
).
Bast Fibre Commons: Devon, UK.
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Abstract
The production of textiles has become increasingly globalized, with long and opaque supply chains contributing to environmental degradation and labour exploitation. Overproduction due to high-volume fast-fashion cycles burden land-fill sites and compounded by the now dominating use of synthetic fibres add significantly to environmental pollution. Grassroots movements like the Fibreshed movement and The Transition network advocate empowering regional textile communities, the use of local biodegradable materials, ethical labour, and regenerative agricultural practices instead of synthetic or imported fibres and textiles. In 2023, inspired by the Fibreshed ethos and previous “Grow Your Jeans” projects in the US[1] and the UK[2], Brigitte Kaltenbacher initiated “Let’s Grow Flax” (LGF)[3], a community group in Southeast England with the aim of exploring a traditional local plant fibre, i.e. flax, to conserve and revive traditional textile skills but also to build up a network of local growers, artisans and micro production facilities to create bio-regionally produced linen yarn. As a practical outcome, the group aimed to create linen denim jeans as an alternative to standard cotton jeans as their production comes with a dire environmental cost: the use of toxic dyes, excessive water use, and harmful chemicals. Last year, 70 million pairs of jeans were sold in the UK alone.[4] In 2024, the collaboration between LGF, local artisan Brigitte Kaltenbacher and the Fantasy Fibre Mill, one pair of jeans was produced, with all materials produced and sourced within 50 miles of the project base at the Surrey Hampshire border. This case study illustrates how community-driven grassroots movements can drive positive change but also illustrates pointers for future exploration.
| Type: | Report |
|---|---|
| Title: | Community-led textile resilience in Southeast England |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| Publisher version: | https://www.bastfibrecommons.org/2025/04/02/commun... |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | This version is the author-accepted manuscript. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher’s terms and conditions. |
| Keywords: | Flax growing UK, Sustainable Denim, Linen Denim, Regenerative Textiles, Locally grown fabric, Community textile projects, Bast fibre processing, Bio-regional textiles, Flax to Linen, Micro-mills for flax, Flax fibre processing, Slow fashion, Textile sustainability |
| UCL classification: | UCL |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10208647 |
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