As the industry seeks to source more sustainable materials, one aspect of garment composition that should not be overlooked is trims, according to Assef Shaikh, CEO of Bangladesh-based components manufacturer Harnest.
When added up, all the trims that go into a garment—threads, elastics, labels, drawstrings and more—comprise roughly 40 percent of its bill of materials. And these often-hidden components can quickly make or break an article’s recyclability or biodegradability.
“You can build a garment from the most responsible fabric on the market, but if the thread holding it together cannot be recycled, you have undermined the whole product,” Shaikh told Sourcing Journal. He quoted the figure from Textile Exchange that under 1 percent of garments undergo textile-to-textile recycling. “Trims are a big reason that number has stayed so stubbornly low, and they are also one of the clearest opportunities to move it.”
Another factor driving more industry attention toward trims is legislation. “Regulation is forcing brands to account for the full bill of materials, not just the headline fabric, and we are fielding far more questions from sourcing and sustainability teams about component-level compliance,” Shaikh noted.
Meeting this industry momentum, Harnest is building up its Responsible Trims Collection with a wider range of innovative materials. The platform first launched earlier this year with OceanSafe’s naNea biodegradable polyester, a lower impact alternative to the conventional polyester popularly used in sewing thread and elastics. Shaikh noted that naNea’s close resemblance to the familiar fiber made it “a responsible material a brand could actually order, not a concept.”
Expanding on this and giving customers more options to meet varied needs, Harnest has newly added trims made from textile-to-textile recycled polyester via Ambercycle and Indorama Ventures. The scale of Indorama Ventures’ recycled polyester production allows for both high-volume supply as well as pricing that fits into mass brands’ budgets. Ambercycle’s molecularly regenerated Cycora is newer to the field, and Harnest’s collection showcases how it can be used in more than fabrics. “The work has been about proving the material in a live manufacturing environment, engineering it, testing it and scaling it, rather than parking it in a single showcase product,” said Shaikh.
Harnest’s vertical operations span Tier 2 and Tier 3, encompassing twisting, covering, dyeing and finishing. Because the sustainable trim offerings are flowing through its existing production lines, it is able to offer them at comparable pricing to those made of conventional materials.
When choosing responsible inputs for this platform, Harnest has prioritized performance, testing inputs to ensure they can withstand production processes. It has incorporated natural materials where possible, such as drawcords and drawstrings fashioned from Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS)-certified cotton. But items like elastics still rely on performance aspects of synthetic fibers.
Another focus has been creating drop-in solutions, for both Harnest’s own manufacturing lines and its customers’. “No brand should have to rebuild its supply chain to use a better material,” said Shaikh. “If responsible inputs cannot move through existing sourcing and production systems, adoption stalls, so removing that friction was the brief from day one.”
Looking ahead, Harnest has plans to expand the Responsible Trims Collection further this year, incorporating a wider array of lower impact materials and growing the category offerings featuring inputs from its existing partners, which also include textile recycler BlockTexx and recycled polyester maker Jiaren.
“What we are doing with trims is one part of how Bangladesh’s manufacturing base is changing—moving beyond cost and volume toward engineered, responsible production,” said Shaikh.
