In this third installment of Textile Talk: Oh So Moso, we look in Bamboo, The Market: Inter- and Intra-market demands, claims and standards
Moso vs. Cotton: Commensalism or Competition?
With bamboo’s move into the marketplace, discussion among the textile industry as to whether it would cut into the cotton market has been broached. (Cotton currently provides over 50% of all of the world’s fiber needs).
Can bamboo in time surpass cotton as the world’s major fiber crop? With a growing market of textiles and a rising interest in more sustainable alternatives, BASIC, biodynamic and organically-grown products, fibers like bamboo and cotton are more likely to successfully share the market than completely replace one another.
In this third installment of Textile Talk: Oh So Moso, we look in Bamboo, The Market: Inter- and Intra-market demands, claims and standards
Moso vs. Cotton: Commensalism or Competition?
With bamboo’s move into the marketplace, discussion among the textile industry as to whether it would cut into the cotton market has been broached. (Cotton currently provides over 50% of all of the world’s fiber needs).
Can bamboo in time surpass cotton as the world’s major fiber crop? With a growing market of textiles and a rising interest in more sustainable alternatives, BASIC, biodynamic and organically-grown products, fibers like bamboo and cotton are more likely to successfully share the market than completely replace one another.
At this stage of the game, bamboo as a fiber doesn’t show any sign of eclipsing cotton. Currently bamboo (principally used in building and alternative wood-based products) supports an international trade of approximately $2.5 billion (Hunter, 2003) whereas cotton (primarily used as a fiber crop) supports an international trade of $12 billion. Additionally, cotton is grown on 76 million acres worldwide, while China, the country which hosts the largest acreage of bamboo forests, has a total of 17.8 million acres (10.4 million acres of plantations and 7.4 million acres of natural stands in mountain regions) (Zehui, 2003). Material outputs per acre of bamboo fiber vs. cotton fiber vary widely, but if average outputs per material existed, we would have even a greater number on which to compare.
Eco-friendly marketing
Bamboo rayon is not a new material. Philipp Lichtenstadt officially patented the rayon processing for bamboo in 1864 (US Patent & Trademark Office). However, it took nearly 140 years for it to make its first significant commercial appearance in the marketplace. Since its launch in 2004, bamboo-based materials have been touted as “eco-friendly.” This may have been in response to numerous retailers and manufacturers requesting environmentally-preferable materials for their collections, as a way to differentiate from the trend of organic cotton in the market.
As the American Apparel and Footwear Association (AAFA) has noted, “Environmental marketing claims [in the apparel sector] have expanded significantly over the last decade as more and more companies have woven environmental and sustainability practices and goals into their businesses and down to their bottom line (AAFA letter to FTC, Dec 10, 2010).” Manufacturers of materials have responded to this demand and will quite often market materials or certain attributes of specific materials as “environmentally-friendly.”
During the first half of 2004, the marketing of “bamboo” fiber became very popular in the apparel and home textile market. The vast majority of the material produced was bamboo rayon and later bamboo rayon-cotton blends. However, due to heavy green marketing claims and lack of awareness, most material was labeled simply as “bamboo.”
In 2006, roughly $10 million worth of bamboo textiles were sold in the U.S. and $50 million worth worldwide.
Many fashion and athletic apparel companies, particularly those that subscribed to ecologically-conscious principles, became early adopters of the material and pretty soon the market was flooded with jackets, jerseys, robes, and dresses made from the woody grass. In 2006, roughly $10 million worth of bamboo textiles were sold in the U.S. and $50 million worth worldwide (Durst, 2006). The material was popularly touted as “antimicrobial,” “natural,” and “renewable” with very little backup or description to those claims.
This lack of transparency around bamboo fiber production combined with the increased promotion of eco-friendly claims in the industry spurred controversy and in 2009 the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) began questioning both the fabric labeling and the environmental claims. In August of 2009 the FTC published a consumer alert and six months later issued warnings to 78 retailers and manufacturers of bamboo so that they could take corrective action on labeling and advertising. The letters were additionally accompanied by information that the mislabeling was a violation of the FTC Act and by not taking a course correction, each violation would cost companies $16,000 per violation.
An example of improper labeling of bamboo-based clothing
An example of proper labeling of bamboo-based clothing
This labeling controversy spurred FTC to revisit their “Green Guide,” which was a standard guide for use of environmental marketing claims released ten years prior.
All this being said, bamboo is not without its benefits. As a raw material, it often requires little or no pesticide application due to its fast-growing nature. It does not require replanting since it is a perennial species, and like many plants – has a natural resistance to some pests. Because of that, it is often considered superior to natural (non-synthetic) fibers like conventional cotton, which requires pesticides, chemical defoliants and quite a bit of water.
However, unlike natural vegetal fibers like organic cotton, hemp and linen, the commercially viable fiber of bamboo (bamboo rayon), which has been the topic of discussion here, is currently not directly derived from the plant. Since bamboo is a cellulosic fiber, it needs to be broken down through a rayon or viscose process (as outlined in Series 1.2) and revisited again in a future interactive series.*
Designers considering using bamboo-based materials or purchasing bamboo-based materials from Source4Style for use in their collections should note whether they are purchasing bamboo rayon or bamboo linen, and label appropriately. Be aware of the current FTC guidelines and do not overstate environmental claims, and when possible, probe a bit deeper with suppliers to understand the socio-cultural and environmental policies in raw material production, cultivation and processing.
*This concludes our three-part series of Textile Talk on Oh So MOSO. You can read the Introduction here, Series 1.1 here and Series 1.2 here. Tune in here for more information on an interactive series/discussion on bamboo materials, marketing and market demands.
