In recent years, support for the sustainable fashion movement has taken off. Among my social circles, thrift stores are the go-to shopping destination when it comes to finding new outfits for an event or a wardrobe makeover.

On the other side, brands also choose to produce fabrics from more environmentally friendly materials such as Tencel or lyocell, which are made from plant fibers.

Realizing the sustainable benefits of bamboo as a raw material for textiles, Ariff Faisal embarked on entrepreneurship and founded his clothing brand, Kualesa.

In search of a goal

Kualesa is a full-time gig for Ariff who has quit his old profession as an engineer and consultant. After spending time in both areas, he told Vulcan Post that the job doesn’t give him meaning and purpose.

His tipping point was stimulated by the WFH, when Ariff believes that many like him started to think internally about what they really wanted to do with a living.

Recalling the dead coral reefs he had seen while snorkeling in Indonesia a few years ago, he knew then that one of the checkboxes to find his goal was something environmentally friendly. .

Turning to Google, he found out about bamboo fabrics and the benefits they offered, such as being refreshing, breathable, and comfortable to wear. After feeling the fabric for himself, he was quite convinced to do something with the idea.

“I have always dreamed of building a brand from scratch and this challenge really excited me,” Ariff explained. “Being inspired by some world-aware D2C (direct to customer) brands that all started from somewhere but are profitable businesses today, I knew the business model could work. ”

But why bamboo?

Named after kuat and selesa, which means strong and comfortable in Malay, Kualesa is believed to describe the attributes of the brand’s shirts.

Bamboo was chosen as the main fabric material for several reasons. On the one hand, it has rapid regeneration capacities, where some species can grow up to 20 cm per day. As a result, 35% more oxygen is produced and 5 times more carbon dioxide is absorbed compared to other tree equivalents, according to Ariff.

In addition, the manufacturing process of bamboo textile can be more environmentally friendly than that of cotton and synthetics.

“We use bamboo lyocell, [where] 99% of solvents and water are recovered and recycled throughout the process, which significantly reduces water consumption and [it] means unwanted chemicals [won’t] end up in the environment, ”explained Ariff.

On the consumer side, bamboo as a textile has its own positive qualities, such as being soft to the touch, hypoallergenic, wrinkle-resistant and temperature regulating. This is because the fabric is made up of natural fibers which are breathable and can keep the wearer cool, making them suitable for hot and humid countries.

From plant to fabric

These shirts are designed by Niki, Head of Production and Design at Kualesa, who has a background in textile design for fashion from London College of Fashion, where she majored in printing.

The process of turning bamboo into clothing begins with harvesting and pulverizing (crushing) the bamboo plant into a pulp before it is dissolved with a solvent to produce a viscous liquid. It is then pushed through spinnerets from which lyocell fibers are produced.

After being washed and dried, the fibers are spun into yarn and passed through a mill to produce a fabric.

One of the main challenges faced by Ariff was to forge relationships with manufacturers capable of accepting its starting quantities and taking the impact on the environment seriously. This was made even more difficult as the R&D was taking place at the heart of the pandemic.

“We started sampling in November 2020, so it took us a whole 10 months to be happy with how our products came to market,” Ariff said.

Ultimately, the Kualesa team overcame the search for the right environmentally conscious manufacturer by doubling the selection process to ensure the manufacturer had the right certifications.

Starting with collecting pre-orders in July 2021, Kulesa officially launched in August 2021.

The high cost of sustainability

With the alarming threat of global warming, buying sustainable alternatives seems like a no-brainer for most of us. However, adoption can come at a high price.

Costing between RM163 and RM231, Kualesa’s product line consists of crew neck t-shirts, semi-formal polo shirts with collars and its range of batik shirts. Fast fashion products that sell similar looks, albeit with materials like synthetics and cotton, can cost a fraction of the price, so it’s understandable that most are reluctant to change.

When I spoke to Ariff about it, he agreed that the fast fashion brands could actually offer cheaper prices. “[But] they promote very rapid use from the point of view of quantity and do not necessarily promote quality and durable clothing, ”he argued.

He explained that the fast fashion industry uses many cheaper synthetic textiles to make, such as polyester, which take 200 years to decompose and end up in landfills. When machine washed, these fabrics also push harmful microplastics into the oceans.

Thus, Kualesa takes the approach of promoting high quality non-synthetic garments in which customers can feel comfortable and will want to wear frequently.

“Instead of buying an RM30 t-shirt that you could wear maybe 3 times, being put off by the fit and design, and then throwing it in the trash, we would rather you buy something you like. with superior quality and whether you wear it 100 or 200 times more, ”explained Ariff.

But it seems that Kualesa prices their products a bit more than another brand I have found that also uses bamboo textiles called JBS on Zalora. It sells shirts in sets of 2 between the prices of RM197 and RM209 (with no discounts). However, it is stated on the product details that the fabric is made of blended materials, 65% of which is bamboo viscose, while 35% is cotton.

Kualesa’s products, on the other hand, are 95% bamboo lyocell, indicating a higher concentration of plant fibers, justifying its higher price tag.

Another reality that the Kualesa team must face is that economies of scale are more difficult to achieve when producing such a rare material as bamboo lyocell. “Conscious materials just cost more to work with, so in some ways we have to price it accordingly,” Ariff explained.

Ultimately, Kualesa needs to become a sustainable business from a longevity perspective to make a real impact, and it is not in a position to do so by setting prices too low for its products.

While traction may be slower at first, ultimately those who find value in environmentally friendly products would be willing to make a purchase. Later, once it expands, it is possible that Kualesa will become more affordable and therefore accessible to different groups of people.

While unable to divulge the company’s sales figures, Ariff could share that Kualesa saw 140% month-over-month growth.

Shipping already to Malaysia, Singapore and 6 major ASEAN countries, it casts its eyes on the world market.

With the aim of launching new product collections every few months while reaching out to more customer segments, he hopes to make a name for Kualesa by being one of the biggest D2C brands in the region.

• Learn more about Kualesa here.
• Read about other sustainable Malaysian startups here.

Image Credit Featured: Ariff Faisal, Founder and CEO of Kualesa