This article first appeared in the spring 2025 issue of Soy Forward. Click here to read the digital version.  

Soybeans are famous for their versatility. By and large, the “miracle bean’s” most common uses are for animal feed, cooking oil and biofuels, but soybeans’ uses are expansive. Another use, now becoming en vogue as fashion’s carbon footprint takes center stage, is fabric. 

The runway  

Soy-based fabric is not a new market. Henry Ford, a passionate proponent of soybeans, is credited with inventing the fabric in the 1930s. Toward the end of his life, Ford tried to popularize soybean production by wearing soy garments and even incorporated soy fabric into his vehicles. Other fabrics later gained popularity, and soy fabric mostly fell out of fashion. In 1999, the process of creating soy fiber became more efficient, but never gained traction. Today, various kinds of soy fabric exist. To create the fabric, soy protein is extracted from soybean hulls and processed to create fiber. Pure soy fabric is known to be a stretchy and breathable fabric, sometimes used in athletic wear. Soy can also be mixed with cotton to provide additional strength and shine, or with wool to enhance softness and elasticity. 

From farm to fabric

Clara Padgham, a senior at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

To bring additional views to this underappreciated\ value-added use, U.S. Soy created Nextile: The Soy in Textile Design Challenge. Now in its second year, the competition increased in 2025 from six colleges and universities to 21 institutions. Each school had a winner of a $500 scholarship, with the winner continuing on to the national competition to vie for the $1,000 scholarship. Judges included representatives from design and textile industries, U.S. soybean farmers and Qualified State Soybean Boards. Judges based their decision on several key areas, including originality, innovation, practicality and execution. 

U.S. Soy sent students a kit containing several soy-based products, and students had freedom of interpretation and could create anything from clothing to home décor. This year’s winner was Clara Padgham, a senior at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Padgham, a textiles and fashion design major, chose a soy-blended yarn from the kit provided by U.S. Soy. 

“It was really soft and lightweight, and I can see it having a lot of really interesting uses in fashion,” Padgham said. “It seemed to be a very usable product.”  

Padgham gained inspiration for her soy woven textile bucket hat as she researched the yarn’s properties. Soy materials have antimicrobial and sweat-wicking factors, which intrigued Padgham. 

“I was already thinking in this lens of a summer textile,” she said, “and then it being UV-protectant sounded like a really interesting hat.” 

Soy fabric is also biodegradable, an environmental benefit over other fabrics. 

“So often we are advertised what things are sustainable, and that in and of itself is such an overall buzzword,” Padgham said. “Being able to participate (in this challenge) helped me learn so much about different materials that are good for the environment that I just might not have ever heard of. It’s a really cool way to be able to explore different materials.” 

Padgham hopes to continue learning to use soy-based materials in future designs. 

“I want to work in women’s apparel or accessories and definitely in a space where the environment and thoughtfulness to the materials used is at the forefront of the design,” she said.