The Fascinating World of Human Hair Sweaters: A Dutch Designer's Extraordinary Knitwear
Human Material Loop revolutionizes fashion by ingeniously utilizing human hair as a textile, minimizing waste and fostering a growing industry
Woolen coats and human hair surprisingly share common features beyond just warmth retention - they are both composed of keratin protein fibers. However, a Dutch startup called Human Material Loop is challenging the notion of wasting human hair while clothing made from animal wool is extensively worn.
The ultimate goal of Human Material Loop is to revolutionize the fashion industry by converting human hair into a textile. Currently, they have successfully created prototypes of coats, jumpers, and blazers using human hair, envisioning a future where clothing companies will purchase rolls of this innovative material to incorporate into their own designs.
Co-founder Zsofia Kollar has always been captivated by the potential of hair as a fabric. She found it fascinating how people attach various emotions to their hair, remarking, "It's astonishing how much importance we give to our hair, but once it's trimmed, we are repulsed by it."
When the Covid-19 pandemic emerged, Kollar faced an existential dilemma as a designer and resolved to address the hair industry's problem of waste.
Waste not â¦
In the US and Canada, salons generate 877 pounds of waste every minute. This waste, when it decomposes in a landfill enclosed in a garbage bag without access to oxygen, emits greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change.
The Human Material Loop reveals that 72 million kilograms of human hair waste are deposited in European landfills annually, weighing as much as seven Eiffel Towers.
Kollar specifies that this extensive waste stream lacks a viable scalable solution. Furthermore, she remarks that most countries resort to incinerating this waste, while existing alternative solutions often lack environmental friendliness or widespread suitability.
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Kollar states that utilizing hair fabric is similar to knitting a sweater with any other material. Short hairs are combined and spun into a continuous thread to create yarn, which is then colored with pure pigments. She also mentions that as the company expands production, they may opt to dye either the yarn or fabric, depending on efficiency.
The first prototype of Human Material Loops was a sweater that had a wool-like texture. According to Kollar, the founder, it was important to create a product that people could easily connect with, and the sweater seemed to be the most practical and relatable choice for a prototype.
Following that, the company went on to test various other prototypes. One of them included an outdoor coat filled with hair that offered thermal insulation. This particular prototype was subjected to extreme conditions during an expedition to Aconcagua, the highest mountain in Argentina.
Human Material Loop used hair to insulate this jacket.
Pablo Betancourt/Human Material Loop
Rather than being sold, these designs are intended to provide the material for other designers and brands to utilize. Kollar states that the price will be comparable to wool once it achieves a larger scale of production.
"We are aware that wearing human hair on our bodies is not something that most people are currently open to," stated Kollar. However, she believes that this concept has the potential to gain popularity among the general public. For Kollar, the significance of utilizing human hair extends beyond the novelty or sustainability aspects; she contends that it is an extraordinarily resilient material.
Human Material Loop acquires its hair from salons situated in the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg. Specifically, they gather hair that has been cut or naturally shed, ensuring that it does not contain nuclear DNA that can be used to identify an individual. Efforts are being made to establish a documented chain of custody to track the origin and destination of their materials.
Growing industry
Throughout history, various cultures have utilized human hair as a textile. For instance, the Kiribati tribe in Micronesia skillfully fashioned protective armor using a mixture of natural resources such as coconut fibers, shark teeth, palm leaves, and even human hair. Similarly, during the 13th century, individuals in what is now the Southwestern United States ingeniously formed socks by skillfully intertwining strands of hair.
Human hair, collectively donated from across Japan, was mixed with hemp to create ropes utilized for the reconstruction of Kyotos Higashi Hongan-ji Temple in the 19th century. This temple stands among the world's largest wooden structures and had suffered fire damage prior to its refurbishment.
However, utilizing hair as a textile presents certain difficulties, according to Sanne Visser, a Dutch material researcher, designer, maker, and associate lecturer at the University of the Arts London, who is not affiliated with Human Material Loop.
"Human hair is still subject to a taboo when it comes to being used as a material," she commented. "We do not truly appreciate it as a valuable resource; it is often considered waste, particularly when it is detached from the body."
In her project "Locally Grown" at London's Design Museum, Visser collaborated with hairdressers to envision a future where hair is considered a valuable resource, pioneering the term "hair farming." She additionally reimagined the barber's chair to include a hair-catching feature, which not only saves time for the hairdresser but also aids in recycling efforts.
Visser acknowledges that the integration of human hair into our products is not a straightforward process. "There is still much work to be done in order for people to embrace it as a material," she stated. However, she confidently predicts that with time, human hair will increasingly find its way into our daily lives.
