The share of petrochemical fibres („synthetic“) grew from 3% in 1960 to 68% in 2023 and from less than 700 tonnes to 88 million tonnes/year. The new fibres covered a wide range of properties, could even achieve previously unknown properties and, above all, thanks to a powerful and innovative chemical and plastics industry, production volumes could be rapidly increased and comparatively low prices realised. At the same time, sustainability has declined, the carbon footprint of the textiles has increased significantly and the issue of microplastics requires solutions. The industry has a huge demand for renewable and sustainable fibres. Cellulosic fibres and biosynthetics can be produced from wood and other renewable raw materials. These fibres can contribute to the industry's transition to a more sustainable industry. To further reduce the share of fossil-based synthetic fibres, bio-based polymer fibres (also called “biosynthetics”) are an excellent option because of their wide range of properties – only the implementation will take decades as the share today is only below 0.5%. In principle, many fibres can also be made from CO2, but here the technology and capacity needs to be developed, perhaps in parallel with the production of sustainable aviation fuels from CO2, which will become mandatory. The sustainable textile industry of the future will be built on a foundation of cotton fibres and fast-growing cellulose fibres, later strongly supported by bio- and CO2-based synthetic fibres (“biosynthetics”), and high recycling rates for all types of fibres. This combination can eventually replace most fossil-based synthetic fibres by 2050.