As a designer I love cool graphics and that’s what attracted me first to LA based Arbor Collective. I always knew that the company uses eco-friendly materials to produce their snowboards and skateboards such as bamboo, recycled glass or water based finishes. But I wasn’t aware of their amazing line of bamboo apparel until my recent visit to their flagship store in Venice.
Arbor Collective’s bamboo T-shirts for men are super-soft made of bamboo viscose based fabrics. Most of them have a mix of 70% viscose from bamboo with 30% organic cotton blend and are made in Los Angeles. Bamboo viscose fabric is made through a process where cellulose (viscose) is extracted from bamboo and then turned into a fiber that can be spun into a yarn. The environmental benefits of bamboo are endless: it’s a rapidly renewable resource 
and can grow up to 4 feet per day without requiring any pesticides or chemical fertilizers. It needs less water as well as land than cotton or organic cotton and adds nutrients back into the soil instead of depleting it. But most of all bamboo has great performance benefits: it helps to regulate body temperature, is breathable, wicks moisture away and has anti-microbial properties. Many graphics on the eco-friendly T-shirts are created in collaboration with artists such as Haunted Euth. Arbor Collective also annually donates at least 5% of their profits to organizations that protect and restore the planet and makes their in-store displays with recycled or sustainable materials. I’ll be back for sure.
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