Miami Entrepreneur Finds Unique Way to Fight Fast Fashion Pollution

Fast fashion brands are a major contributor to the world’s pollution. But one Florida business is finding a unique way to make the industry more environmentally friendly.

Patricia Ermecheo is the founder of Osomtex, a Miami-based fashion company that makes recycled fabric and yarn out of potential fashion waste.

Ermecheo was already working on the business when she traveled to Ghana and 2018. There, she got to see where 70 percent of the world’s donated clothing is shipped to, and where many garments ultimately end up in landfills.

The company uses a patented process to transform everything from old t-shirts to bed sheets into threads that can be woven into new garments.

In addition to keeping clothes out of landfills, the process uses no water and no chemicals, which is significant because the fashion industry produces about 20 percent of the world’s wastewater.

Ermecheo told Local 10 News in Miami, “You manufacture the product, the product gets a life, gets used, and then we get that product and transform it back into raw material and incorporate that product back into the circle.”

And it’s not just environmental enthusiasts who are patronizing the company. So far, Osomtex has made shoes for Nike, uniforms for Olympic athletes, and even socks that have been worn into space by SpaceX astronauts.

The pollution created by the fast fashion industry is a real problem. And some brands have tried to combat it by creating garments that are made to be worn for longer periods instead of going right into landfills. However, Osomtex is taking a more direct approach by turning would-be discarded clothes into new garments. If the company can produce items of high quality that consumers will actually pay a premium for, it may make a major impact on both the company’s success and the problem of pollution from the industry.

Image: Envato