As we start to think about ethics and sustainability for our second Year 2 project (more on this to follow), I decided to revisit our first project. In my case, this was an investigation into the ever-changing shoulder silhouette in fashion, in which I studied a gloriously bling shoulder-padded jacket from the 1980s, as well as a typical dress from the Philippines, and it is this latter item that I wanted to take a closer look into with regards to sustainability.
1 Filipina Pacencia Valencia Hidalgo Laurel in dress made from piña fibre
Extracted from pineapples, piña fibre has traditionally been used in the Philippines to produce its national outfits, the Barong Tagalog and Traje de Mestiza – the image above shows piña in use in the 19th century. It is a delicate yet strong fibre, with huge sustainability potential, yet historically, only the Filipino elite could afford it since its arduous method of extraction makes it an expensive commodity (Garcia et al, 2019).
Fibres are scraped from the leaves of the red Bisaya pineapple using a ceramic plate or tool (Sorilla, 2017). These fibres are washed, treated and hand knotted together, and this produces strands for weaving.
Above: my attempt at extracting fibres from a supermarket-bought pineapple using a traditional method of scraping the leaves with a ceramic plate.
I attempted this process, albeit by using a supermarket-bought pineapple, as you can see from the images above. It was a time-consuming process, however, I was pleasantly surprised by the fibres that came off – you can see the strands in the image below.
Above: the fibres I managed to extract
As technology innovations were introduced into the Philippines, eventually materials such as cotton overtook piña and it became a relatively unused resource until more recently, where its value in and to the Philippines has been recognised, and it seems to be enjoying a popularity revival.
This revival has been partially due to the realisation that the fashion industry needs to look to alternative and more sustainable materials and manufacturing methods in its attempt to look after the environment in which we live.
The global fashion and textile industry has a huge impact on the environment, through carbon emissions, toxic pollution, water consumption and general waste. The statistics make for a shocking read. According to Earth.org, the industry generates 10% of global carbon emissions. This includes emissions generated by clothing purchase returns, something I had never previously considered, and the figure is rising.
Above: a pile of clothes from my house ready for landfill
The industry is also responsible for toxic pollutants generated through manufacturing processes; and the simple act of washing a man-made, synthetic garment produces plastic waste that ends up in our water (Fletcher, 2008).
Waste is a major factor too. In the US for example, 12.8 million tons of clothing was thrown out in one year (Bird, 2018), while across the globe, 150 billion pieces of clothing or footwear end up in landfill every year (Earth.org).
Earth.org
statistics also state that 20% of the world’s waste water is generated by the
fashion and textile industry. It is interesting to read that a t-shirt takes
2,700 litres of water, which would be enough drinking water for one person for
almost three years.
The good news is that the fashion and textile industry has recognised these issues and piña is just one of the alternative sources that could provide solutions.
The Philippine Textile Research Institute based in Manila is working to improve the efficiency of piña weaving and has introduced a number of mechanical processes (Camilleri, A. L. (2022).
But the popularity of piña has had a positive impact on the weaving community in the Philippines, according to the website sustainability.ph. As the industry grows, there are more employment opportunities and improvements to the community and people’s livelihoods.
Meanwhile, not only are pineapples harvested as fruit as well as for their fibres, and what’s more, they actually respond better to organic soil rather than harmful chemical fungicides and pesticides, (Steele, 2019).
Additionally, piña is easy to wash; does not need to be dry-cleaned, which minimises its impact on the environment; and it blends well with other fibres including cotton, abaca, and silk, making it a versatile resource in the clothing industry. In fact, a number of well-known global organisations such as H&M already utilise its properties in a textile called Piñatex (Petter, 2018).
It is still a very small part of the global fashion industry, but a positive option in diversifying, and combating the textile industry’s huge impact on the environment.
These are some of the factors I need to consider in my next project.
Below
is a great example of the use of piña in modern fashion: Filipino designer
Gabbie Sarenas’ take on the traditional blouse reworked for the modern woman.
Sources
Bird, J. (2018). Fashion’s
Dirty Little Secret. [Online] Available from: https://www.forbes.com. [Accessed 19 January 2023]
Garcia, L. (2019) Filipiniana Dresses and How They’ve Changed
Throughout History [Online] Available from: https://www.filipinowedding.com/blogs. [Accessed
13 October 2022]
Illustrations
- Francinehihao (1899) Pacencia Valencia Hidalgo Laurel was the wife of Philippine President Jose P. Laurel. [Online photo] Available from: https://commons.wikimedia.org/ [Accessed 8 October 2022)
- Gabbie Sarenas Pagtanom Fall Winter 2017. [Online photo] Available from: https://www.gabbiesarenas.com/pagtanom-fall-winter-2017 [Accessed 1 December 2022]
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