PINEAPPLE LEAF FIBER FABRIC – POTENTIAL FOR THE GREEN FASHION INDUSTRY

Author: Dong Nghi – Article extracted from the magazine “Doanh Nghiệp & Kinh Tế Xanh” (Green Business & Economy).

Recently, along with the green living trend, “sustainable fashion” has become increasingly popular and is receiving much attention. Especially for the fashion industry, the choice of environmentally friendly materials is always a top priority, and one of the most popular materials today is pineapple leaf fiber fabric.

An Important Green Material

In the context of the fashion industry generating a huge amount of waste, and factors like dyeing chemicals causing harm to the environment, sustainability in the production and consumption of products is prioritized.

Accordingly, “greening” is a trend that major fashion brands worldwide like Uniqlo, H&M, Gap, Levi Strauss & Co., etc., cannot ignore. Therefore, they have introduced many solutions and action plans to promote the use of environmentally friendly materials in the fashion industry for sustainable development. Not staying out of the global trend, many Vietnamese businesses have been researching and developing various materials to meet the increasing demand for sustainable fiber solutions. Among them, pineapple fiber is providing better alternatives for manufacturers of leather, fabric, and accessories.

Another advantage is that pineapple is a popular crop in Vietnam, with over 47,000 hectares of pineapple being cultivated for fruit. Farmers harvest more than 1 million tons of pineapple fruit while discarding several million tons of pineapple leaves each year. Pineapple leaves are mainly processed by shredding and burning in the fields. Therefore, aiming to protect the environment, enhance the value of pineapple plants, create livelihoods for rural people and vulnerable groups in society, ECO Fiber Research, Production and Development Joint Stock Company (ECOSOI) was established to turn pineapple leaves, banana stems, etc., into green fibers, creating many high-quality products to meet the needs of both domestic and international markets. Founded in 2021, ECOSOI specializes in developing machines that create fabric fibers from green materials, such as fiber separation machines, carding machines, combing machines, etc., to produce the main products of raw fiber and carded fiber.

Người dân thu hoạch lá dứa

Besides, the byproducts in the pineapple fiber production process are also one of the added values and are fully utilized, creating a completely natural closed-loop cycle. For example, the tangled fibers are dried and supplied to units making dó paper, while the leaf flesh after separation is used as animal feed or fertilizer.

The ECOSOI tangled parts are dried and supplied to wind paper-making units.

DURABLE AND BREATHABLE PINEAPPLE FIBER FABRIC

Sharing about pineapple fiber, Ms. Vu Thi Lieu, founder and CEO of ECOSOI startup, said: Pineapple fiber fabric, also known as pineapple leaf fiber fabric… is a type of fabric made from natural fibers extracted from pineapple leaves. Utilizing the huge amount of pineapple leaves to create environmentally friendly textile materials is a way to make use of existing materials and reduce the use of other resources. Because pineapple fibers are extremely fine, soft, and smooth, the finished pineapple fiber fabrics have a soft surface similar to linen or natural silk.

The fabric weaving technology helps create a durable yet breathable fabric structure, easily absorbing dyes and retaining color well, resulting in beautiful fabrics with a variety of unique colors. An outstanding advantage of pineapple fiber fabric compared to linen or silk is its high tensile strength. At the same time, this type of fabric does not require much attention during washing and drying, saving people a lot of time in cleaning and maintenance.

ECOSOI’s pioneering research and application of pineapple fiber in the garment and fashion industry in Vietnam not only brings Vietnamese natural fiber products to the world but also provides the best solution, creating more jobs and income for farmers. Like other natural woven fabrics, pineapple leaf fiber fabric has many popular and widespread applications.

Some designs using pandan fabric in the super collection named “Binh Minh” from ECOSOI pineapple fabric designed by designer Vu Viet Ha performed in Tokyo on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of Vietnam – Japan diplomatic relations.

The pineapple fiber market is used to produce clothes, bags, carpets, shoes, tablecloths, etc. Besides, pineapple fiber is also present in the automotive industry, such as tires, conveyor belts, etc., or household products like coasters, ropes, etc. Currently, Ecosoi’s products have customers in Vietnam, Japan, China, South Korea, etc., and have been invited to exhibit at green fashion events around the world.

In reality, pineapple leaf fiber is not new. Piña is a type of fiber made from pineapple leaves and is commonly used in the Philippines. Clothes made from Piña fiber are said to have appeared in Greece and African countries centuries ago. However, the fact that Vietnamese businesses have been able to produce fabric from pineapple leaf fiber for export to the European and American markets recently is a good sign for the green fashion industry in Vietnam in particular and the world in general, while also creating a sustainable, circular direction for the pineapple farming industry in the future.