There is something to say about the cycle of life and the return to the tried and true. Whether you are talking about health remedies, lifestyle practices, fashion, or even fabric. And with go-green and eco-friendly practices on the rise by mainstream consumers from Cali to NYC, more and more designers and textile industries are jumping on the bandwagon and taking it back to the basics with the use of natural fiber alternatives. As they do so, consumers gain more insight into just how far behind western culture is in comparison to the rest of the world in terms of sustainable living.
Noticeable as well are the differences seen in authentic hand weaved materials and machine manufactured ones. In the attempt to maximize production and corner the market, westerners and overly ambitious manufacturers have tried to replicate natural fiber texturizing techniques using various mechanical devices in order to ensure faster processing, bigger volume, and lower costs. The result, a product of inferior quality and substance.
One such plant whose fibers have been cultivated, sustained and hand woven in the plush tropical province of Aklan, Philippines for centuries, is the Pina cloth. Not only natural, it is a great eco-friendly textile source. Pina cloth starts with fragile hairlike fiber strands from the leaves of pineapples that are then woven into unique high quality cloth of intricate designs and sold to not only international textile and design mills, but to the high society in the Philippines Islands as well.
