No Ordinary Cloth: Textile innovations in future materials, manufacturing and sustainability

By Mili Tharakan

Listen to a podcast, please open Podcast Republic app. Available on Google Play Store and Apple App Store.

Image by Mili Tharakan

Category: Design

Open in Apple Podcasts


Open RSS feed


Open Website


Rate for this podcast

Subscribers: 5
Reviews: 0
Episodes: 36

Description

Textiles matter! It is the most ubiquitous and powerful material we live with - it has the power to fulfil both our senses and our soul. 

Textile innovation is shaping the future of materials, manufacturing, and the products we use every day, with sustainability and circularity driving a radical revolution.

Most conversations about the textile industry focus on fashion trends, finished products, or sustainability claims. Others focus on breakthrough technologies without explaining how they move from laboratory experiments to real-world adoption.

The most important shifts happen further upstream: where researchers, designers, material scientists, entrepreneurs, manufacturers, and innovators are creating the future materials that will define the next generation of textiles.

That's what No Ordinary Cloth explores.

Host Mili Tharakan, a smart textiles innovator and researcher, unpacks textile material and manufacturing innovations from idea to market adoption, through her conversations with pioneers and global experts radically transforming the textile industry around the world. 

Through these in-depth conversations, you'll explore emerging textile technology, textile engineering breakthroughs, sustainable textiles, biomaterials, next gen materials, textile manufacturing innovation, circular systems, smart textiles, materials commercialisation, and the future of textile manufacturing.

From biodegradable textiles and bio based fibres to digital transformation, advanced technical textiles, responsible sourcing, and industry-wide transformation, each episode explores how innovation moves from idea to impact.

If you're interested in textile innovation, future materials, sustainable textiles, fashion, and the people building the future fabric of our world, this show will help you understand where the industry is heading and why it matters.

This show brings alive the myriad facets of the complex world of Textiles - a world where there are no ordinary cloths and fabrics have the power to change us and our world.

Popular Episode Topics Include: Textile Innovation, Future Materials, Sustainable Textiles, Fashion, Biomaterials, Next Gen Materials, Textile Engineering, Emerging Textile Technology, Smart Textiles, Advanced Textiles, Technical Textiles, Textile R&D, Textile Manufacturing Technology, Future Fabric, Circular Fashion, Textile Recycling, Regenerative Materials,  Supply Chain Transparency, Digital Product Passports, Materials Commercialisation, Textile Industry Transformation. 

Listen and be inspired, find new connections and create extraordinary textiles...

Connect with Mili Tharakan:  Linkedin  I  Instagram  I  Website

Email: mili@militharakan.com

Your support means the world to me, if you enjoyed this podcast why not consider buying me a coffee

Credits

Cover art: Photo by Siora Photography on Unsplash

Music: Inspired Ambient, Orchestraman


Episode Date
Ep 35. Weaving out Waste: How WEFFAN is Forming Garments within Fabric with Graysha Audren
Aug 05, 2026
Ep 34. From Wetlands to Wardrobes: What If Fashion Could Help Heal the Planet? with Julian Ellis-Brown
May 15, 2026
Ep 33. Part 3 I Clean Run: Detoxing the Running Jacket I Care, Repair and Recycle with Charlotte Krist, Shay Sethi and Wajahat Hussain
May 11, 2026
Ep 32. Part 2 I Clean Run: Detoxing the Running Jacket I Dye, Finish and Construction with Jean Francoise Benoit, Jun Kamei and Matthais Feossel
Apr 23, 2026
Ep 31. Part 1 I Clean Run: Detoxing the Running Jacket I Fibre and Fabric with Hitesh Manglani, Jeanne Begon-Lours and Khorceska Batyrova
Apr 08, 2026
🌱 Ep 30. Behind the Label: How Data is Rewriting the Rules of Fashion with Jothi Kanayala and Atnyel Guedj (x Fashion District
Apr 02, 2026
🌱 Ep 29. Cotton, Soil & Solar: Re‑imagining the "Quiet King" of Textiles with Catherine Bottrill and Felix Bartlett (x Fashion District)
Feb 16, 2026
Ep 28. AI Robotics for Fabrics and the Future of Stitchless Garment Making with Cam Myers
Feb 03, 2026
Ep 27. Sustainability Through Longevity: Emotional Durability in Fashion with Charles Ross
Jan 07, 2026
🌱 Ep 26. Clothing Poverty, Pre-loved South Asian Wedding Fashion and Building Community for Change with Anoli Mehta and Sol Escobar (x Fashion District)
Oct 16, 2025
Ep 25. Turning Agri Waste to Cellulose Fibre, High-Tech Naturalism and the Making of a Fashion Scientist with Amanda Parkes
Sep 29, 2025
Ep 24. Medicine-Embedded Textiles: Reimagining Fabric for Pain Relief and Healing with Bradley Seese
Aug 04, 2025
🌱 Ep 23. Stitching together South American Folklore, Migration and Community with Jennifer Droguett Espinosa (x Fashion District)
Jul 18, 2025
🌱 Ep 22. Beyond the Bin: Fight Against Fashion Waste with Annabel Hought and Yayra Agbofah (x Fashion District)
Jun 02, 2025
🌱 Ep 21: Circular Fashion in Action: Insights From Luxury to Highstreet Brands with Laetitia Forst, Patrick McDowell and Philippa Grogan (x Fashion District)
May 18, 2025
🌱 Ep 20. Ecosystem Builders Transforming Fashion from the Inside Out with Amy Tsang, Georgia Parker and Helen Lax (x Fashion District)
Apr 03, 2025
Ep 19. Now and the Future of Smart Textiles with Victoria Nickerson
Mar 18, 2025
Ep 18: Investor Insights for Fashion and Textile Startups with Gabbie Swycher, Joseph Aziz and Nic Gorini (x Fashion District)
Feb 12, 2025
Ep 17. Scaling an E-textiles Startup and Soft Electronics for the Auto Industry with Madison Maxey
Nov 04, 2024
Ep 16. A Catalyst Shaping the Future of Sustainable and Ethical Fabric with Nina Marenzi and Amanda Johnston
Sep 29, 2024
🌱 Ep 15. Brewing Beer for Bio-Leather with Brett Cotten (x Fashion District)
Sep 10, 2024
🌱 Ep 14. Farm to Fibre: Spinning Yarn from Potatoes (x Fashion District)
Aug 08, 2024
Ep 13. 3D Weaving Yarns into Garments and Zero Inventory Circular Fashion with Beth Esponnette
Jul 24, 2024
🌱 Ep 12. Strategies and Ecosystems for Fashion / Textile Startup Success with Brooke Roberts-Islam, Helene Steiner, Jim Ajioka (x Fashion District)
Jun 24, 2024
Ep 11. Dreaming of Weaving Clouds and Inventing the Digital Jacquard Handloom with Vibeke Vestby
May 27, 2024
Ep 10. Disobedient Fabrics: A Journey in Smart Textiles with Linda Worbin (Part 2)
Apr 29, 2024
Ep 9. Disobedient Fabrics: A Journey in Smart Textiles with Linda Worbin (Part 1)
Apr 29, 2024
Ep8. Energy Harvesting Nanotech Fibres for Wearables and Women in Science with Sohini Kar-Narayan
Mar 15, 2024
Ep.7 ⭐️ Fashion District Manufacturing Futures Innovation Challenge 2024
Feb 28, 2024
Ep 6. AI for Zero Waste Fabric, Sustainability and Traceability in Textile Factories with Gilberto Loureiro
Feb 16, 2024
Ep 5. Indigo-Dyed Fabric Migration and Thinking Through Making with Mika Satomi
Jan 13, 2024
Ep 4. Unboxing Science to Make Future Fabrics with Anastasia Pistofidou
Dec 15, 2023
Ep 3: Knitting Mathematics and Musical Textiles with Sophie Skach
Nov 24, 2023
Ep 2: From Garden waste to Leather with Daniela Rondinone
Oct 09, 2023
Ep 1: Light and Lace with Sara Robertson
Oct 09, 2023
Trailer
Oct 09, 2023