The future of colour is brewing. Colorifix is on a journey to replace petrochemical-based textile dyes with ones made from microbes. The result? Vibrant dyes that use:
- 77% less water
- 19% less energy
- 31% fewer carbon emissions
There’s a bright future ahead for textile dyeing.
A toxic legacy
Most commercial textile dyeing is grim. It is responsible for about 20% of global industrial water pollution. Most dyes are:
- Made from petrochemicals
- Water-intensive
- Harmful to garment workers, nearby communities, waterways, and even those wearing the clothes
A sticky status quo
Alternatives are a hard sell because:
- Synthetic dyes are cheap, reliable and have wide colour ranges
- Sustainable alternatives often fade, cost more, or require completely new machinery in factories
This makes it incredibly hard for alternatives to break into the mainstream system.
A bright idea
Colorifix is changing the game. They use engineered microorganisms that work like tiny colour factories. Compared to conventional methods, this process uses:
- 77% less water
- 31% fewer carbon emissions
- 19% less energy
“We get inspiration from nature, rather than extracting from nature,” says Orr Yarkoni, co-founder of Colorifix.
How they do it
- Find a colour in nature.
- Pinpoint the exact genes that make that pigment from online DNA databases.
- Build the DNA, and insert it into the Colorifix microbes.
- Grow these engineered microbes in a fermentor.
- Pump everything from the fermentor into standard dyeing machines.
Plug and play
Colorifix stands out because it’s scalable.
No factory overhauls are required. The biological process slots into existing infrastructure, which makes adoption easier and quicker for fashion brands.
Getting the green light
Momentum is building. Colorix’s achievements are:
- Finalist for 2023 Earthshot Prize (Waste-Free Solutions category)
- Closed a $18 million investment round led by Inter IKEA Group with goals to fuel commercial expansion worldwide
- Piloting with brands like H&M and Pangaia.
Fashion futures
The fashion industry is changing, with the support for Colorifix proving that the market is ready for alternatives.
To learn more about the future of fashion on our continent, join us at African Textile Talks this August.
Sources
- British Vogue
- Colorifix
- Colorifix: IKEA investment
- Forbes: Dyeing For Fashion
- LinkedIn: Luke Henning
