Is Clothing Made from Bamboo the Answer?

For centuries bamboo has been used for its strength and durability in architecture and art across East Asia. Only recently finding an audience in the western world, bamboo is being transformed into, among the most unlikely of eco-products, clothing. Why is bamboo clothing so remarkable? Bamboo cloth has been called a seamless cotton-and-silk blend. The fibers made from bamboo are softer than cotton, has a natural sheen to the surface and still manages to feel similar to a silk or cashmere fiber. If that’s not enough, bamboo absorbs water 3-4 times better than cotton and stays 2-3 degrees cooler in hot temperatures thus making it the perfect summer fabric. Bamboo clothing has taken off in many commercial aspects. Bamboo is also much cheaper than silk, costing about one twentieth the cost of a pound of silk. The new dynamic cheap fabric caught the eye of the famous Los Angeles based designer Kate O’Connor. In an interview with bamboocloths.com Kate O’Connor said she plans to have half of her 2000 knits for next year to be made of bamboo cloth. Because bamboo is one of the world's most prolific and fastest-growing plants, and is able to reach maturity in four years or less, bamboos applications to be used as an environmentally sustainable alternative are taking root.

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