Jeff Bezos Just Made a $34 Million Bet to Replace Cotton and Polyester

The Bezos Earth Fund is backing lab-grown fibers and biodegradable textiles, but not without problems.

BY LEILA SHERIDAN, NEWS WRITER

Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez Bezos in Paris, France. Photo: Getty Images

Jeff Bezos is betting that the future of fashion won’t be made from cotton or polyester but, instead, from lab-grown fibers. 

Through the Bezos Earth Fund, Bezos and Lauren Sánchez Bezos have committed $34 million to researchers developing next-generation textiles, including biodegradable fibers and plastic-free synthetic silk. Their aim is to replace some of the most resource-intensive materials in the global clothing industry with alternatives that could dramatically reduce the industry’s environmental footprint.

The investment marks a notable shift for the fund, which has largely focused on conservation since Bezos pledged $10 billion to climate initiatives in 2020. Now, it’s partially turning toward fashion, an industry deeply reliant on fossil fuels and one of the largest contributors to global emissions.

“The use of fossil fuels in the fashion industry is a big issue,” Tom Taylor, the fund’s president and CEO, said, according to The Wall Street Journal. 

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Today’s most common materials, including polyester and viscose, are derived from oil and coal. They’re cheap, durable, and ubiquitous among both fast-fashion and luxury brands, but they also come with steep environmental costs. These fabrics are not biodegradable, shed microplastics, and can release so-called forever chemicals into water systems, raising growing health concerns, according to the European Environment Agency.

Bezos’s grant backs researchers who are experimenting with materials grown from bacteria, agricultural waste, and other unconventional sources, innovations that could reshape what clothing is made of at a molecular level, the Journal reported. 

“When you start asking questions about what clothes could be made of, the answers are incredible,” Sánchez Bezos said in a statement to the Journal. “The future of fashion is being invented right now.”

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