Faborg pioneers vegan wool 'Weganool'

By

Isabelle Crossley

Published
Feb 17, 2021

Fabric manufacturing brand Faborg is pioneering vegan wool with ‘Weganool’, which is made in India from the Calotropis plant. The brand is linking up with clothing brands to expand the use of Weganool.   

 
“Weganool comes from a wild plant called Calotropis, which is widely grown in India,” Faborg’s founder Gowri Shankar told Elle India.

“The character and the hollow structure of the Calotropis fibres are similar to the high-quality wool than any other plant fibres. Weganool sounds a lot like vegan wool – a sustainable plant-based wool alternative. In addition, ‘nool’ in Tamil means a book and a thread. Weganool is like a guidebook for sustainable textile manufacturing.”

Weganool has antimicrobial properties and is cruelty-free, making it suitable for vegan brands. Faborg has partnered with German children’s wear brand Infantium Victoria and the brand now uses Weganool in its knitwear. Faborg aims to partner with more international brands and farmers and scale up the brand’s sustainable production. 
 
“We've been receiving amazing feedback on our garments made of Weganool,” Infantium Victoria announced on Facebook. 
 
“We have created yarns that are suitable for a wide variety of end products,” said Shankar. “There are many end-products that can be created with Weganool such as scarves, shirts, jackets, sweaters, etc.”
 
Shankar opened an office for Faborg near to Auroville in September, 2017 and also began a separate production unit for trials and projects. After filing a patent in December, 2017, the brand began to explore further ways of sustainably extracting stem fibres to make vegan wool, work it continues to this day.