bamboo a holistic approach to a renewable fibre for textile design

10th European Academy of Design Conference - Crafting the Future 1 | P a g e

Bamboo: A holistic approach to a renewable fibre for textile design

Dagmar Steffen, Andrea Weber Marin, Isabel Rosa Müggler

Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts, School of Art & Design, Lucerne, Switzerland

[email protected], [email protected], [email protected]

Abstract

The paper presents various findings of an applied research project, jointly undertaken by Swiss

textile companies and Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts in order to research and

evaluate the potential of bamboo fibres for substitution and enrichment of fibre resources for the

apparel production in Europe. The research focuses on natural bamboo yarn and not bamboo

viscose yarn, which is already in commercial use, but is in terms of sustainability questionable.

Since introduction and positioning of a new material on the market is a multifarious endeavour,

the research project took an interdisciplinary approach. Thus, the paper reports the findings of

material research, material processing and the production of prototypes. Furthermore, it

discusses semantic aspects of eco-fashion as well as user’s experience and acceptance of bamboo

products in Switzerland, in order to gain some indication for recommendations for design and

market communication of bamboo textiles and fashion.

KEYWORDS: natural bamboo fibre, fibre research, product

semantics, sustainability, eco fashion, eco label, customer

experience

Introduction

In recent years, the interest in renewable resource based fibres is increasing. The world’s

population is growing and with it, the demand for textile production for apparel and interior

textiles. At the same time, the worldwide production of cotton has reached its limit due to land

and productivity constraints. Polyester production is bound to the consumption of oil, thus its

worldwide availability is decreasing. Therefore the need for new and sustainable fibres such as

bamboo, hemp or nettle is gaining in importance (Fletcher 2008, p. 16).


Currently, there is a growing interest in bamboo textiles. The mass media has joined in the

promotion of bamboo, highlighting it as a fast growing, sustainable resource. In Asian countries,

where bamboo is indigenous, it is widely used as a construction material due to its strength and

high tenacity. Yet its use for textile production is at the very outset and only little research has

been done in order to investigate its textile properties. Nonetheless, some fashion companies

claim without proper proof that bamboo (viscose) garments are natural, sustainable, breathable,

cool, biodegradable and even anti-bacterial (Diekamp & Koch 2010).

This paper presents the findings of the applied research project “BambooSigns”, jointly

undertaken by three Swiss textile companies and the Lucerne School of Art & Design. In order

to pave the way for sustainable textiles out of a new material, various obstacles have to be

overcome. Thus, the project takes an interdisciplinary approach, addressing material research and

processing as well as research into (market) communication issues of eco-clothing and user’s

experiences. In order to launch sustainable textiles, a holistic view and courses of action are

needed. Firstly, investigation into sustainability issues and technical properties of the material had

to be undertaken. Desktop research and basic research on the properties and characteristics of

natural bamboo fibres was conducted in order to evaluate their potential for substitution and

enrichment of fibre resources for apparel production in Europe. The focus was laid on

mechanically processed bamboo or natural bamboo that is extracted from bamboo culms, not on

bamboo viscose. Up to now, on the former there is very little information available while the

latter is already in commercial use. Since the production of bamboo viscose has the same high

environmental impact (due to the polluting effects of carbon disulfide and other by-products of

the process) as conventional viscose from wood pulp, this material is beyond the focus of the

project. Secondly, the cultural acceptance of the material and the garments has to be taken into

account. Thus, semantic aspects of eco-fashion were scrutinized as well as user’s experience and

acceptance of bamboo products in Switzerland in order to gain some indication for

recommendations for design and market communication of bamboo textiles and fashion.

Bamboo – a renewable resource

Bamboo is indeed a fast growing and renewable resource. Classified as a grass, it comprises more

than 1400 species worldwide; some of them grow a height of 35 meters and a diameter of 30 cm

or more. Bamboo grows mostly and most rapidly in the tropical and sub-tropical zones of Asia,

Africa, Australia and South America and also in the colder environments. The plant regenerates

itself every five years (Liese, in Vegesack 2000). After three years of growth, the stems can be

harvested for production purposes. Since bamboo is a perennial plant, it can be harvested

continually without the need for new seeding (Liese, in Vegesack & Kries 2000). Furthermore, it

should be emphasised that is a valuable plant in the ecosystem. Due to its rhizome it provides a

positive influence on soil erosion and water conservation within the ecosystem (Yu 2007). Last

not least, it fixes CO2 very efficiently through photosynthesis (van der Lugt 2008).


In Asia bamboo is used mainly for construction and household purposes, for nutrition, and for

the production of paper and cosmetics. As a construction material, bamboo has excellent

properties; with respect to flexibility, strength, elasticity, and lightness (Yu 2007). Bamboo

consists mainly of cellulose, lignin and hemi-cellulose, also smaller parts of resin, tannin, wax and

inorganic salts (Yu 2007).

Concerning the ecological footprint, there is some data available, which has been collected by

Pablo van de Lugt (2008). On the base of the life-cycle-analysis (LCA) method, he compared

bamboo stems and various kinds of European and tropical hardwood. He pointed out, that the

eco-costs of bamboo are lower than those of tropical hardwood, but – due to the fossil fuel

inputs for shipping the bamboo materials from China to the Netherlands – they equal those of

European hardwood. However, growing bamboo in Europe, as is already done in the South of

France and North of Spain, could circumvent these eco-costs.

Natural bamboo fibres: Processing routes and

properties

While there is much knowledge available on bamboo as a construction material in architecture

(von Vegesack & Kries 2000; van der Lugt, van den Dobblesteen & Abrahams 2003; Yu 2007),

in interior and furniture design (Ranjan, Iyer & Pandya 1986; Yu 2007; van der Lugt 2008) and in

household equipment (Ranjan, Iyer & Pandya 1986), research in and utilization of bamboo as a

resource for textile fibres is at the very outset (Fletcher 2007, p. 32f). Such a usage goes beyond

the traditional and well-established application of bamboo in the many bamboo cultures of Asia.

Industrial uses of bamboo include the conversion of culms into pulp for paper and in the

production of viscose fibre, but there are only few manufacturing plants in China that process

bamboo culms into the basic raw material for natural bamboo fibres for yarn production.

According to Felix Stutz, CEO of Litrax, who joined the “BambooSigns”–research project as the

main commercial partner, the natural bamboo fibres used in this project were extracted from

Guizhu bamboo species from a sustainably managed forest in central China. The fibres were

extracted by mechanically splitting the bamboo culms into smaller fractions followed by rasping

off the woody parts by semiautomatic mechanical treatment. Then the cellulose fibres were

separated from the remaining stem-parts by enzymatic treatment (Litrax 2011) (Image 1-7).

This included a series of precisely timed alternate water-washing and enzyme treatment cycles,

which also act on the vertical and horizontally aligned lignins of the resulting fibre bundles.

Peroxide was used for the final bleaching and refining of the fibres.

The resulting natural bamboo fibres have variable lengths between 2mm and 150mm with a

relatively wide Gaussian distribution. The cross sectional structure ranges from individual fibres

with diameters of 4 microns up to fibre bundles with cross sections of as much as 150 microns

(average textile dtex of 5,8). The material subsequently required sorting and selection for target

applications and an additional slow carding was required to remove process residues and waste

fibres. After compressing into bales, the material was shipped to Europe where it was further


refined by double carding or combing and cutting to staple of 65mm or 50mm for finer spinning

results. Finally, NM 10, NM 28 and even NM 40 of worsted 100% bamboo yarns were produced

(catalogue Schöller 2011), and even finer spinning results were achieved with blended yarns, such

as bamboo/tencel or bamboo/cotton (up to NM100). (Figure 8-9)

Figure 1-9: Bamboo culms; mechanical splitting of the bamboo culms into splits; mechanical shaping of the bamboo splits; the natural bamboo fibres; bath for enzymatic treatment; manual separation in the enzyme bath; bamboo fibre length view; Bamboo fibre cross section (figure 1-7: Felix Stutz, figure 8-9 Lenzing)

The chemical compounds analysis shows that the natural bamboo fibre can be classified as

Ökotex 1 except for the lead value, which is higher than the Ökotex 1 limit and therefore falls

into the Ökotex 2 category. Compared with Lenzing Tencel, the fibre tenacity is similar but the

elongation is much lower (Table 1). The natural bamboo yarn is more regular than linen with

respect to thins, thicks and neps. However the hairiness is high and dust formation and fibre

contamination during spinning, weaving and knitting can therefore be observed.

Natural bamboo fibre 5,94 dtex

tenacity mean value 32 – 35 cN/tex

elongation mean value 2,9%

module mean value 9 –11 cN/tex

Table 1: Natural bamboo fibre properties (standard testing Lenzing SA/Litrax 2007)


Natural bamboo yarn 14,75 tex

tenacity

mean value

standard deviation

13,0 cN/tex

1.12

elongation mean value

standard deviation

18,1%

1.56

incineration/

ashing

mean value

standard deviation

0.23 %

0.0001 Table 2: Tenacity, elongation and incineration behaviour of natural bamboo yarn (standard testing EMPA April 2011)

The dyeability of bamboo fibres with standard cellulose dyes is good, although the colourfastness

seems to be a little lower than with cotton fibres (figure 10). Bamboo fibres incinerate with

practically no residue. They also dry more slowly than other cellulose fibres. The tenacity value is

comparable with cotton yarns; the elongation value of natural bamboo yarn is much higher

compared with cotton yarn.

Figure 10: Dyeing samples of bamboo textiles, various weave constructions (EMPA 2011)

A special aesthetic property of bamboo yarn is its sheen, which is distinct and resembles that of

silk. This fact is confirmed by the bamboo textile prototypes, manufactured and presented in the

next section.

Natural bamboo fibre slivers must be washed before spinning in order to remove residual

additives, which are introduced during sliver production. Spinning is carried out in wool spinning

process lines. Bamboo dust presents a problem during spinning, weaving and knitting and has to

be effectively dealt with during production preparation. Otherwise production and dyeing can be

carried out following standard procedures.


Bamboo textile prototypes

First textile prototypes were developed by an expert panel, taking into account natural bamboo

fibre and yarn properties together with the design briefings. The option of blending bamboo with

other sustainable fibres (such as GOTS certified silk in order to accentuate its sheen, or with fair

trade organic cotton) was also explored. Prototypes were accordingly defined and developed

together with the textile project partners and these included textiles for ladies’ outer garments.

Figure 11 shows a production sample, a seamlessly knitted summer sports pullover by Traxler. In

order to keep the shape of the garment, the natural bamboo yarn is blended with organic cotton.

Figure 12 shows front- and backside of two double-face textiles out of natural bamboo yarn (red

coloured) and silk (white respective black) by Weisbrod Zürrer. The combination of natural

bamboo and silk enhances the sheen of the bamboo yarn; the design supports the exclusive

appearance and the contemporary look of the produced fabric.

Figure 11-12: Casual wear, summer sport pullover. Material: natural bamboo and organic cotton. Manufacturer: Traxler, (Photo: Dagmar Steffen); Foulards, double-face weaving, Material: natural bamboo and GOTS-certified silk. Manufacturer: Weisbrod Zürrer, Hausen am Abis (Photo: Isabel Rosa Müggler)

Product semantics of eco-fashion

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, when the environmental impact of the entire production chain

of textiles became obvious, the demand for environment friendly textiles increased rapidly. Eco-

fashion pioneer companies such as Hess natur, Waschbär, Albnatur, or Panda took the initiative to

ecologize textile production. At that time, efforts to make textile production greener resulted in

garments with characteristic bulky appearance and chunky knitted or woven materials with muted

colours. On the one hand, this can partly be due to the fact that technical know-how in the field

of environmental friendly production was limited (for example, the narrow range of colours

resulted from the avoidance of dyes incorporating heavy metals. On the other hand, the

companies fostered this very style, since it corresponded to the predominant fashion style or

rather anti-fashion style of the proponents of the green movement (Fischer 2001, 124). At that


time, this societal group wanted to declare their eco-values and lifestyle with their clothes and

accessories. Shopping bags decorated with the slogan “jute instead of plastic” became emblematic

for the so-called tree-huggers.

Indeed, the pioneer companies, which established sustainable eco-fashion have learned the lesson

that garments are a means of communication: They serve as a non-verbal medium by which

various meanings and values are represented and exchanged (Sommer 1992; Barnard 2001;

Steffen 2009). The increasing social and cultural differentiation and segmentation of society were

reflected in clothing, fashion, and accessories in various styles, looks and implicit agreement

about ‘in’- and ‘out’-brands in communities. These items served in order to construct and

communicate identity, values and even the political standpoint to the members of one's own

group and also to members of other groups. In the 1960s, the hippie- and the student movement

were amongst the first, which connected the concept of fashion or rather anti-fashion with non-

conformist values, a sub-cultural lifestyle and a political and cultural position. Certain garments

such as jeans, parkas, and colourful, richly ornamented shirts symbolized specific content, and

wearing these garments became a statement (Dietrichsen 2003). Thus, fashion and anti-fashion

became part of a sign system (Sommer 1992). This was also the case with eco-fashion and the

green movement.

However, later on, fashion industry exploited the fresh, creative expression of sub-cultural anti-

fashion codes of mostly young sub-cultural groups as a source of inspiration and turned it into a

commercially exploitable fashion. Thereby the link between visual symbols and its original

meaning eroded (Steffen 2000). Eco fashion became, as Fletcher put it “more a stylized reaction

against simplistic perceptions of chemicals and industrial pollution than a conversion to

sustainable values (…) Eco chic was shape and surface detailing, image layered on top of fibre

and garment” (Fletcher 2007, p. 119).

Subsequently however, various studies indicate that consumers still associate the term “eco-

fashion” with the above-described original visual code of sustainable garments. Furthermore, this

visual code is responsible for the bad image of sustainable garments and hinders a broad

dissemination of eco-fashion beyond a certain societal group (Fischer 2002, p. 121f). At present,

a majority of consumers appreciates sustainable products (at least when they are interviewed).

But, as Niinimäki (2010, p. 159) found in her survey: “When asked whether eco-clothing should

be the same in appearance and aesthetics as all other clothes (cannot be distinguished from other

clothes in style, design, material, colour etc.), 70% of all respondents in general agreed with this

statement”. The group of ‘ecological hardliners’, who make purchasing decisions indeed on the

base of their ethical convictions and who also “want to show their own ideology in their

appearance” has diminished during the last decade and represents only a niche market (ibd., p.

161). The ‘eco style’- and ‘eco chic’-trend faced a downturn.

After decline in sales and undergoing a crisis, leading eco-fashion pioneer companies such as the

German company Hess Natur started to uncouple sustainable optimization of the garments and a

clearly identifiable symbolic eco-style (Fischer 2002, p. 127). A rapprochement with current

trends was made. Thus, at present, in terms of style the Hess Natur fashion line does not differ

from conventional fashion any more. Same is true for the Swiss brand Coop-Naturaline, launched


in 1993 by the Swiss retailer Coop, which successfully offers basics (T-Shirts, pullovers, dresses,

trousers, jackets, underwear etc.) out of fair trade organic cotton.

In conclusion, it can be said, that garments made out of natural bamboo must firstly not show

any signs of “eco-fashion” such as particular colours or shapes in order to reach the mass market.

Secondly, the link between sustainable textile and fashion production on the one hand and a

specific visually recognizable eco-style or eco-look on the other was based on the simplistic belief

that sustainability is a visible quality of items. But this is not the case. The end products do not

indicate an environmentally friendly production of the materials or ethical working conditions in

the textile industry. Rightly, Fletcher remarks:

Today, it is difficult to see or sense sustainability in many of the fashion and textile products available.

(…) most fibres can be processed to look ‘pure’, ‘natural’ or ‘recycled’, regardless of their true provenance.

Indeed, perhaps as a reflection of the fact that fibres can look identical (…) most sustainable fashion pieces

are aesthetically indistinguishable from everything else on the market. (Fletcher 2007, p. 127)

Relevance of Eco-labels for market communication

Given that environmentally friendly produced materials, fair trade, and ethical working

conditions in industry are not visible in the end product, it becomes obvious that marketing of

green products must employ alternative strategies. In order to inform customers reliably and to

enable them to make a sustainable choice eco-labels and certificates are a useful and powerful

communication tool. Over more than two decades they have become of great importance for

establishing transparency with regard to eco- and sustainability issues. In other words: Signs and

symbols are capable of simplifying complex facts in such a way as to inform customers efficiently

(Schulz & Kreeb 2002).

In the case of marking garments made out of sustainable natural bamboo and distinguishing

them from bamboo viscose garments, labels are also beneficial. In the US the Federal Trade

Commission (FTC, 2008) has denounced the practice of “bamboozling the customers”, since some

marketers play on the fact that bamboo is a quickly growing plant with little or no need for

pesticides in order to market “bamboo” textiles to customers who are looking for

environmentally friendly choices. But as mentioned above most of these “bamboo” textile

products are viscose or rayon (except from Hess Natur, which offered a natural bamboo

collection for one season). According to the FTC, rayon “typically is made using environmentally

toxic chemicals in a process that emits hazardous pollutants into the air. While different plants,

including bamboo, can be used as a source material to create rayon, there’s no trace of the

original plant in the finished rayon product.” Thus, green customers are misled, and

consequentially FTC advised the companies: “If your product isn’t made directly of bamboo fibre

– but is a manufactured fiber for which bamboo was the plant source – it should be labelled and

advertised using the proper generic name for the fibre, such as rayon, or “rayon made from

bamboo” (FTC 2008). One year later, the German Industrievereinigung Chemiefaser (IVC), the

Bundesverband des Deutschen Textileinzelhandels (BTE) and GermanFashion (2009) issued an identical


statement. Thus, in order to emphasize sustainablility and high quality of natural bamboo textiles,

they should be marked with an exclusive label.

Since there are very many different eco-labels in use, the research project aimed at identifying an

appropriate label for signifying natural bamboo textiles. Supported by the Institute for Marketecology

(imo), Weinfelden/Switzerland, several labels and signs such as OekoTex 100, OekoTex 1000,

OekoTex 1000 Plus, GOTS, FSC, For Life, and Fair for Life (figure 13-19) were scrutinized.

Figure 13-19: Eco-labels: OekoTex 100, OekoTex 1000, OekoTex 1000 Plus, GOTS, FSC, For Life, and Fair for Life.

To begin with, the three Oeko-Tex labels warrant rather low standards and have no good

reputation from the ecologists point of view. GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standard) is

internationally well approved and guarantees the adherence of ecological and social standards

through the entire textile production chain. Also the FSC (Forrest Stewardship Council) is well

approved, but on the one hand it is rather unusual for textiles, and on the other it could be

applied to viscose textiles as well. For Life and Fair for Life are two new labels that are still more

or less unknown and it is unsure whether they will succeed. Thus, GOTS turned out to be the

most promising label for signing natural bamboo textiles, and recommendations were given.

However, it lies in the responsibility of the companies to take actions.

Customer experience of bamboo

While in Asian countries bamboo has played an important role in everyday life, culture, art,

literature and philosophy for thousands of years and people are closely connected to the plant

because of its practical utility, its symbolic meanings and its elegant shape, this is not the case in

Europe (Yu 2007). Here people have little experience with the plant and with the material.

Furthermore, for utilizing the bamboo stems in the industrial context of textile fibre and yarn

production, the stems are treated in such a manner, that a beholder is unable to link the final

product with the basic raw material. That is to say, the material does not indicate its origin. Thus,

additional communication is needed to sensitise customers to the material and its benefits as a

renewable, sustainable and widely available resource. In order to lay the ground for product


designs and a communication and customer experience strategy, the research project included an

investigation into currant customer experiences.

The aim was to generate insights in personal perception and to identify relevant issues of bamboo

and bamboo-based products from the perspective of people in Switzerland. Six participants of all

ages (between 12 and 80 years old, 3 female and 3 male), who are living in the city and

agglomeration of Zurich, belong to the social middle class, and showed readiness to explore this

topic, took part in the research. All participants were recruited through social networks. The

research applied qualitative and ethnographic methods. Each person participated in an hourly

ethnographic conversation, conducted at his or her home or office (Spradley 1979). They were

asked open-ended questions and were encouraged to spontaneously express what they associate

with ‘bamboo’. The journey started with notions about the bamboo plant and the different

bamboo materials. It continued with mental connections referring to the production, the design,

and the aesthetics of bamboo products, and what all this means to the interviewee. Last not least,

various contexts where one came across the plant or the material as well as stories, experiences,

and ideas that came to the mind were broached (figure 20).

Parallel to the interview, a selection of 20 photos of modernistic bamboo-based products were

shown to each participant and she or he was asked to select spontaneously three most interesting

product cards and to describe what or why they were appealing. Table 3 reports some of the

notions and comments of the participants during the conversation.

Figure 20: Stages of the bamboo experience journey

Stage of the bamboo

experience journey

Answers of the participants

1. plant - it grows exuberantly; not sympathetic: the plant hurts

- symbol of human life, Buddhism

- romance and adventure, holidays

2. material - why bamboo? what is the advantage?

- an exotic material in Switzerland

- it does not belong here

- a regenerative/ renewable resource


3. production - where and how is it produced?

- labour conditions in China?

- a wide spectrum of applications

4. design - exotic, colonial style designs

- until now unsophisticated manual designs artisanal

- cool, nonchalant designs

- minimalistic, stylish, extraordinary, sophisticated, refined designs

- a piece of art, aesthetic

- multilateral, inventive, unconventional designs

5. context - adventurous, exotic, nature, Safari

- not for everyday

- would like to buy bamboo terry towels

- comparable with Naturaline (i.e. a Swiss trademark for organic cotton)

6. communication - bamboo forest

- a retreat for meditation Table 3: Participants associations with regard to the various stages of a bamboo experience journey

Even if the number of participants was very limited, the ethnographic research revealed several

insights. First, it became clear that the affection – either positive or negative – depends on

previous personal contacts and experiences with the plant. There is no unifying or overarching

attitude like in Asia. Since the plant and the material are not rooted in Western culture, people

expected a profound explanation why bamboo is or should be used. The fact that it is a

renewable or sustainable resource is not sufficient. Additional arguments are required why this

material was used instead of a ‘traditional’ one. With regard to labour conditions in China,

interviewees mentioned high ethical concerns. Most revealing was the fact that the modernistic

products were well received. Furniture and interior design products as for example those

designed by Dutch designers during the research workshops “Dutch Design meets Bamboo”

conducted by Pablo van der Lugt (2007) rouse astonishment about the broad spectrum of

applications, the various processing techniques, and shapes full of imagination. Those

outstanding product designs evoke wow-effects and put the material in a positive light, beyond

stereotypical associations such as colonial style furniture and poorly made products from cottage

industry. Nonetheless one should keep in mind that even the most convincing bamboo artefacts

were considered to be a sort of substitute for other objects, which are already there. Furthermore,

they compete with similar alternative offers. These barriers have to be overcome if the material is

to be introduced in the European mass market. The ethnographic conversations indicated clearly,

that much depends on sophisticated and persuasive product designs. In addition, the creation and

implementation of a customer experience strategy should complement the introduction of the

material on the European market in order to sensitize and familiarize Western customers with


bamboo plants, bamboo-based materials and a range of products from the various application

fields.

Conclusion and outlook

Although there are still few hard facts on natural bamboo fibre properties, the product

development within this project shows that the fibre has definite promise and could be a valuable

add-on for the apparel and interior textile markets. Bamboo fibres could be one solution in the

quest for new fibres, because of the abundance and availability of bamboo as well as its

favourable fibre properties. It is an attractive fibre with respect to touch and feel and noble

appearance.

The physical characteristics will have to be further researched and optimized in order to produce

standard high quality yarns and fabrics. Since there are only few manufacturing plants in China

processing the natural bamboo in small quantities the prices are still two to three times higher

than those of linen, hemp and other renewable fibres. Thus, industrial upscaling is needed in

order to reduce the production costs. A textile production chain will have to be established in

order to secure mass production on a high quality level.

Although as observed in the customer survey, bamboo has a somewhat negative image, the

people interviewed very well received the bamboo prototypes and products based on

contemporary designs. One can conclude that people would buy bamboo-based products, not

because they are made out of bamboo, but because they like the contemporary product design.

This represents an important opportunity for the introduction of natural bamboo fibre fashion to

the market. Given that the garments show an attractive design sustainability- and fair-trade-

aspects can add value. However, further research is needed to ascertain the ecological footprint

of natural bamboo in comparison with linen, hemp and other renewable fibres. Since

environmental friendly materials, fair trade and ethical working conditions in industry are not

visible in the garments and – according to customer research – eco-clothing should be the same

in style, design and colour as all other clothes, there is a need for an eco-label in order to enable

customers to choose green products.

The media has already taken up the topic and companies have launched marketing campaigns for

the “new” sustainable bamboo fibre. Although this is a positive development, there is an

important information gap in that the bamboo yarns currently produced and marketed are

bamboo viscose yarns and not mechanically processed natural bamboo yarns. From the point of

view of sustainability and material properties, this represents a completely different situation,

which should be labelled and communicated accordingly.

Acknowledgements

The research project “BambuSigns” is funded by the Swiss Commission for Technology and

Innovation (KTI Kommission für Technologie und Innovation) and carried out by the Lucerne


University of Applied Sciences & Arts, School of Art & Design in association with four textil and

product companies in Switzerland, i.e. Litrax AG, Weisbrod Zürrer AG, Traxler AG and ChemAxis

GmbH. Many thanks go our colleagues Hans Kaspar Hugentobler and Nina Gellersen, who were

part of the research team and conducted the customer experience research.

References

Barnard, M. (2001). Fashion as communication. New York: Routledge.

Bitner, M. J. (1992). Servicescape. The impact of physical surroundings on customer and

employees. In: Journal of Marketing, 56, pp. 57-71.

Bureau of Consumer Protection Business Center (2008). How to Avoid Bamboozling Your Customers.

Retrieved 8/20/2012 from http://business.ftc.gov/documents/alt172-how-avoid-

bamboozling-your-customers

Coop Naturaline (2012). Retrieved 8/20/2012 from

www.coop.ch/pb/site/common/node/7243/Lfr/indes.html

Diekamp, K. & Koch, W. (2010) Eco Fashion. München: Stiebner.

Dietrichsen, D. (2003). Radical chic. In: Die Zeit, No.37.

EMPA (Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology) Testing Reports, 2011.

Fischer, D. (2002). Das Wollsocken-Image überwinden! Sozialpsychologische Funktionen von

Bekleidung und das Marketing von Öko-Textilien. In: G. Scherhorn & C. Weber (Ed.)

Nachhaltiger Konsum. Auf dem Weg zur gesellschaftlichen Verankerung. Munich: ökom.

Fletcher, K. (2008). Sustainable fashion and fextiles: A journey. London: Earthscan.

Hess Natur (2012) Retrieved 8/20/2012 from http://www.hessnatur.com

Industrievereinigung Chemiefaser (IVC), Bundesverband des Deutschen Textileinzelhandels

(BTE) & GermanFashion (2009). Press report “Bambus”-Textilien. Frankfurt am Main,

23.4.2009.

Institute for Marketecology (IMO) (2011). Retrieved 8/20/2012 from http://www.imo.ch

Lenzing (2007). Fibres. Technical report on bamboo stem fibres (confidential).

Litrax SA, Felix Stutz (2011). Process and picture information.

Niinimäki, K. (2010, March). Eco-clothing, consumer identity and ideology. In: Sustainable

Development. Vol. 18, p. 150-162.

Ranjan, M.P./ Iyer, N./ Pandya, G. (1986). Bamboo and cane craft. National Institute of Design

Ahmedabad. Bombay: Tata Press Limited.

Schöller Spinnerei (2012). Retrieved 8/20/2012 from http://www.schoeller-wool.com

Schulz, W. F., Kreeb, M. (2002). Unsichtbares sichtbar machen – Die Bedeutung der

Umweltzeichen in der Nachhaltigkeitsdiskussion. In: G. Scherhorn & C. Weber (Ed.)

Nachhaltiger Konsum. Auf dem Weg zur gesellschaftlichen Verankerung. Munich: ökom. P. 159-170.

Sommer, C. (1992). Medium Mode. Eine Sozialpsychologie der Kleidermode. In: Medienpsychologie.

Vol. 4, No. 3, pp. 205-233.

Steffen, D. (2000). Design als Produktsprache. Frankfurt: form Verlag.


Steffen, D. (2009). Categorizing product meaning: An investigation into the product language of

clothing and fashion. In: DeSForM 2009. Proceedings of the International Workshop on

Design and Semantics of Form and Movement. Taipei 2009. P. 73-81.

van der Lugt, P., van den Dobbelsteen, A. & Abrahams, R. (2003). Bamboo as a building material

alternative for Western Europe? A study of the environmental performance, costs and

bottlenecks of the use of bamboo (products) in Western Europe. Journal of Bamboo and Rattan

2(3): 205-223.

van der Lugt, P. (2007). Dutch design meets bamboo. Eindhoven: ZOO producties.

van der Lugt, P. (2008) Design interventions for stimulating bamboo commercialization. Dutch

design meets bamboo as a replicable model. Ph.D. thesis, TU Delft. Retrieved 8/20/2012

from http://www.bambooteam.com/pablo/

von Vegesack, A. & Kries, M. (Ed.) (2000). Grow your own house. Simon Vélez und die

Bambusarchitektur. Weil am Rhein: Vitra Design Museum.

Yu, X. (2007). Bamboo: structure and culture. Dissertation University Duisburg-Essen. Retrieved

8/20/2012 from

https://portal.dnb.de/opac.htm?method=showFullRecord&currentResultId=Bamboo+Struc

ture%26any&currentPosition=1

bamboo a holistic approach to a renewable fibre for textile design

Documents