BADASS BAMBOO
Two brothers with a vision: To produce the softest, most durable, and eco-friendly clothes they could!
BADASS BAMBOO
Two brothers with a vision: To produce the softest, most durable, and eco-friendly clothes they could!
OUR STORY
Badass Bamboo is an idea which was born in the Spring of 2019. A family run Irish company based in Dublin. Two brothers had a vision: To produce the softest, most durable, eco-friendly clothes they could.
The whole idea came about when their younger brother and his fiancée had their third child. He was born 7 weeks premature with breathing and feeding complications. This meant that he had to have tubes in his nose and arms 24 hours a day. As babies skin is so delicate, he was constantly getting rashes. This was due to the wires and tubes laying on his clothing and in turn rubbing on his skin. It was heart breaking to see as he had enough to deal with without skin irritation too.
Peter and Phil wanted to help their little nephew, but didn’t know where to start or what they could even do. After much searching and research they were enlightened to the benefits of bamboo clothing. It ticked all the boxes; super soft, durable and eco-friendly to name but a few qualities.
There and then they decided that they wanted to create a new class of eco-friendly clothing made from the fastest renewable natural resource: Bamboo – the plant that will change the way the world dresses.
OUR NEPHEW CALLUM
Bamboo Findings
For their baby vests they decided to use a fabric called bamboo lyocell. Bamboo lyocell clothing is lightweight, non-creasing and very soft to the touch, making it exceptionally comfortable to wear, ideal for babies soft skin.
The fabric is created by adopting a closed looped technique that uses a non-toxic solvent, amine oxide, which breaks down bamboo pulp. With this technique, 99% of the solvent and water used is recovered and reused within the next batch of the manufacturing process thereby significantly reducing water consumption. Leftover waste is minimal and harmless to the environment.
The main issue they found with bamboo lyocell is that it is hard to find companies that manufacture it and it is more expensive than the traditional ways to make fabric. However, they feel that the extra costs are worth it for the quality of the end product.
For their hoodies they decided to go with Bamboo Viscose. The hoody is probably the comfiest thing you’ll ever try. As with bamboo lyocell it is super soft, extremely durable, and feels amazing next to even the most sensitive skin.
The viscose process is a chemical one, so they were very careful in choosing the factories they work with. They had to make sure that the factories care about the environment, take measures to follow regulations, and find innovative ways to recycle water, use less energy, and limit the amount of chemicals used in the viscose process. By pursuing a more responsible approach, they hope to create a long-term manufacturing system that strives to create a clean, premium product while protecting the environment from harmful processes.
They know that their ultra-soft, eco-friendly bamboo fabrics will make you feel in harmony with your skin and environment. It is an ideal choice for those susceptible to allergic reactions or with sensitive skin. The naturally soft fibers of bamboo will not itch or irritate skin, it moves with you and breathes with you. Let your skin enjoy the pleasure of a gentle touch of nature.
You will notice that all their bamboo clothing is clearly marked as to what it is made from.
Taking all the above on board the brothers were happy that they had found the right fabrics for their bamboo clothing adventure.
A Dream Realised
Going forward they will never stop striving to produce the most eco-friendly clothing on the planet.
Wait, wait, wait! That’s all well and good, but there has to be more to the story then that! Okay, let me tell you a little bit more about us…
As we were new to this industry, we had to ask ourselves some questions. What was this business we were getting into and what made us think that we could produce something that people would want to buy and wear?
From the outside looking in, people may say that we are in the fashion business. Some might say we are in the clothing business. We like to think that we are in the business of making super soft, durable clothing that is not only super soft and comfortable for babies and their delicate skin, for adults we wanted to create something with all the qualities of the baby clothing, be stylish and something you would look and feel great wearing. To us, there is a lot more to it than just making an item of clothing. So the answer we came up with was:- we like to think that we are in the business of making people feel more confident, happy, and a little dash of instant uplift!
So we want to make people feel confident, happy, and uplifted, that is admiral, but there are hundreds of companies doing the same thing, what makes your brand stand out from the rest? That was another question that popped into our heads.
One of our main goals is to help make people feel good in what they wear. How can we achieve that? By making the best fitting clothing we can. There is nothing worse than buying an item of clothing, putting it on and it just doesn’t fit right. All I know is that it makes me feel rubbish. On the contrary, when I put something on that fits me great, it makes me feel fantastic.
So with each new line of clothing we release we will improve how they are made and what they are made from. We want to reach a stage were by everything we make is made from bamboo lyocell. Through feedback from our Badass Bamboo community we know we will succeed.
So what are our values and why do we think we can make a difference? Growing up we didn’t have much money, like so many other families in the 80’s. Our mam used to knit a lot of our pullovers and cardigans. She would get one pattern and buy enough wool to make the same top for us all. I grew up in a family of 5 boys and 1 girl. I was the second oldest with only 2 years between my eldest brother and 2 years down to my next brother. A big part of life back then was making the most out of what you had. So as we got older and taller, we just handed down our clothes to the next in line. This was not unique to our family, it was what a lot of families did back then. There was no such thing as Fast Fashion, you were just happy with what you had and never really thought much about it. So why am I going on about my childhood and passing down clothes? Well it’s all about values. Everything these days is so convenient (not saying that that is a bad thing). We are always waiting for the next biggest, fastest, shiniest, on trend item out there. We just pop to our local shopping mall and it is full of the latest brands. I feel that we have lost sight of what really matters. What do we value most? Family, Love and Happiness. To us they are the most important things in life. Everything after that is a bonus.
Peter (L), Keith (M) & Philip (R) wearing their beautiful matching cardigans. Was it destiny that they were to start Badass Bamboo? Rhino in the background!
Peter (L), Philip (R) in their beautiful matching corduroy jeans and zig zag jumpers. If you look closely enough you will notice that the knees in Peters jeans have been patched up. There was no such thing as throwing clothes away even with holes. Just mend them and they were good to go.
My point is that we to need to slow down just a little. Relax, look around and appreciate what we have. That is the way we design our clothing. We came up with the idea of Badass Bamboo in 2019 and it has taken us this long to launch it. Why did it take so long? Because we needed to make sure that what we made would stand the test of time and would be good enough to be handed on to the next person, be it a brother, sister, cousin or any other family member, friend or charity shop. We want our clothes to have a long enjoyable life and for people to get value for their hard earned money. So we did lots of testing. Wearing them in all types of weather conditions, different activities (hiking, jogging, gym workouts etc) and washing them many many times. By undertaking all that testing, we are happy to let our clothing out in the world. We are proud of what we have made and we hope that you enjoy our clothing as much as we do.
Peter (L) Philip (M) Keith (R) Our mam really had the matching clothes down to a fine art.
Philip (L) Peter (M) Blackie (R) Looking back at these old pictures we noticed that everything was should we say very fitted in the 80s.
Peter (L) Philip (M) baby Mark (lap) Keith (R) Our Mam was trying out a new colour with Philips pink jumper. She was ahead of her time!
