It’s Tencel Time

Tencel, billed as the first “eco-friendly” man-made fiber, has barely arrived and already it is the subject of humor and fantasy.

Newsweek recently quipped that “it tastes like chicken,” and National Public Radio reported the fiber is made from the pulp of eucalyptus trees.

Actually, it comes from the combined pulp of various soft- and hardwood trees. And while Tencel doesn’t taste like chicken, it does drape and dye like rayon and have the strength of polyester and the comfort of cotton, says its manufacturer. Depending on how the fabric is treated, Tencel garments can be hand- or machine-washed.

Courtaulds, a British chemical company, spent 10 years and $100 million developing the “environmentally friendly” fiber, says Ellen Flynn, marketing director for Tencel. As part of the process, tree farms are replanted and manufacturing solvents are recycled. American apparel manufacturers such as Calvin Klein, Guess?, Esprit and American Worker are making garments of pure Tencel as well as mixing it with linen, cotton or rayon. The merchandise is now in stores, with Tencel-wool combinations due in the fall.

Manufactured since July in Axis, Ala., the world’s only Tencel plant, the fiber falls into the upscale, luxury market. With a limited production capacity of 40 million pounds annually, it costs $1.65 a pound, 60% more than raw cotton.

But that doesn’t keep designers or consumers away. Liz Gonzales, design supervisor for Guess?, says customers will pay $70 for Tencel and cotton jeans--versus $56 for 100% cotton--because of the “luxurious, soft feel of the fabric.”

At Esprit, the fabric fits in with the company’s pursuit of “environmentally favorable apparel.”