Materra
Materra began in a London basement and is now transforming cotton farming through regenerative agriculture, tech-enabled traceability, and farmer-first partnerships to help fashion brands source more sustainably.
Materra is working with progressive brands, textile mills, farming collectives and non-profits to create meaningful change in the global cotton systems industry. Hear how Materra began their journey with one clear goal: to make cotton a force for good.
Interview EMILY PETRUCCIONE
Images courtesy of MATTERA
COMPANY ORIGINS & VISION
Materra’s journey started with hydroponic cotton trials in a London basement—an unconventional beginning. How did these early experiments inspire your current mission to transform cotton production for the fashion industry?
Farming is the most foundational building block of fashion, with enormous potential to reduce our collective footprint, tread lightly, and change the lives of millions for the better. Each of the founders had worked previously in the impact and innovation space, aiming to find ways to fill the gap in the application of technology, leading them to experiment with hydroponics. Materra was born from this aim to find ways to grow cotton — the world’s most widely used natural fibre — with minimal resources in a climate-volatile future. From humble origins in London, they moved to Essex and then to India to set up the first commercial pilots. Materra then expanded into regenerative agriculture, part of our climate-mitigation strategy. It has now become our flagship offering, partnering with more than 5000 farmers in over three states in India.
You describe cotton as a "Wicked Problem." What makes it so challenging within the context of fashion, and how does Materra tackle this through innovative solutions?
Wicked problems are generally associated with complexity, with numerous variables and factors, and cannot be addressed with quick fixes. Climate change is one such example, and so is growing and sourcing raw materials. The global cotton industry involves hundreds of millions of people, and more than 70% are smallholder farmers. Yet these farmers have historically been undersupported, undervalued and under-compensated, often to severe extremes, and have generally been hidden and out of sight for most of the fashion industry. The climate crisis only makes this harder for them as they grapple with extreme weather conditions.
Additionally, cotton has an opacity, and consequently data and misinformation problem; data being notoriously fragmented and difficult to collect, analyse and compare. Brands see the requirement for more robust, future-proof supply chains, with a resilient supply of materials that can help them meet key sustainability targets, and quality data right from the source that can help them comply with the ever-growing increase in global legislation.
It’s an industry that has only been tackled in parts and never as a whole. Other approaches have been unable to meaningfully scale, tackle the data problem or help farmers adapt practices more easily by offering contextual support.Materra’s regenerative farming approach, on the other hand, supports and incentivises farmers, providing an outcomes-based approach that is contextual to them, their capabilities and the journey they can take. Combined with a technological foundation that emphasises granular traceability and partnering with brands ready to invest in and form meaningful connections with their supply chains, we’re rapidly scaling up regenerative farming.
Since 2019, how has Materra's vision evolved, particularly as sustainability has moved to the forefront of industry conversations?
Our mission has always been the same, which is to set the template for radical supply chain transparency, give nature a voice, and make cotton a force for good. As our regenerative program has expanded rapidly over the last couple of years, our vision now is to regenerate over half a million hectares of land by 2030.
INNOVATION & TECHNOLOGY
Materra offers a "plug and play" supply chain solution. How does this technology make sustainable sourcing more attainable for brands?
To enable faster adoption and integration of regenerative cotton, we build cotton supply chains for a resilient supply of truly sustainable materials with the help of our partnership model and on-the-ground team in India that ensures simple supply chain integrations and integrity.
What are some recent innovations developed by Materra that have significantly impacted the production of regenerative cotton, and how are they helping brands meet their sustainability goals?
At Materra, we’ve always invested in the tools and technologies that will accelerate the widespread adoption of regenerative farming. For too long, a lack of robust traceability and on-ground support for both farmers and field teams have made it hard for sustainable practices to be adopted at scale. With industries like food leading the way in agricultural supply chain transformation, fashion cannot afford to remain behind. This is a systemic challenge, and we believe that tech-for-good will drive the transformation needed to reshape how materials are grown and sourced.
Co:Farm, our mobile and web app, already supports our program implementation efforts with over 5,000 smallholder cotton farmers, unlocking year-round agronomy insights and management tools for our field teams. It captures hundreds of data points on each farm, from social, environmental and economic data, enabling direct-to-farm traceability, impact assessments, emissions reporting, and even new revenue streams through impact credits. This data is then packed and provided to brands in a number of ways including custom brand dashboards.
We’re now building on our proprietary datasets to develop AI/ML-powered tools, including an intelligent, multilingual advisory agent that automates personalised guidance for farmers, optimising yields, profits, and environmental impact. Our technology will also streamline field operations, improving both the efficiency and accuracy of impact data collection, enabling brands to better manage and measure cotton’s environmental footprint.
The results so far have been promising. With this grant, we’re combining cutting-edge technology with traditional knowledge to offer more accessible and accurate guidance, bespoke to farmers’ and field staff members’ individual needs. And in the process, Co:Farm will accelerate the transition to regenerative agriculture globally.
“Our mission has always been the same, which is to set the template for radical supply chain transparency, give nature a voice, and make cotton a force for good.”
IMPACT & SUSTAINABILITY
How does Materra assess the environmental and social impact of its regenerative cotton programs, especially considering fashion’s evolving sustainability standards?
Materra’s impact and data teams handle the collection and analysis of data through a multi-modal approach and rigorous DQA process. This is largely underpinned by Co:Farm, our mobile and web platform, where we collect a wide range of social, environmental and economic data that allows us to perform detailed analyses on factors like greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, water usage and profit and loss.
This data links back to how we design our programmes. By measuring and assessing the impact, we create a feedback loop to ensure the data is driving improvements: collect data, measure, assess, redesign, and implement changes. This iterative process helps us prove and guide change effectively. Brands appreciate the transparency and the ability to see tangible results from our initiatives.
From an accreditation perspective, we have RegenAgri certification as our baseline. However, we treat this as a baseline and aim to achieve much more with our farmers in terms of regenerative outcomes. Outcome incentives are key for us. We believe that farmers can achieve more if they are fairly compensated for their efforts, and so we provide financial incentives above the standard for successful progression towards regenerative goals.
Trust is the key, and ultimately, we aim to build a strong, trust-based relationship with our farmers, ensuring compliance with global sustainability and consumer laws while fostering a supportive and fair working environment.
Tell us more about how you decided on your core Regenerative Principles – reducing resource usage, restoring biodiversity, and raising farmer livelihoods.
We wanted a simple yet holistic way to describe what is happening in an agricultural landscape where regeneration is taking place. Many discussions of regenerative agriculture zero in on carbon and soil health, and while those are important, they leave out the complexity of what a healthy farm looks like. For us, carbon and soil health are implied in “reduce resource usage” and “restore biodiversity”: farm inputs like fertilisers and irrigation are main contributors to GHG emissions, so reducing them automatically improves the carbon footprint of a farm. And soil health, soil microbial biodiversity, is included in “restore biodiversity.” But reducing the use of resources and increasing biodiversity have many other benefits besides carbon and soil, and they are absolutely necessary for farming that can be sustained in a changing climate.
Lastly, the social aspect of regenerative farming is important to us. Regeneration is holistic; if the land thrives but the farmers don’t, we can’t call it regenerative. Whatever our definition of regenerative agriculture is, it needs to include people. Farmers need to be provided agronomic support or financial incentives, or both, to adopt practices that are better for the health of the entire system. This is not an icing on the cake, or a nice-to-have; it’s foundational. So the goal of raising farmers’ livelihoods, including gender equity in decision-making and access to resources, had to be included among our regenerative pillars.
“Regeneration is holistic; if the land thrives but the farmers don’t, we can’t call it regenerative. Whatever our definition of regenerative agriculture is, it needs to include people.”
As more fashion brands commit to sustainable sourcing, how does Materra guide them in aligning with regenerative agriculture principles while maintaining the quality and aesthetic appeal consumers expect?
Answering this from a marketing perspective, we provide brands a range of communication services, including creative direction and detailed guidance on how to describe and visualise regen across different media. Engaging with their customers and educating them about regen in an immersive, exciting and culturally-appropriate way is important to capture their attention and bring them on the brand’s sustainability journey. We work with a photography team who are in the fields every month to capture content as well as have a network of editorial photographers for more artistic campaigns that brands might want to do. Each brand has its own narrative and identity, and we align with this to ensure they have a multichannel communication strategy that is honest, authentic to the brand and inspiring. They also receive data and impact claims to use that are greenwash-free.
Through our own marketing and communications, too, our aim is to always talk about farmers and cotton in more engrossing ways than previously, and always keep in mind that at the end of the day, we work in fashion and our audience is, well, fashion. One example is a recent campaign we recently shot, called Guardians of Planet Earth, where we thought about how we could shift the lens through which we document and depict people working in the fashion supply chain. To bring the conversation around ‘regenerative’ into the mainstream, it’s important to also look closely at how we talk about the people involved. All too often, people working in the vast fashion supply chain — farmers, spinners, seamstresses and more — are viewed through a sombre or nostalgic, sepia-toned lens, separate from how people at the front of the supply chain — models, celebrities, designers — are viewed. We decided we wanted to change this.
At the end of last year, we headed to India to shoot a series focused on the bonds between groups of farmers we work closely with in our programme and bring out their unique personalities. We aimed to highlight emotions and values of optimism, strength, confidence and individuality. This is part of an ongoing attempt of ours to infuse the freshness that you would expect from a fashion campaign, into our representation of farmers who do equally cool work in not just growing our clothes, but also in managing humanity’s relationship with the land.
PARTNERSHIPS & COLLABORATIONS
Materra has garnered support from fashion powerhouses like H&M and Mango. How do these partnerships work and shape your approach to scaling regenerative cotton production for global brands with a lot of inventory?
The first Materra garments hit stores this year, and we’ve been lucky to work with progressive partners like Mango, Ecoalf and the H&M Group (also an investor) as brand partnerships are critical to any meaningful form of systems change. With their support for material and supply chain innovation, we’re thrilled to lead this transformation in sustainable cotton production and sourcing. We have more soon-to-be-announced global brand partnerships arriving in stores later this year.
We typically work through multi-year offtake agreements that ensure longer-term support and risk-sharing for farmers. Scaling up regenerative cotton is always a big focus for us, especially as we work with global brands with large sourcing volumes. That is why we focus on widespread adoption of regenerative farming amongst farmers through both digital and IRL support, and easy, plug-and-play integration in the supply chain with the help of our on-ground implementation team. We’ve grown from 22 farmers in 2022 to 1000 in 2023 and 4000+ in 2024. This year looks set to be another great year for growth.
“All too often, people working in the vast fashion supply chain — farmers, spinners, seamstresses and more — are viewed through a sombre or nostalgic, sepia-toned lens, separate from how people at the front of the supply chain — models, celebrities, designers — are viewed. We decided we wanted to change this.”
What does the journey of integrating Materra's regenerative cotton into a brand’s supply chain look like—from the initial conversation to the final product hanging on the racks?
Based on each brand’s impact goals and volume requirements, we design and implement a custom program and collect and package data. Through the season, we provide support to farmers in several ways, from workshops to soil health measurement and even regular digital support. We also oversee procurement and ginning, disbursing digital payments to farmers. The fibre is then sent to Materra’s partner ginners and is then headed to either our network of spinners or the brand’s spinner. We provide full traceability up until this point, where it is then taken into the brand’s supply chain to be spun, dyed, knitted, woven, sewn and then finally sold in stores.
When a brand approaches Materra for collaboration, what are they typically seeking and most excited about? What are the key challenges they face, and how does Materra help them overcome these obstacles, ensure trust, and inspire a shift towards a more sustainable production model?
Each brand has its own impact goals, but when they come to Materra, they come for single-origin cotton — cotton that comes with hundreds of data points and full traceability that would help them fully understand their impact in a quantifiable, accurate manner. We enable them to invest directly in carbon reduction, biodiversity and social impact. They’re excited to meet with and partner with farmers — something that’s been previously difficult in a typically opaque industry — and to invest in meaningful, long-lasting social equity. Brand teams love visiting farmers in the fields and learning about their work directly. This has been critical in fostering true connection with the people in their supply chain.
One key challenge they’ve faced in the past is scaling up — Materra helps them do this through a unique supply chain model that helps the cotton be integrated into their supply chain faster, and helps more farmers start and progress on their regen journey quicker.
CLOSING REFLECTION
Looking ahead, what is your vision for the future of regenerative agriculture in the fashion industry, and how do you see Materra’s role in shaping that future on a larger scale?
The world is changing, and so is the fashion industry’s need for truly low-impact materials that will actually push the needle and help them reach their sustainability goals. It’s time for fashion to set the template for supply chain transparency and verifiable impact — we’re excited about playing an important role in that, and help build a system that finally recognises and rewards farmers. We truly believe The Future Is Regen and our vision is to regenerate over half a million hectares of land by 2030.
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