changeadminNext time you eat a banana, you can enjoy the healthy fruit by wearing a t-shirt made with its fabrics.
Garments made from banana plants have been used in ancient times, however, their popularity faded after other fabrics such as synthetic fibres, cotton and silk became vogue.
With the growing consciousness regarding the environmental impact of synthetic fabrics like polyester, nylon, and conventional cotton, there is an increase in demand for sustainable fabrics such as banana fabric.
Banana fabric and fibres are derived from banana plant pseudostems which are usually cut and thrown away.
Though banana fibres are used in the cottage industry in India to create applications like handicrafts, shopping bags, rugs, mats, and upholstery items, their use in textile and fashion is limited.
One company that wants to change this is Kaelir, a clothing brand that makes eco-friendly garments from agricultural waste, primarily from banana stems.
Kaelir is based in Tirupur in Tamil Nadu, the city known as the knitwear capital of India due to its cotton knitwear export. Additionally, the region contributes significantly to the country’s banana production.
We had an insightful conversation with Gautaman Loganathan, founder of Kaelir, on his company journey, the reason for taking the banana fabrics, and his personal story.
Having studied fashion technology and worked with his father in their textile business, Gautaman now wants to create an impact in sustainable fashion using banana fibres and other natural fabrics like bamboo and aloe vera. Kaelir currently makes tops and t-shirts for men and women, but it will soon expand to other product categories.
Below are the edited excerpts of our conversation; you can watch the video on YouTube for the entire discussion.
How did you start your Journey?
I graduated from the National Institute of Fashion Technology in Bengaluru and then completed a master’s in luxury brand management in Italy.
I worked in Italy for about a year and a half and then returned to India due to COVID-19. I worked for a skincare brand in Bengaluru for about nine months and then decided it was high time I started my clothing brand.
What motivated you to get into Sustainability
I felt guilty about the shopping, buying, and increasing consumerism we are increasingly becoming part of.
Moreover, since childhood, I have only seen garments, clothing, and apparel because my dad is a textile exporter based in Tirupur. I witnessed garment exports, being done, which made me research and explore the entire journey of the fashion industry.
We export tons of garments which has multiple negative impacts on the environment. I started understanding that clothes are one of the reasons for climate change, and the issues it creates on water and air.
As my strength and background are in textiles, I decided to make a change here.
What made you choose banana fibres to make garments?
Apart from garments, my region is also known for its abundance of banana trees. We can find banana trees grow almost everywhere, as it does not need much care and very little water.
However, the problem with banana trees is that once the fruit is taken off, it has to be cut down, where it decomposes in 30 to 60 days depending on the condition of the soil.
In our region, people eat fruit and flowers, use the leaves as plates, and make juice from the stem. After using most of the tree, the only leftovers are the pseudostems, the part that covers the inner stem.
That is where I identified an opportunity as we can extract fibres from the pseudostems.
I found the right group of artisans who helped me extract the fibres from the pulp and then convert them into cotton fluff kind of fibre.
From there, the process is very similar to cotton yarn, where you can blend banana fibres with different raw materials and spin them into yarn. After the yarn is converted into fabric, it is made into a garment.
From this journey of one and a half years now, where we can make garments from banana fibres, I think this is the future.
Are you working with other raw materials and fabrics?
Apart from banana fabric, we also make garments with bamboo, rose, lotus, and aloe vera (sisal aloe vera).
Once I discovered the banana, I found possibilities with other natural materials as well. However, we predominately use bamboo and banana fibres.
When did you start your Company?
We incorporated the Kaelir in December 2022.
Initially, we launched Kaelir with recycled polyester (RPET) because natural fibres like banana, aloe vera, etc were in the R&D stage. About a year later, in September 2023, we introduced the first Banana collection.
How are you going about with your manufacturing
Currently, we use 50% homegrown fabrics and the rest are imported from Indonesia or Vietnam. I had to buy banana fabric from Indonesia because the process of making it in India is long-drawn and expensive.
I think it’s going take at least another two years for us to make everything in-house and we are working with many incubation centres and institutes in India to make this happen.
Where can people buy your Products and what other product categories?
People can buy Kaelir products on our website, which has a simple checkout process.
We don’t have an offline store yet, though we have an office in Tirupur where we have displayed our products. If anybody is interested in coming to Tirupur to check and try, they are more than welcome.
What is the significance of Kaelir?
Kaelir is a Tamil word meaning kinship, signifying that everybody is one, irrespective of race, gender, religion, region, etc.
The point of having Kaelir’s name for a clothing brand is to make everybody become part of sustainability.
What is your connection with the environment and nature?
I cannot see natural resources going to waste.
One reason I chose to make garments with banana fabrics is because of the waste I see happening in my region. Banana trees are cut after the harvest and are simply left in waste to decompose. I can’t digest such things.
Listen to the full discussion, where we talked about certain other topics like making sustainable fashion affordable, plans and hemp fabrics.
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