Lotus
fabric
Lotus flowers are beautiful aquatic plants found in water gardens across many countries including India where it is considered a sacred flower.
For many years it has been used to create a material known as lotus fabric, the first natural microfibre and one of the most ecological fabrics in the world.
The stems of the flower are harvested from the lake and the long, thin fibres are extracted from it. These threads are then washed, hung to dry, spun by hand and woven into a luxurious fabric that shares many similarities to silk and linen such as being soft, lightweight and highly resistant.
Although the process of turning lotus fibre into a fabric is costly and time-consuming, the end result is a remarkable sustainable material that can be used to make high-quality clothing and home textiles.