Fab Fabrics: …Pineapple?
Kelly pointed me to these awesome wedding dresses made from pineapple cloth, and my interest was piqued!
It turns out that pineapple fabric, or Piña cloth, is a traditional fiber from the Phillipines dating back from the 1800’s! So here’s the skinny on Piña.
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The lightweight fiber is often intricately embroidered. It’s traditionally used in high-end garments like wedding gowns called Barong Tagalog (fabric from a Barong is pictured to the right there).
The fiber itself is woven from the leaves of the pineapple plant. It’s sheer but stiff enough to embroider and has a natural sheen. According to Textile Fashion Trends, it’s easy to wash and doesn’t require dry cleaning. That’s great news, since so much formal wear is dry clean only, which means treating the garment with harsh chemicals.
I looked all over for places that sold Piña cloth by the yard but turned up nothing. I’m so intrigued! Have any of you worked with pineapple cloth?
Image Credits:
Pineapple. Creative Commons photo by auntiep
Barong Up Close. Creative Commons photo by brownpau
I’d never heard of it before, but it’s gorgeous! wish I could get my hands of some of that!
Interesting! It’s always cool to hear about a different renewable material. I wonder how its production compares to other natural fabrics in terms of sustainability.
Kirsten - I wonder that, too! I was able to find some info on pineapple production but nothing specifically for producing Piña cloth. If I’m able to dig up anything else, I’ll definitely do a follow up!
http://www.alibaba.com/product/enjoyie-11418241-10914620/Pina_Cloth_Hand_Embroidered.html
http://images.google.com/images?client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&hl=en&source=hp&q=Pi%C3%B1a+cloth&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=2lW5Sv6cJujBtwe87az6Dg&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ct=title&resnum=4
just google pina cloth -many hits !
Informative article. Always interesting to see Eastern influence on Western culture, especially in the world of fashion. There are a few native companies that specialize in pineapple fiber weaving/manufacturing and pinya/pinyaseda products. They include: http://www.heritagearts-craft.com and http://www.laherminiaweaving.com(both out of Kalibo, Aklan, Philippines)Check ‘em out sometime.