FABRIC: WEGANOOL
Region: India
Fabric Name:
WEGANOOL™
Origin:
Calotropis (calotropis gigantea) and cotton
Who made our fabric:
FABORG, Tamilnadu, India
Natural history and ecology:
The yarn for this fabric is spun from carefully extracted calotropis stem and pod fibers that are blended with 70% organic rain-fed cotton. Calotropis, commonly known as milkweed, is a perennial weed that grows year after year without planting, watering, or pesticides. It flourishes without human intervention on drylands, where no other plants can grow.
What makes this so special: Once the calotropis fibers are extracted, the concentrated and fermented leftovers from the plant are mixed with different ayurvedic herbs and made into ARKA- a very efficient bio-nutrient and insect repellent. No water is wasted in fiber extraction or natural dye processing - every drop is recycled or used for ARKA.
“I found the birds yanking out a yarn-like substance from the shrub. They were using it to line their nests.”
Faborg founders Gowri Shankar and his wife Elen work with master weavers who create yarn using a mixture of calotropis and rain fed cotton.
WEGANOOL™ yarn is 5% calotropis gigantea pod fibres, 25% fibres from the stem of the plant, and 70% organic cotton.
Behind the scenes
“The learner shall inherit the earth while the learned will be beautifully equipped to live in the world that no longer exists.”
— Eric Hoffer
Shankar Hails
Meet, Shankar Hails from a centuries-old traditional weaving community in Tamil Nadu, mainly working with silk. From a very young age, dumping chemicals in the backyard just didn't feel right to him. Since establishing FABORG, in 2015, Shankar has been restlessly looking for end-to-end solutions for the artisanal textile traditions he grew up with. When he met Elen in Auroville for the first time in 2016, their respective searches for new ethical professional and life purposes happily collided with a timely shot from Cupid’s arrow.
Central to FABORG's mission is the promotion of natural farming practices and the utilization of traditional fiber-yielding plants to their fullest potential. Pioneering a distinctive bast fiber extraction technique, FABORG's expertise extends beyond a single plant. Presently, they are passionately devoted to unlocking the full potential of the Calotropis plant, embarking on a remarkable journey of reintroducing valuable natural fibers back into the textile industry.