No Ordinary Cloth: At the intersection of textiles, emerging tech, craft and sustainability

About No Ordinary Cloth: At the intersection of textiles, emerging tech, craft and sustainability

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 innovations are shaping the future of materials, manufacturing, and the products we use every day, with sustainability and circularity driving a radical revolution. The most important shifts in our industry are happening 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, sustainable textiles, biomaterials, next gen materials, textile manufacturing innovation, circular systems, commercialisation and the future of fashion and technical textiles. 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 (https://www.linkedin.com/in/mjtharakan/) I Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/noordinarycloth/) I Website (https://www.noordinarycloth.com/) Email: mili@militharakan.com Your support means the world to me, if you enjoyed this podcast why not consider buying me a coffee (https://www.buymeacoffee.com/noordinarycloth) Credits Cover art: Photo by Siora Photography on Unsplash Music: Inspired Ambient, Orchestraman

Publisher

Mili Tharakan

Category

arts · leisure · society & culture · technology

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

9 Oct 2023

Latest episode

11 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

39 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   11 Oct 2026

   Ep 37. Velvety Natural Flock Fibres from Textile Waste with Sara Robertson, Annika Syrjamäki and Sarah Taylor

   Flocking is one of those techniques we have all touched without knowing its name: the velvety surface on a wallpaper, a piece of packaging, a couture garment or a car dashboard. It is made from tiny fibres, electrostatically charged so they stand upright in an adhesive, and for most of its history those fibres have been nylon, polyester or viscose. In this episode of No Ordinary Cloth, Mili is joined by Sara Robertson and Sarah Taylor of Sara + Sarah Smart Textile Design, and Annika Syrjämäki of Maison du Flock, the team behind FLOCC, a Scotland-Netherlands collaboration. This work begins on the finishing floor of MYB Textiles, a heritage lace mill in Scotland, where yarn clipped from finished cloth collects in bags beside the machines. FLOCC turns those cotton clippings, and later silk and mixed-fibre waste from Sudbury Silk Mills, into flock fibre that is, in Sara's words, "baby soft". In this conversation, we discuss * An explanation to the flocking technique and why the usual nylon, polyester and viscose fibres are a microfibre problem * Where FLOCC began: the yarn clippings collected at the side of the machines at MYB Textiles, and why a lace mill's cotton clippings are already short enough to be a good flock fibre * The route from waste to flock * Cotton, silk and mixed-fibre waste and the range of flock fibre that can be produced. Scaling to100m of flocked fabric * The search for a bio- adhesive * Passing testing and standards * The scale catch-22: recyclers need bigger scale, small studios need a kilo or two * What the team learnt at Future Fabrics Expo and Textiles Recycling Expo * What they would tell someone at the start of a similar journey Resources FLOCC [https://www.smarttextile.design/flocc]: contact for samples and pilot production. Instagram: @smarttextiledesign FLOCC Linktree [https://linktr.ee/flocc___] Maison du Flock [http://www.maisonduflock.com/]: for high-end flocking MYB Textiles [https://www.lovenewmilns.org/myb-textiles]: 126 year old Scottish mill that produces lace A special thanks to Creative Scotland's Go See Share [https://www.creativescotland.com/funding/funding-programmes/targeted-funding/go-see-share-creative-industries-fund] fund for supporting the FLOCC team attendance at Future Fabrics Expo FLOCC has been developed with support from Innovate UK, Edinburgh Napier University, the WORTH Partnership Project, and Creative Scotland through its Crowdfunding Match Funding and Go See Share programmes. Swarovski Foundation: Creatives for our Future [https://creatives.swarovskifoundation.org/] grant programme. Closing date 9th November 2026 Connect with Mili:  LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/mjtharakan/]   |   Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/noordinarycloth/]   |   Buy me a coffee [https://buymeacoffee.com/noordinarycloth] Recommended listening - Ep 1. Light and Lace with Sara Robertson - Ep 22. Fight Against Fashion Waste - Ep 36. Recycling Nylon Waste If you enjoyed this, please share the episode with a friend or colleague. Subscribe and leave a review, I love to hear your feedback. Cover art: Photo by Siora, Photography on Unsplash Music: Inspired Ambient, Orchestraman

2. 

   7 Sept 2026

   🌱 Ep 36. Enzymes, Antennas and the Valley of Death: How Startups Are Scaling their Innovations with Luciano Caruso and Chloe So (xFashion District)

   This is a special episode in partnership with Fashion District London What actually happens in the years between "the science works" and "we're a real supplier"? In this episode of No Ordinary Cloth, Mili is joined by two founders walking that tightrope right now — mid-crossing, not the polished after-the-fact version of the story. Luciano Caruso, Chief Commercial Officer of Epoch Biodesign, explains how the company's AI-designed enzymes recycle nylon — including nylon 6.6, the tough, blended, historically unrecyclable material behind everything from yoga pants to tyre cords to under-the-bonnet automotive parts — at room temperature, without the heat, pressure and harsh chemicals of conventional chemical recycling. Fresh off acquiring a 52,000-ton-capacity polymer plant in Spain, he walks through what it actually takes to de-risk a deep-tech material business: technology milestones, then production milestones, then commercial milestones, each one making the next round of investment easier to raise. Chloe So, co-founder and CEO of Pulpatronics, is solving a much smaller-looking problem with an equally large footprint: the roughly 45 billion RFID tags thrown away every year, each one built around a metal antenna that jams recycling processes. Pulpatronics turns paper itself into that antenna using laser-etched circuits, cutting CO2 emissions by 60% and cost by 30% — and she's candid about what it actually looks like to scale from 50 hand-finished tags a day toward the millions the industry runs on. In this conversation, we discuss * Why nylon — despite being one of the most useful materials on earth, from apparel to airbags to EV battery trays — is so stubbornly hard to recycle, and how Epoch's AI-designed enzymes "unbake the cake" at room temperature instead of using heat, pressure and harsh chemicals * What's actually inside the RFID tag on every clothing hang tag, why it can't easily be recycled, and how Pulpatronics replaces the metal antenna with a laser-etched paper circuit * The "valley of death" in plain terms: the gap between science that works and a business that's self-sufficient, and the different way each founder is trying to close it — technology, production and commercial milestones for Epoch; first repeat customers and manufacturing scale-up for Pulpatronics * Why Epoch bought a 60-person, 60-year-old polymer plant in Spain rather than building one from scratch, and what "de-risking" actually looks like for a deep-tech material startup * Why big corporates hesitate to invest in or partner with startups even once the technology is proven — and what it actually takes to become a "drop-in" solution, commercially as well as technically * The moment Chloe's team pulled its own R&D engineers onto the factory floor to hand-build a customer's sample order — and what that period of pressure did for the team * Why ecosystem partners — accelerators, university networks, corporate investors like Inditex, Lululemon and H&M Foundation — matter as much as the technology itself * What's kept each founder going, and the advice they'd give other founders Resources: Epoch Biodesign [https://www.epochbiodesign.com/] Pulpatronics [https://www.pulpatronics.com/] Connect with Mili:  LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/mjtharakan/]   |   Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/noordinarycloth/]   |   Buy me a coffee [https://buymeacoffee.com/noordinarycloth] Subscribe and leave a review — I love to hear your feedback. Recommended listening: Ep 20. Ecosystem Partners for Textile Startups (Fashion for Good, Fashion District & Mills Fabrica) Cover art: Photo by Siora, Photography on Unsplash. Music: Inspired Ambient, Orchestraman

3. 

   5 Aug 2026

   Ep 35. Weaving out Waste: How WEFFAN is Forming Garments within Fabric with Graysha Audren

   What if the fashion industry didn't have to create waste in the first place? In this episode of No Ordinary Cloth, Mili sits down with textile designer and founder of WEFFAN, Graysha Audren, to explore a radically different way of making clothes: garments that are folded, flat‑packed and "baked" straight into the weave on a jacquard loom. From an olive‑green 3D‑woven shirt on a small table at Future Fabrics Expo to a 3D‑woven tailored suit in Balenciaga stores, Graysha walks us through how WEFFAN's origami‑inspired 3D weaving technology embeds garment shape directly into the fabric, designs out off‑cut waste, and collapses traditional textile and garment manufacturing into a single, elegant workflow. Along the way, we talk about the craft behind this innovation, the human journey of building an idea from student "baby trousers" to couture‑level production, and what it might mean for the factories, designers and weavers who shape fashion's future. In this conversation, we discuss * How WEFFAN's 3D weaving process "flat‑packs" garments inside the fabric and releases them into 3D form through a cut‑and‑release step. * Why waste is a design decision, and how embedding garment shape in the weave can remove off‑cuts and reduce yarn use before waste is ever created * The Balenciaga collaboration: what it took to go from experiment to a 3D‑woven tailored suit on the shop floor, and what changed in production lead times and sew time * The new design language of 3D‑woven garments – seamless pockets, pattern‑matched stripes, engineered fabric densities and mono‑material construction that's easier to recycle. * Bringing together software, jacquard weaving and origami logic to build a plug‑and‑play system that works on existing looms, rather than asking the industry to invest in new hardware * What this technology could mean for on‑demand manufacturing, shorter supply chains and the factories of the future where fabric and garment are made in one step * Graysha's personal story: from Central Saint Martins and an obsession with textiles to the "baby trouser" that sparked WEFFAN, and why she now sees her youthful naïveté as an advantage in rethinking old systems Key takeaways * Designing out waste starts at the design stage: when we change the construction logic, we change the amount of fabric and time a garment requires. * 3D weaving on existing jacquard looms can be both deeply craft‑based and radically efficient, opening a new aesthetic and technical language for woven garments without discarding the skills and machines we already have. WEFFAN: Website [https://www.weffan.co/]  |  Linkedin [https://www.linkedin.com/in/graysha-audren/] Connect with Mili:  LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/mjtharakan/]  I  Insta [https://www.instagram.com/noordinarycloth/]  I  Buy me a coffee [https://buymeacoffee.com/noordinarycloth] If you enjoyed this, please share the episode with a friend or colleague. Subscribe and leave a review, I would love to hear your feedback. Recommended listening for 3D garment construction technologies: Ep 13. 3D Weaving Yarns into Garments and Zero Inventory Circular Fashion with Beth Esponnette Ep 28. AI Robotics for Fabrics and the Future of Stitcheless Garment Making with Cam Myers Cover art: Photo by Siora, Photography on Unsplash. Music: Inspired Ambient, Orchestraman

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

5 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

14 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 48 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

48

Social presence

91

YouTube

0

Engagement

71

Contact No Ordinary Cloth: At the intersection of textiles, emerging tech, craft and sustainability

Guest appearances

Does not typically book guests

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