Indian Creates Vegan Wool From A Wasteland Plant

Intrigued at the sight of hummingbirds using a fibre from a flowering plant to keep their young ones warm, Tamil Nadu-based Gowri Shankar's curiosity about this plant piqued as he was looking out of his window one day. Shankar identified the plant as Calotropis and began to research about the plant's fibre. Five months on, he created an alternative to wool that is wholly plant-sourced and vegan. Shankar created 'Weganool' by using the hollow and light cellulose fibres of shrubs Calotropis Gigantea and Calotropis Procera; his faux wool has a composition of 70% organic cotton and 30% calotropis plant, and it could just be the next thing in the fashion scene! Production of the wool is done by hand by rural women near Auroville in the outskirts of Pondicherry in Tamil Nadu.

The natural fibers used to create vegan wool. Photo courtesy: Faborg.in

The Plant 

Calotropis, is a wasteland shrub and it yields a durable fiber (commercially known as Bowstring of India) used to make ropes, carpets, fishing nets and sewing thread. Calotropis Gigantea and Calotropis Procera are Ayurvedic plants with medicinal properties and grow all over India. The plant is a tall, flowering shrub that thrives in dry and harsh growing conditions without human intervention, water, fertilizers or pesticides in Africa and several Southeast Asian and Middle Eastern countries. It is also known as giant milkweed, and has thick stalks and pale flowers.
 

A look inside. Photo courtesy: Faborg.in
 

Sustainable Fashion

In January 2020, the vegan wool fabric was presented at the 9th Future Fabrics Expo held in London and was under the spotlight in the Expo Innovation table at the expo.

The Road Ahead

The cashmere wool-like fabric may have not yet entered the major distribution circuits in the global fashion scene but the fabric has been already picked up by the German ethical-clothing brand of children, Infantium Victoria. The vegan wool is making its debut in Infantium Victoria’s Fall Winter Collection 2021.

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