Scientists are hoping to start a fashion trend: making clothes from materials that reduce environmental harm.

They’re developing new textiles that could curb the industry’s reliance on resource-intensive cotton and plastic-filled polyester. Potential benefits include cutting down on greenhouse gas emissions and slowing the pace of deforestation.

Big brands such as Lululemon and H&M are already investing in what they see as the future of textile innovation.

Here are some of the materials that scientists hope to see on shelves in the next three to five years.

CO2 fibers

Rubi Laboratories says it’s developing technology that would create yarn made out of carbon emissions.

Founded in 2020 by twin sisters Neeka and Leila Mashouf, Rubi combines CO2 and enzymes it creates in-house in an industrial reactor system. The company says it converts the materials into cellulose, a fiber that is spun into yarn to make fabrics.

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Shellfish fabric

TômTex, a Brooklyn-based material startup, is developing leather alternatives using cheap and plentiful shellfish waste.

The company sources shrimp waste from Vietnam and crab waste from Alaska, Europe and Asia in order to gather chitosan, the extract from the skeletons of shellfish, said co-founder and chief science officer Ross McBee. That waste is combined with additives and poured into a mold that is then dried.