Ep 34. From Wetlands to Wardrobes: What If Fashion Could Help Heal the Planet? with Julian Ellis-Brown

Ep 34. From Wetlands to Wardrobes: What If Fashion Could Help Heal the Planet? with Julian Ellis-Brown

From No Ordinary Cloth: Intersection of textiles, emerging technology, craft and sustainability by Mili Tharakan

May 15, 2026 · 1h 8m · Episode 34

About this episode

The episode discusses how fashion can contribute to environmental healing through wetland restoration and innovative materials like BioPuff.

In this episode, we step into very different territory. We leave the factory floor and the chemistry lab behind, pull on our wellies, and head into the wetlands. Our guest is Julian Ellis-Brown, CEO and Co-founder of Ponda [https://www.ponda.bio/] — the biomaterials company turning wetland restoration into one of fashion's most exciting new fibres. We explore why wetlands are one of the most carbon-rich and biodiverse ecosystems on earth, why centuries of drainage have turned them from the planet's greatest carbon store into a significant carbon emitter, and how a farming practice called paludiculture is now allowing farmers across the UK and Europe to bring degraded wetlands back to life — while still earning a living from the land. At the heart of Ponda's work is BioPuff — a plant-based insulation made from the seed fibres of the bulrush, designed to replace the goose down and synthetic polyester fills found in the puffer jackets and winter coats hanging in most of our wardrobes. Down raises animal welfare and traceability concerns, while synthetic fills are fossil-fuel derived — and BioPuff offers a genuinely carbon-negative alternative, traceable from plant to puffer, and…

People in this episode

Host: Mili Tharakan

Guest: Julian Ellis-Brown

Topics covered

  • sustainable fashion
  • biomaterials
  • wetland restoration
  • paludiculture
  • carbon emissions
  • environmental impact

Keywords

  • sustainable textiles
  • fashion innovation
  • carbon-negative materials
  • wetlands
  • environmental sustainability
  • biodegradable insulation

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Ponda

Products: BioPuff

Places: UK, Europe

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