A DESIRE FOR sustainable fabrics
Jennifer Moore runs Monaluna – a small independent organic fabric company in Walnut Creek in Canada. We talk to her about her fabrics For anyone that’s not familiar with Monaluna fabrics – tell us about your company and how it all started? Monaluna is an organic fabric company that specialises in high-quality cotton fabrics printed with whimsical, modern designs. I started the company in 2010 at a time when there were far fewer options for organic cotton in the market. I had been licensing my artwork for fabric for about a year, but the more I learned about the environmental and health impacts of conventional
cotton fabric production, the more committed I became to offering more sustainable fabric options. When I was unable to ensure that my licensed artwork would be printed on organic fabric, I decided to try to do it myself. I started with one collection that I had planned to sell over the course of a year, but it sold out in three months. I realised there was a real demand in the market, so I rushed to design the next collection, and a company was born! I had a newborn baby at the time too, so it was an exciting time!
What do you see as the main benefits of using organic cotton? Although there are benefits to the end user, including the absence of residual toxins on the fabrics and an overall stronger and more absorbent fabric – the main benefits are more holistic. Organic cotton farming doesn’t rely on toxic pesticides or synthetic fertilisers, and the overall carbon footprint and water usage is much smaller, so it’s
better for the environment and community, as well as the workers who are producing the crop. The production of the fabric is more eco-friendly too, using only low-impact dyes and no formaldehyde, chlorine bleach or other harsh chemicals in the processing. Our fabrics are all GOTScertified, which means that the fabrics meet the highest environmental, as well as social standards.
