In Defense of Polyester

by Eliana Pohlhaus

Polyester has become fashion’s newest villain. However, is it really that simple when it comes to luxury fashion?

Lately, it seems like Gen-Z has built an army, and synthetic fabrics are the enemy. There is a widespread craving for natural fibers, and I get it. I love natural fibers and know many stores overcharge for low-quality synthetic products because of how cheap it is to produce and turn out for maximized profit. But, before we jump on the next internet bandwagon to cancel polyester, we have to acknowledge that luxury fashion would not be the same without it.

A prime example of synthetic fabric’s necessity in luxury fashion is Issey Miyake’s “Pleats Please,” an independent line introduced for Spring/Summer 1994. The garments are cut and sewn together, then pleated with a heat-setting technique. The synthetic textile molds into a micro-pleat and remains permanent. It doesn’t even wrinkle when folded completely flat. Miyake’s technique has since inspired many other designers to experiment with similar permanent pleating. If this groundbreaking design were created with cotton, well, it would not be very groundbreaking, nor exist in the first place.

Miyake is not the only exception. Since polyester’s inception in the mid-twentieth century, it has expanded what clothes can do. Designers depend on it for garments that need to hold a sculpted form, maintain vivid colors, avoid wrinkles, and withstand years of wear. That versatility further complicates the two biggest complaints towards it. How polyester feels on the body depends on how it is woven, not just the fiber itself. The clingy fast-fashion variation is not the only option. And durability is a form of sustainability: a well-made piece that keeps its shape can be worn for years on end instead of discarded the next year. Where synthetics cause genuine harm is in how much we produce and throw away.

Natural fibers are seen as almost divine and virtuous. I understand the temptation to view them in that light, and I agree on the many points of contention towards polyester like its impact on the environment or its pertinence in fast fashion. But, many people argue that a store selling cheap cotton basics is a more sustainable option than a store selling polyester trends, and in reality they are one in the same. Assuming any natural-fiber garment is eco-friendly completely omits the conditions to produce those products. Just because something is made of cotton or linen does not mean it was processed slowly or thoughtfully. If we are being honest, fast fashion does not care what fabric is being used, it cares about peak output. Blaming polyester lets the real culprit, overproduction, off the hook. If every single fast-fashion garment switched to cotton tomorrow, it would still be fast fashion.

The point is not polyester versus cotton, rather to reject the idea of comparing fabrics altogether. Polyester holds shape, form, and artistic designs that natural fibers simply can not. Does that mean designers have to use freshly produced polyester? No, and in fact, there are a growing number of designers who are working polyester within sustainable practices. For instance, Stella McCartney's Fall/Winter 2026 ready-to-wear collection utilized recycled polyester and approximately 93% of the materials used were responsibly sourced. She was still able to make structural and captivating garments while reducing her impact. Vivienne Westwood’s Spring/Summer 2022 ready-to-wear used no newly-made synthetic fabrics, and it still was able to deliver the classic silhouettes of Vivienne Westwood. I am aware that recycled polyester is not a perfect fix. It still sheds microplastics and it is not right to pretend otherwise. However, these collections show us that starting to reduce impact and create enthralling designs can happen simultaneously.

Vivienne Westwood Spring/Summer 2022 Ready-to-Wear

Photo: Courtesy of Vivienne Westwood

Will I still continue to adore my Cou Cou Intimates 100% cotton shirts and skirts? Yes. But does a fabric deserve praise simply because it came from a plant? No. Treating natural fabrics as automatically righteous is a blatant contradiction, because a fabric’s origin says nothing about how much of it we buy, how it was made, and how long we keep it. We can appreciate polyester as a revolution in fashion while consuming it in the way we should consume any fabric: consciously. My point isn’t that we should all be “running not walking” to get the new, trendy $70 shirt made of 100% polyester. It is that rejecting the entirety of synthetic fabrics is unrealistic and closes us off from appreciating the novel creations designers can do with them. So, no, I have no interest in a war on polyester. But a war on spending our money on soulless, overvalued crap? Gather the troops!

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