Dr Carmen Hijosa from Ananas Anam, Hannes Schoenegger from Bananatex, and Ricardo Garay of Regenerate Fashion established the international alliance in response to the environmental crisis facing the textile industry. Currently, the majority of fibres are either derived from fossil fuels or rely on destructive intensive agricultural systems.
FIBRAL intends to create change by bringing together producers making fibres from renewable, Earth-friendly resources — these include pineapple leaves, hemp, abaca, and agricultural wastes. According to the organisation, these materials have so far been neglected in favour of biosynthetic materials and manmade cellulosics, but by embracing them it could be possible to “bring forward the next paradigm of materials”.
“FIBRAL™ is the result of a fellowship of like-minded individuals whose vision, work and life purpose is to inspire change by bringing awareness to plant-based fibres, regenerative systems, local and indigenous communities and culture, and the importance of biodiversity,” said Hijosa. “With this alliance we wish to activate a sense of community, sharing and collaborating by focussing on plant-based solutions, in particular the potential of underrepresented fibres in the marketplace – today.”