Bamboo Viscose

Made from a supremely soft blend of 67% bamboo rayon / 28% organic cotton / 5% spandex.

Bamboo is the fastest growing crop in the world, with some strains growing up to a metre a day. It is an excellent crop for producing furniture, low impact housing and textiles. However, the vast majority of ‘bamboo’ clothing is actually a viscose derived from bamboo, meaning that only between 15-25% of it is actually made of bamboo. The rest of it is made from chemicals. Bamboo viscose is a semi-synthetic fabric - it actually requires around 120+ chemicals to be produced so can not in any way be called an organic fabric.

Our bamboo viscose is produced under ‘closed loop’ conditions, meaning around 99% of the chemicals used in the production process are treated and not released back into the water supply. However, most of the world’s bamboo viscose comes from India, Indonesia and China where environmental laws are lax and chemicals are often released untreated into water supplies, poisoning wildlife and causing cancer in local communities.

However, despite the downsides often associated with bamboo viscose production, the fabric feels absolutely beautiful. It’s breathable, extremely soft and unlike nothing else. It was first developed in the 1880s as a replacement for silk and whilst it is chemical heavy in its production it is derived from cellulose so is vastly preferable to any derivatives of non renewable fossil fuels such as Polyester, Nylon, Acrylic, Spandex and Acetate. Such fabrics do not biodegrade and end up in landfill for 100 years or more or release toxic gases when incinerated.

We recommend reading this in-depth article from Common Objective.