October 30, 2026 · Verified

IWTO’s Dalena White: Fibre Choice Decides How a Garment Ends

Dalena White, Secretary General of the IWTO, in conversation with The Silent Luxury Magazine. “The new luxury is health and wellness. We are moving away from bling bling and labels, towards something that is luxurious for you because of its health benefits.”

Wool biodegrades in soil and polyester does not, yet that difference barely registers in the footprint methods that steer the market, says Dalena White, Secretary General of the International Wool Textile Organisation. She argues that policy should start with the choice of fibre rather than with tax relief at the end of a garment’s life.

Eva Winterer

For the International Wool Textile Organisation (IWTO), wool is not disappearing. It is being outnumbered. The world still grows about a million tonnes of it a year while polyester adds millions, and wool’s share of all fibre slipped from 0.9 to 0.7 percent in 2025. Dalena White does not ask whether wool is good enough. She asks whether the rules of the market can see what it is. As Secretary General of IWTO in Brussels, which speaks for the trade from the farm to the finished garment, she argues that the footprint methods steering brands and regulators barely count where a fibre ends up. She answered The Silent Luxury’s questions in writing for the deep dive Where Luxury Begins: The Value of Natural Fibre, From the Karoo to Vittorio Veneto, and the interview appears here in full during Wool Month, the Campaign for Wool’s yearly reminder to check the label.

“Fibre choice determines a garment’s end of life. Policy should start there, with fibre choice.”

Dalena White, International Wool Textile Organisation

Share and Volume: IWTO on Whether Wool Production Is Sustainable

Wool is losing share without losing volume. Is the problem wool, or a market that rewards the cheapest fibre?

The problem is not wool. Global wool production is falling year on year, as farmers leave the industry, caught between low returns on the auction floor and rising input costs on farm. Climate change and shifting rainfall patterns make planning for a sustainable agri-business almost impossible, if the risk is not offset with decent returns.

Natural fibres have to prove where they come from. Do synthetic fibres face the same test?

High sustainability standards, such as traceability to farm, fall on natural fibres. Farmers must meet the requirement of, often, numerous certification schemes in order to access retail markets. The costs are borne here. What are the traceability and sustainability standards for fossil-derived fibres? They do not exist. Polyester, nylon and acrylics do not have to prove their sustainability credentials, and the origins of the oil they are derived from remain unquestioned. On this uneven playing field, the cheapest fibre wins, and less wool is produced.

Where a Garment Ends: Why Wool Biodegrades and Polyester Does Not

Follow two jumpers to the end of their lives, one wool, one polyester. What happens to each?

At the end of its life, a wool garment has somewhere to go. Wool is a protein fibre and as such, it biodegrades readily on land and in soil. Before it reaches that point, however, it still has a long way to go. Wool garments tend to have long use lifetimes. After a first owner, a wool garment is likely to be passed on, resold or recycled. Wool has one of the oldest recycling industries in textiles.

In contrast, synthetic fibres like polyester do not readily biodegrade. Experiments in burying samples of different fibre types yield this result over and over. A wool jumper begins to be broken down by fungi and microorganisms. A polyester jumper can be dug up, laundered and worn as though nothing happened.

Recycling was supposed to close that gap. What is holding it back?

The textile recycling industry is building capacity and aims to scale up, but recycled fibres remain more expensive than virgin. In a price-driven retail market, they struggle to attract attention from textile buyers, as the costing sheet does not yet reflect the sustainability benefits.

Why is the difference between the two fibres missing from the circularity debate?

The difference is missing from the debate because it is missing from the measurement. Circularity is not an indicator in current footprinting methodologies, such as the Worldly/Higg MSI or the EU’s Product Environmental Footprint Category Rules (PEFCR). Biodegradability is included in the PEF, but not to the extent that it makes any difference to the final score of the fibre. The effect of the current methods is that fossil fuel-based fibres appear more favourable.

IWTO’s new Green Book sets out the science behind wool’s circularity and sustainability credentials, including biodegradability, recyclability and how wool works within the planet’s biogenic carbon system.

Raw wool in black and white lies side by side, waiting to be blended. — Wool is a protein fibre and biodegrades readily on land and in soil. Photo: The Silent Luxury

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Where Policy Should Start: How IWTO Would Measure Wool’s Sustainability

The fashion industry is asking governments for tax relief on resale and repair. Should policy reward the choice of fibre instead, at the very beginning?

Fibre choice determines a garment’s end of life. Policy should start there, with fibre choice. Tax relief on resale and repair helps, but as this applies to every garment irrespective of what it is made of, it has no bearing on fibre choice. It would take serious policy interventions to curb the production of low-quality textiles and to reward high-value textiles for staying in circulation longer.

If you could write the rules, what would they measure?

Footprinting methods that count the impact of microplastic release, and reward renewability and biodegradability. Traceability requirements for all fibre types, not only the natural fibres. Producer responsibility fees based on how long garments are actually worn, measured through waste audits rather than assumptions.

Rules change slowly. What can the buyer do in the meantime?

It will also take consumer education. Labelling is part of that. Like a health warning on a pack of cigarettes, a label could include whether the garment sheds microplastics. Wool Month, held by the Campaign for Wool every October, is a solid example of consumer education in practice. Wool Month began more than a decade ago as Wool Week, and it has been incredibly successful. Throughout the month, growers, makers, brands and retailers share the facts about wool and encourage people to choose wool and to check labels, to check it is wool. This is ultimately where fibre choice will be determined: when it is demanded for its performance, properties and benefits. In the meantime, governments need to be mindful of the effects of their policies that influence fibre choices at design level.

The interview was conducted in writing in October 2026. The answers are lightly edited for style, and some questions have been added for this version.