Natural fibres like cotton, jute,silk, etc have occupied an august place in textile. With consumers realising significance of natural organic textile, designers and textile houses are inclined to not only promote natural fibres, but also work on discovering fresh natural fibres. Some designers as well as textile houses have succeeded in weaving textile fibres from fruits. Traditional natural fibres continue to be cynosure of all eyes, but there is still an urgent need to introduce novelfibres that can be used either independently or in combination with other natural fibres to create attractive apparel.


Fruit andtextile

The successful run of natural fibres in textile sector indicates relevance of how contemporary textile sector and designers are adapting to change in demand. One of the most popular among fruit fabrics is pineapple fabric aka pina. When pina is combined with other natural fibres, the results are remarkable. The lustre, effortless maintenance,less weight and easy absorption of natural dyes make it even a better option than silk. "The greatest thing about Pinatex is probably that it's made of leaf fibres - a by-product of the pineapple harvest. Our leaves do not need any additional land, water or fertilisers to grow," said Jaume Granja, a member of the Ananas Anam team that developed Pinatex.


Like pineapple, banana crop is also attracting attention for all the right reasons. Offset Warehouse, which is an eco-textile company in collaboration with an NGO in Nepal is working on banana fabric production and also ensuring that the production supports local artisans, who get to work in a safe ambience and they also get a fair pay.Banana fabric leaves little to no carbon footprint and its shine and lustre is compared to hemp and bamboo. According to Offset Warehouse's founder Charlie Ross, "The material is perfect for jackets, skirts and trousers."


Banana fabric is already used in Japan and Southeast Asia. The coarse fibres made from outer layers of the stem are used for baskets or table cloths and the fine inner layers are used for delicate kimonos. Rest of the world is yet to see banana fibre in day-to-day clothing, but the scenario is expected to change in coming years.


Apart from pineapple and banana,coconut fibre is also making an entry in textile world. Following the fruit's fibrous qualities, its husks are used to produce textile. Companies like North Face and Tog 24 are using coconut textile in amalgamation with other natural fibres, thus reducing the overall usage of synthetic fibres. These companies have adopted cocona and are operating under the name 37.5 Technology. Jackets manufactured by Tag 24 under the brand name Siren combine 55 per cent polyesterand 45 per cent coconut fibre. A spokesperson for 37.5 Technology said,"The material is a particularly good choice for sportswear as it's designed to improve performance. Fibres from husks can also be turned into bio waste-based charcoal to be used by farmers as an organic fertiliser, as has previously happened in the Maldives. This could help improve soil quality,reduce pesticides and ensure that any coconut inspired fashion supply chain is circular."

A bio-composites company - Essentium Materials - produces automotive trunk liners, load floors (battery pack covers in electric cars) and living wall planters from coconut husks mixed with recycled plastics. According to experts, replacing synthetic polyester fibers with coconut husk fibres can cut down petroleum consumption by 2-4 million barrels and carbon dioxide emissions by 450,000 tons per annum.


In addition to these fruit fibres, researchers are also studying non-conventional fruit plants to create new fabrics. Fibre from Asian palmyra palm fruit fibre is also used in combination with other natural fibres to create fabric that has natural qualities of palm fruit as well as other natural fibres it is combined with. Two women from Italy have created fabric from orange fruit. Adriana Santonocito and Enrica Arena have made a sustainable fabric from the wastes of orange fruit. "The clothes are not greasy and the skin is nourished - says Enrica - This feature is guaranteed for at least twenty washes, but we are also studying recharging methods with specific fabric softeners," they said.


Cotton versus fruit fibre

With introduction of smart textile, the application of man-made fibres has definitely shot up, nevertheless, man-made fibres still rely on innate properties of natural fibres like cotton to increase comfort level of the apparel. Among the natural fibres organic cotton is widely used by designers and textile manufacturers, as it is easily available and is economical in comparison to other natural fibres. Recently developed fruit fibres are still to garner same response as cotton especially because some of the researches pertaining to these fibres are still under process. It is difficult to find pina or cocona or banana fabric in stores. It's likely to be some time before these materials will be easily found in shops. Also, unlike cotton which is used independently to make fabric, most of the fruits fabrics are used in combination with cotton, silk or jute.


The cost of fruit fabrics is also on higher side, which is why these fabrics have caught eye of luxury designers. The time and skills involved in processing of fruit fabrics make them expensive. Luxury fashion designers like Oliver Tolentino (a Filipino) and Rania Salibi have created cocktail dresses, evening gowns, bridal wear, etc for celebs. Cotton is both inexpensive, graceful and easily available in stores, which is why consumers all over the world are more inclined to buy cotton rather than fruit fabrics.


On the constructive side, research indicates that in order to produce a kilogram of banana fibre only 37 kilogram of stem is required. According to the Philippine Textile Research Institute banana plantation in the Philippines alone can help in production of over 300,000 tonnes of banana textile fibre. Despite these researches the reality is rather contradictory. Each year approximately a billion tonne of banana plant stems are wasted worldwide. With awareness regarding green textile among the consumers, textile units are now working diligently to make use of ample banana production in Asian and African countries.

Fruitful results?

Fruit fibres are gradually catching up with other natural fibres, but the journey ahead is not smooth. One of the drawbacks of fruit fibre is that these fibres are only few centimetres long as against the fibres derived from stems and leaves, which are generally longer than one meter.


It requires at least a day to weave a plain pina fabric of one meter. But if fabric contains designs then a skilled or trained weaver can only manage to finish around a half to three quarters of a meter in a day, depending on the design. Pina was once extremely popular in 19th century in some parts of the world like Philippines, but because of the intricacy of weaving it lost its popularity.


Apart from this, fabrics made from fruit plants require thorough technical knowledge and regrettably there are very few weavers globally who are dedicated to weave delicate fabrics from these fibres with complex designs.


Further innovations

Though some of the fruit fabrics are still in budding phase, this has not discouraged researchers from working on technological advancement to offer better options to consumers in future. Designer and researcher Carole Collet is currently working on bio-mimicry, where nature and technology work in harmony to provide ecologically beneficial solutions. Collet's project envisages a time where plants will not only produce fruits, but will also produce textile. For instance, a strawberry plant which currently gives fruit could be modified to grow lace from its roots. The lace could directly be used in apparel.


Fruit fabrics are luxurious and graceful, but consumer acceptance at large scale is still remains an unfulfilled dream. Demand for traditional fibres like cotton, hemp, jute, etc is still on a higher side. Nevertheless, fruit fabrics will likely witness a rise in demand, once fabric hits the regular stores.


References:

1. Intechopen.com

2. En.wikipedia.org

3. Theguardian.com

4. Textiletoday.com

5. Doonposaamin.ph

6. Swide.com