The fashion industry appears to be weaning itself off using real fur.
Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana, the official nonprofit governing body that regulates, coordinates and promotes the Italian fashion industry, recently released voluntary guidelines discouraging the use of fur at Milan Fashion Week, stopping just short of banning it entirely. The CFDA banned fur from being shown at official New York Fashion Week events last December. Etsy announced it will stop the sale of all animal fur regardless of age or origin. In 2023, California became the first state to make it illegal to manufacture or sell new fur products, followed by several municipalities in Massachusetts.
Now, companies like Biofur — which produces a bio-based material designed to deliver the same beauty, warmth, loft and performance of premium faux fur or sherpa — are urging decision-makers to use fur alternatives that don’t contribute to fashion’s petrochemical or persistent synthetic microplastic concerns.
Biofur founder and creative director Kym Canter — a former fashion editor and J. Mendel creative director — has had a front view seat to fashion’s fur evolution.
“Biofur was created to solve a major gap in the textile market: brands were being asked to move away from animal fur, but the dominant alternative was petroleum-based faux fur and sherpa,” Canter said. “We wanted to create a material that was neither animal-dependent nor oil-dependent— a soft, warm, luxurious pile textile made from renewable, bio-based inputs.”
Biofur’s primary raw material is PLA, a bio-based polymer derived from renewable corn feedstocks. This plant-based feedstock is what sets the material apart from other faux-fur materials, which are often made from polyester, acrylic or other petroleum-derived synthetics.
“The sugars are fermented and converted into lactic acid, which is then processed into lactide and polymerized into PLA. That PLA is extruded into fiber, spun or processed into yarn, and then knitted into pile textile constructions,” Canter explained. For some specialty products, the firm uses a lyocell backing.
The New York City-based company’s product portfolio includes BioSherpa and BioBunny. Both materials are made from 98 percent bio-based polymers and 2 percent minerals and were developed with Senbis Polymer Innovations.
Biofur
Biofur has been developed to work in real manufacturing conditions. It can be cut, sewn, lined, sampled, and produced using familiar apparel and textile processes. Canter said the goal is to “make adoption as seamless as possible” for brands already using faux fur, sherpa, fleece or shearling alternatives. The material is also fully customizable. Brands can select colors, pile lengths, textures, weights and hand feels.
While several factors are accelerating demand for fur alternatives, circular textile regulations may be the most forceful. Canter said new EU textile waste and producer responsibility rules are increasing pressure on brands to rethink materials before products reach the market.
However, market adoption remains the biggest barrier to scaling Biofur. “The biggest challenges are not philosophical; brands want alternatives,” Canter said. “The challenges are technical and commercial: matching exact hand feel, pile density, color, price, lead times, testing requirements, and performance standards for each product category. Every brand has different needs, so development often requires sampling, refinement and collaboration.”
Though the fast-fashion segment has proven how quickly a new color or silhouette can be cut, sewn and sold, the general fashion industry moves at a glacial pace when it comes to giving new sustainable innovations the opportunity to make an impact. “Fashion brands change core materials slowly, especially when performance, compliance and cost are involved,” Canter said. “Scaling also requires larger committed orders so mills can optimize production and bring costs down.”
Biofur was designed for mass consumption and to have price parity with its polyester and petroleum counterparts. “It may not always match the lowest-cost petroleum synthetic at small quantities, but the value proposition is stronger when brands consider sustainability, compliance, innovation and long-term material risk,” Canter said.
Biofur materials are commercially ready for sampling and production, with current lead times around 10-12 weeks. Canter said capacity depends on construction, color, order size and mill scheduling, but the “platform has been built for commercial brand adoption.”
This story was publish in Sourcing Journal’s material innovation report. Click here to download.
