Menswear brand Gomorrah launches compostable fashion collection

Biodegradable fashion could play a key factor in the industry’s fight against waste and climate change. Many fabrics and materials are not biodegradable, even if the fabric’s origins would cause it to break down eventually, any treatments in the finishing process, like dying, processing and washing, may release hazardous chemicals and prevent nature from doing its course.

With that in mind, Gomorrah, a mission-driven menswear brand, said it will launch a 100 percent compostable menswear line. The collection will feature plant-based, compostable products made with 100 percent certified organic materials.

Originally only two products have made the grade, a compostable t-shirt and a shirt. The shirt’s buttons are made using plant-based buttons so that both styles are vegan and environmentally friendly.

“We need new apparel companies with progressive business models to offer better products with more value,” said Itzett Romero and Max Sudak, co-founders of Gomorrah. “It’s vital to not place undue stress on the environment in the interest of business and profit. We’re at a point where human activity is the number one driver of planetary change. Traditional garment making is emission heavy and unhealthy for factory workers and their surrounding communities. Clothes are polluting the earth throughout their entire lifecycle, with 50 percent of all plastic microfiber emissions occurring while on the body. So we eat, breathe, and drink our clothes. It’s in our lungs and blood. Additionally, we’re sending plastic back into the ocean during every wash.”

American dispose 80 pounds of clothing

Americans purchase close to 70 garments each year. A growth of five times the amount since the 1980s, before the advent of 'fast fashion'. “Meanwhile, we throw out around 80 pounds of clothing during that time. Gomorrah is pioneering a new level of expectation from consumers on how apparel companies operate while educating them on the effects traditional garment making and throw-away culture have on our planet,” the compmany said in a statement.

Garments are generally not produced to be fully compostable, even if they’re made with 100 percent natural fibers or are 100 percent organic. The thread, buttons, and labels are typically made with synthetics and use toxic dyes. Gomorrah said it sources only plant-based fabrics and trims that are completely safe from a human-ecological standpoint and can go directly into a compost bin after years of use. Everything including thread, labels, and buttons sprouts up from the earth and gets dipped in low-impact, non-toxic dyes.

“Gomorrah is working to solve for post-consumer textile waste and the stress Americans are placing on other countries as a result of our consumption habits,” said the co-founders. “The answer isn’t to stop purchasing clothes and put millions of people out of work, but to disrupt an industry, surface a model, and have consumers make demands of other brands through the power of their dollars after they see that the model works – and that it even works in the luxury apparel space.”

Gomorrah was founded in 2020 in New York City and is a self-funded, ethically sourced menswear brand, a member of 1 percent for the Planet, and a partner of One Tree Planted. A percentage of every unit sold is earmarked for US reforestation efforts.