Ventile is an all-weather fabric that has grown to be the go-to choice for prestigious lifestyle and luxury brands such as JIL SANDER, Ralph Lauren, and Fred Perry, as well as technical and outdoor labels like C.P. Company and Barbour. 

The storied history of Ventile starts at the the Shirley Institute in Manchester where scientists developed the fabric as a substitute material for fire hoses in the late 1930s. It was then used to outfit the British Air Force during World War II in order to keep pilots cool in the cockpit and protected if they hit water. As the fabric continues to be adopted by today’s apparel industry, Ventile has expanded to be environmentally-friendlier by announcing two new fabric constructions to it the Ventile Eco range. 

Ventile, which has been owned and produced by Swiss firm Stotz & Co AG since 2017, introduced its Eco range in 2018, and currently offers four main fabric solutions. Eco Recycled is made of pre-consumer cotton waste; Eco Organic uses organic, extra-long staple cotton; Eco Hemp is a mix of premium extra-long-staple cotton and hemp fibers; and Ventile Lyocell Fabric uses a lyocell and linen mix resulting in a sustainable, water-repellent fabric made from the wood-like fibers of the eucalyptus tree. 

Under its Eco Recycled solution, the textile manufacturer has developed Eco 420 and Eco 430 – its heaviest, all-weather fabric to date. Both Eco 420 and Eco 430 are made from 100% recycled cotton and feature a contrasting-weave, and as the company notes, are “substantially different from anything we have produced here at Ventile before.” Both fabrics were created to push what’s possible with recycled yarns which typically results in coarse materials.

“When we go through the process of developing a new fabric, we are always guided by our heritage,” said Ventile Marketing Manager Daniel Odermatt. “The inspiration behind the 420 and 430 fabrics is the drive to innovate, just like the scientists that developed Ventile back in 1943. For these new products we wanted to add a different dimension to our Eco range and play with how we use color and coarse yarns in our fabric, and we are thrilled with the results.”

Although Ventile continues its commitment to more sustainable material offerings, the manufacturer has received its fair share of criticism over the years. For example, the traditional Ventile fabric is said to be Durable Water Repellant-treated with C6 fluorocarbons. Although Stotz has claimed the company has stopped using cancer-linking C8, the use of C6 still raises concerns despite it being an alternative. 

To note however, Ventile states its Eco Recycled collection is produced using a PFC-free Durable Water Repellency.

That’s why the emphasis of the Ventile Eco range is important. These are steps toward making fully weather-proof materials without doing harm to the environment. Or at least actively mitigating any of today’s current harm – for now. 

To learn more about Ventile and its growing Eco range, head over to ventile.co.uk.

In other material news, lululemon just revealed the world’s first yoga collection made from mycelium leather.