What is Tencel?

People Tree is a pioneer in Fair Trade and sustainable fashion. People Tree is crowdfunding to develop and grow their new collections with new materials that give them more variety, more design possibilities and better fit while still maintaining the ethical, Fair Trade credentials that have defined and motivated People Tree for 25 years. Tencel® (the brand name for a type of lyocell) is a luxury cellulose fibre made from wood pulp. The fibre production is extremely eco-friendly due to the award-winning closed loop manufacturing system used. This means minimal impact on the environment, economical use of energy and water, and significantly lower production plant emissions compared to many other man-made fibre operations. Almost 100% of the solvent used in production is recycled.

People Tree have developed a very small capsule collection using Tencel® for SS17.  Now they need your help to branch out and expand the range so they can offer more choice, a greater variety of styles and, most importantly, greater Fair Trade impact.

Tencel® fabric carries the OEKO-TEX® 100 certification, an international standard developed in 1992 to certify that it contains no harmful substances. Tencel® also has been awarded the European Community Eco-label flower for products and services with reduced environmental impacts.

Tencel is not labelled as organic as it is not a natural fibre, but derived from a natural fibre. There is more information on this here.

For the solvents, the wood pulp is dissolved in a non-toxic organic solvent. The solution is extruded through fine holes to produce fibre and the solvent is recycled in a closed-loop process – more than 99% of the solvent is recovered and repurposed. We ensure that the fabric processing of TENCEL® lyocell fibre does not utilise any harmful chemicals (like formaldehyde) sometimes used to finish this type of fabric.
Working with Tencel is a chance to up-skill the workers at People Tree’s producer partner Creative Handicrafts, a social enterprise in Mumbai, and provide them with a greater range of fabrics they can offer to their clients, providing more business opportunities and, eventually, more job opportunities within the community.

‘I appreciate working with women who are supportive and cooperative – we are able to talk, learn and get support from each other. – Ms. Chandra Singh, Tailor at Creative Handicrafts

To find out more about this crowdfunder click here: http://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/tencel-for-people-tree/