Could using banana plants be the sustainable solution that the textile industry has been searching for? Swiss brand Qwstion thinks it might just be. The company launched its first collection of bags made with its own newly developed material called Bananatex in autumn 2018.
The brand was founded in 2008 by five people: industrial designers Christian Kaegi and Fabrice Aeberhard, graphic designer Matthias Graf, along with Sebastian Kruit and Hannes Schönegger. The group did a lot of travelling and were looking for a bag that was both functional but also aesthetically suitable for business meetings, yet they couldn’t find anything on the market at the time. So, they decided to create their own product.
“We used the bags ourselves and gave them to friends and the feedback was terrific,” says Schönegger. “We decided to start a small business, expand the range, and it slowly grew from there.”
In the beginning the team had to use fabrics that were readily available, but they decided early on to stick with natural fibres but didn’t have the capacity to develop their own materials. They started out with cotton and then a few years later in 2012, the company created its own organic cotton high-density canvas which is still used in many of the designs.
“There was no high-density canvas like this with the properties that we needed for our bags,” he explains. “We had to go back through the supply chain and develop the material together through our yarn, fabric and finishing partners.”
After this, Qwstion looked to other materials and settled on hemp. After three years of research and developing a European supply chain, the company decided not to bring the product to market.
Introducing Bananatex
Following on from the journey with hemp, in 2016 the brand came across banana fibre. Schönegger says this is essentially the hemp of Asia from a fibre point of view, so the company decided to explore this route.
“We found out that banana fibre had existed for centuries and is used to make products such as ropes and rough mattresses, but we couldn’t find a way to turn it into a technical fabric. Therefore, we homogenised the supply chain and so the fibre is processed into paper which is then turned into yarn and then fabric,” he explains.
Qwstion started prototyping products using the new Bananatex fabric in 2018 and subsequently launched a line of bags with the material in the autumn. The design was different to previous products too as the team decided to have a zero waste pattern, which influenced the final look.
Bananatex is quite similar to cotton, however it has a more technical feel, is lighter weight, has a higher tearing resistance and is much sturdier – qualities that make it perfect for everyday bags. The designs are also waterproof and Qwstion has achieved this by using a natural wax coating made from carnauba and bees wax.
What’s more, once the zipper has been removed from the Bananatex bags, the product is completely biodegradable. The team at Qwstion even planted a bag in the ground and found no remains after one year.
“We have our own e-commerce platform where we sell our bags, but we have two other channels as well as we believe in a multi-channel approach. We have three flagship stores and we work with around 150 retailers globally, so you can buy them from almost every country,” he explains.
“Our focus is on Switzerland, France, Germany and Austria, but we also have partners as far away as Vancouver, Sydney and Japan.”
Supply chain and scalability
Creating Bananatex begins with cultivating the banana plants in the Philippines. The plants are not cultivated in the usual way, a permaculture approach is used instead. No pesticides and fertilisers are added and no water (except rainfall) is used as well.
To make the fibre, the side stems of the banana plant are cut off, leaving the tree to carry on growing. These stems are usually one year old, and the tree could be around 30 years old, so it’s a very sustainable method. The manufacturing is then completed in Taiwan.
Other companies exploring alternative fibres and fabrics often stress that scalability is an issue. Usually there might only be enough material to create a capsule collection, for example. However, Bananatex already has the capacity to produce several hundred thousand yards per year.
“We know that the fibre has been harvested for many years, particularly for the paper industry,” says Schönegger. “But paper production is declining so the raw material available is increasing – around 80,000 tonnes per year. That means we could scale the production substantially until we reach a certain plateau.
“That is not a set plateau either. Already now, banana grows in other countries such as Costa Rica and Ecuador. The soil is eroding in these countries currently due to palm oil production, but banana plants have such strong roots that they help to improve soil quality too.”
Future plans
Since the launch of Bananatex, the team has realised how much potential this fabric has for other applications, thus Qwstion has now decided to supply the fabric to others.
“We knew this would work for furniture, shoes and even fashion and it’s a great alternative for oil-based fibres and fabrics,” says Schönegger.
“Since we’ve announced that we are opening up the innovation to all, we have had over 800 requests from all sorts of industries, from automotive to footwear, furniture, tents, cargo bikes and diapers. We have sent out swatches and we know there is a lot of sampling going on, so we will see Bananatex on the market within the next year for sure.”
Qwstion is currently creating a separate department for the Bananatex business. The founders never intended to become a fabric supplier, but because of the high demand, they want to develop it further and ensure that it does not disrupt the core business.
Aside from Bananatex, the brand is constantly working on products and improving them, and sustainability is a big part of that.
“We believe that our future path is about sustainability to the max. We would like to replace all animal products with natural and plastic-free alternatives. For example, we currently have vegetable tanned leather handles as there is no plastic-free alternative offering the same durability and hand-feel.
Source: www.wtin.com