Why knowing what's in your clothes is an act of awareness, not just information.

Do you know what the clothes you're wearing right now are made from?

Some of you will know straight away. Others have no idea. And some of you are curious, but you can't find it anywhere, especially on that vintage piece you picked up from the op shop with no label left at all.

So why does fibre content actually matter? Let's take a look.

Ultimately, it comes down to a few things: how we can dispose of our garments when we're finished with them, what our garments are shedding into our waterways while we still wear them, and how our garments might be affecting our health and the planet's. This is an important subject, and I've only touched on parts of it before. Knowing what you're wearing helps you make informed decisions, for yourself, your family, and the wider community.

On the chemical side, there's real, ongoing research into synthetic fabrics like polyester and some of the chemicals used in their production and finishing. Antimony is used as a catalyst in making polyester, chemically bound into the fibre at very low levels. Industry sources say it stays locked in and poses no risk. Independent research suggests it may leach out during high-heat dyeing, an unresolved point of disagreement (PETRA's industry position, for one side of it).

Phthalates are a separate matter. They're not part of the polyester fibre itself, they turn up in plasticisers used in some prints and PVC-based coatings applied to garments (more on that here). I can tell you Next State Print, who print my fabrics, don't use plastisol or PVC-based printing at all, they use OEKO-TEX approved, water-based inks, so this particular concern doesn't apply here. If you want to go deeper, both links above are worth a read.

On microplastics, the shedding itself is well established. Washing synthetic textiles is estimated to release between 0.2 and 0.5 million tonnes of microplastics into the oceans each year, according to research cited by the European Environment Agency and the Ellen MacArthur Foundation.

There's also newer research finding microplastics in human placentas, in every sample tested in one recent study, and in amniotic fluid too (the original placenta study, a larger 2024 study). These studies find microplastics of mixed, often unidentified origin, they're not tracing particles back to clothing specifically. Could the clothes we wear every day be part of what's contributing to this?

There's also the everyday, physical side of it. Natural fibres like cotton and linen are breathable, they let air and moisture move through the fabric, part of why they feel cooler and don't cling the way synthetics do. Polyester tends to trap heat and moisture against the skin instead, part of why it can feel hotter to wear, and why it tends to hold onto body odour rather than let it air out.

Then there's the waste itself. Every week, around 15 million garments arrive at Kantamanto Market in Accra, Ghana, one of the world's largest secondhand clothing markets, and roughly 40% of it leaves as waste, ending up in waterways, wetlands, and open burning. In Chile, around 59,000 tonnes of secondhand and unsold clothing arrives at the port of Iquique each year, and up to 40,000 tonnes of it ends up dumped in the Atacama Desert.

I recently watched a social post from @twinbrett (Dr Brett Staniland) describing a visit to a landfill site in Ghana. In his words:

"It was shocking. Like, absolutely shocking. First of all, the scale of the place blew my mind. It was like the size of a town, and it's just landfill. The mountains and mountains of clothing, which cattle kind of graze on top of, some of it's on fire because they need to reduce it, or control it. I remember basically being walked into this landfill site..."

I found that powerful. It's exactly why this deserves a full, proper post of its own soon, this paragraph barely scratches the surface of a problem this size.

So why should we care what fibres are in our clothes? It's not just about choosing renewable inputs over fossil fuels, though that matters. It's our own comfort and health. It's the health of the land, the oceans, and the air we breathe. And it's the hands that actually make our clothes, real people, whose working conditions are shaped by exactly these same choices about fabric and production.

Because it lets us choose fibres that are renewable, and hopefully, one day, fully compostable, a garment made from a single fibre, a monofibre, can actually be recycled. Blends are far harder to separate, and doing so is time-consuming, labour-intensive, and often chemically heavy.

Reading your composition labels is an act of consciousness. It's slowing down, and making an informed decision, rather than just grabbing whatever's on the rack.

So, what fibres does by Audrey & Grace actually use?

Honestly, it's a mixed bag, for a number of reasons. More and more people are checking the fine print on their food labels. We should be doing exactly the same with our clothes, and understanding why it matters.

As the business has grown, knowing what my garments are made from, and in what percentages, has become more and more important. After learning more about circularity, and through my circularity training with Seamless Australia, I've become even more conscious of this, and I want to be clear about exactly what I'm using.

Over recent years I've leaned more heavily towards cotton and natural fibres. I do have a small number of deadstock fabrics in my stash that I'm using up rather than wasting, and some are missing exact percentages, like my wool blend trousers. Rather than leave them out, I've made an educated estimate of their composition so they're properly represented below. They make up a minor part of my stock, so they won't shift the overall picture much.

Right now, my fibre breakdown is approximately: (see the full, year-by-year record on my Fibre Records page)

• Cotton: 87.5%
• Elastane: 5.3%
• Linen: 3.1%
• Polyamide/Nylon: 2.4%
• Wool: 1.3%
• Acetate: 0.2%
• Polyester: 0.1%

Broken down by what's actually named on a label:

• Australian Cotton blend (90% cotton/10% elastane) — underwear, tees, Kitty Dresses: 29.6%
• Australian Cotton blend (92% cotton/8% elastane) — Ruby Jumpers, Miss Bennet Shorts: 16.0%
• 95% cotton/5% elastane blend — Big Bloom, Night Snow, Mother and Child briefs: 21.1%
• Organic Cotton Poplin — Ocean, Hiding Hares skirts, Web top: 16.7%
• Pima Lawn cotton — handkerchiefs, pouches: 5.2%
• GOTS Certified Organic Cotton — Big Bloom skirt: 4.2%
• GOTS Certified Organic Linen: 3.1%
• Remaining deadstock (polyamide, wool blend trousers, cotton/linen/nylon blend): the rest

Monofibre content:

• 100% monofibre: 31.5%
• 95%+ single fibre: 52.6%
• Remaining blends: 47.4%

Questions people ask me

Why does fibre content matter in clothing?
It affects how a garment can be disposed of or recycled at end of life, what it sheds into waterways while you wear and wash it, how it affects your comfort and health, and the working conditions of the people who make it.

What is a monofibre fabric, and why does it matter?
A monofibre fabric is made from a single fibre type with nothing else blended in. It's what makes a garment straightforward to recycle at end of life, since blends are difficult, slow, and often chemically intensive to separate.

Does polyester shed microplastics?
Yes. Washing synthetic textiles is estimated to release between 0.2 and 0.5 million tonnes of microplastics into the ocean every year.

What percentage of by Audrey & Grace's range is monofibre?
31.5% is 100% monofibre, and 52.6% is 95% or more of a single fibre.