MUSA intimates – making lingerie comfortable and sustainable

MUSA intimates is a lingerie brand with two main goals: achieve beauty by being comfortable in the consumer’s skin and reduce the carbon footprint of the fashion industry.

The MUSA intimates undies are manufactured with banana textile, one of the strongest natural fabrics in the world. By extracting fibers from residual material from the banana plant (the “pseudo trunk”), the company turns waste into fabric. On top of that, the banana fabric has three exceptional qualities: it breathes, cools and is naturally refreshing, enabling a pleasant experience for its customer.

Bananas into sustainable textile

Besides being comfortable, the textile is also sustainable. It is made from waste residues from the Musa banana plant – “pseudo trunk”. The banana plant lives only once and starts to bloom around the age of nine months, and three months later the fruits are ripe. The plant is cutted down immediately after the fruit is collected, and the banana farmer is stuck with the remains.

Most of the time, the banana plant is dumped as waste, affecting the environment balance. At MUSA intimates, this waste is seen as a useful raw material. By creating undies out of these residues in India, MUSA contributes to sustainability.

Even though there are several ways to separate the fibers from the trunk and turn it into thread, MUSA intimates makes use of the mechanical method where the inner layers of the banana trunk are extracted until only the fibers remain. The raw fibers are then air-dried, twisted together with organic cotton (60 % banana fiber with 40 % organic cotton), and spin into yarns.

After this, MUSA receives the fabric and starts the undies production locally in the Netherlands.

Female start-up with female purpose

5 students of the HKU founded MUSA intimates during their studies because they didn’t recognise themselves in the products that sustainable lingerie brands had to offer in that time. Four years ago they started the journey of MUSA intimates and now have two successful crowdfunding to their name, won a competition from stichting DOEN and launched their first collection.

The undies are made by women for women. The production is enabled with good working conditions and fair pay. MUSA intimates also strive to create comfort for every woman working for the company, which also ensures a comfortable buying experience for the consumer.

In its goals to keep creating a positive impact on both the fashion industry as well as the banana industry, the company is looking for international partners who can help them create their very own banana textile.

www.musaintimates.com

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