Cacao Yarn
The Fabric
We chose the part nobody wanted.
The Waffle Half Zip is made with a yarn spun from cacao husk, the shell that chocolate making leaves behind. This is the long version of why, what it does on the body, and what we can and cannot yet prove about it.
Choosing the fibre
The right fibre for the job.
We do not build the whole range from one material. Leggings and sports bras have to hold their shape under load, so they are cut from Repreve, a polyester spun from recycled bottles. A tank or a brief sits against the skin for hours, so it is Tencel™ Lyocell. A layer you live in through winter is merino with Tencel. Every one of those is a deliberate answer to a different question.
The Waffle Half Zip asks a different question again. It is the piece you pull on over everything else: warming up, cooling down, driving home, going out afterwards. It needs weight, texture and a hand feel you actually want against you. It does not need to be a technical fabric, because it is not doing technical work.
That freed us up to choose on origin. So we chose a yarn made from cacao husk, the shell left over when the beans are taken out for chocolate. It is a by-product of an industry that already exists, in volumes that are already there. Nothing is planted to make it.
“An innovative design with a stunning lattice texture and an opulent hand feel.”
The Proformance Waffle Half Zip
On the body
What it is actually like to wear.
These are our own observations of the finished garment rather than laboratory figures. Where we have not tested something, we have not claimed it.
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Hand feel
Closer to a good cotton than to a technical knit. Soft and dry to the touch rather than slick, with none of the papery finish people expect from a novel fibre.
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Structure
The waffle is a deep lattice knit, not a surface print. It is what gives the piece its body, holds the funnel neck upright and stops the shape collapsing in wear.
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Weight
Mid weight, and heavier in the hand than it looks on the rail. Warm enough to be the only layer over a tee in spring and autumn, not so warm that it is a winter coat.
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Origin
The cacao content comes from husk, an agricultural by-product. No land, water or crop is dedicated to producing it. It is diverted from a waste stream rather than grown as a raw material.
How it is made
From the bin to the bolt.
A cacao pod is mostly husk. The beans, the part chocolate is made from, are a small fraction of what comes off the tree. The rest is normally discarded. This yarn starts there.
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Harvest
Cacao pods are picked for the food industry, not for textiles.
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Beans out
The beans are removed and go on to become chocolate.
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Husk recovered
The empty husk, otherwise waste, is collected and processed rather than dumped or burned.
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Spun and knitted
It is drawn into a yarn, blended for strength and stretch, then knitted into the waffle.
The proof
What we can prove, and what we cannot yet.
We would rather publish this page with a gap in it than fill the gap with something we have not seen. Cacao yarn is a new material and the documentation behind it is thinner than it is for Tencel or Repreve. Here is exactly where we stand.
- Confirmed Cacao husk content
The yarn contains cacao husk, recovered as an agricultural by-product of chocolate production. This is confirmed by our supplier.
- Confirmed It is a blend
Cacao husk cannot yet carry a garment on its own. It is blended with other fibres to give the fabric the strength, recovery and washability a half zip needs.
- Being verified The exact composition
We are waiting on the full breakdown with percentages from the mill. Until we have it in writing we are not publishing a figure, and we are not describing this fabric as a single fibre cloth.
- Being verified Third party certification
We have asked the yarn producer for any independent certification held on this material, along with any end of life testing. We will publish what comes back, including if the answer is that there is none.
In the range
Where we use it.
One style, two cuts. The Waffle Half Zip is a unisex piece, so the fit runs naturally oversized in both.
- Women’s Proformance Waffle Half Zip Cacao husk blend
- Men’s Proformance Waffle Half Zip Cacao husk blend
The other fibres in the range
Cacao is one of four. Each one is here because it was the right answer to a particular garment, not because it was the right answer to everything.
Questions
The things people ask us.
Is the whole garment made of cacao?
No. The cacao husk is blended with other fibres to give the fabric strength and stretch. Anyone telling you a garment is entirely cacao is overstating it, and we have previously described this piece that way ourselves. We have corrected it. As soon as the mill confirms the exact split we will publish the numbers here.
Does it smell of chocolate?
It does not. The husk is the shell of the pod rather than the bean, and by the time it has been processed into a yarn there is nothing of the smell or the colour of chocolate left in it.
Is it biodegradable?
We are not claiming that it is. Cacao husk is a plant material, but the fabric is a blend and we have not seen end of life testing on it. Until we have a test report in front of us, treat this as a piece that should be worn for years and then passed on, not one you can put on the compost.
Why choose this over cotton?
Cotton is a crop. It needs land, water and a growing season, and it is grown specifically to be turned into cloth. Cacao husk is already there, in quantity, with no second use. For a piece where we did not need a technical fabric, using the by-product rather than the crop was the more interesting answer. Cotton is not a bad fibre, and we are not going to pretend it is.
How should I wash it?
Follow the care label on the garment. As a general rule, cool wash, line dry, do not tumble dry and do not dry clean. The waffle structure holds its shape best if you dry it flat.
Which size should I take?
It is a unisex piece so it runs naturally oversized. Take your usual size for the intended fit, or size down if you prefer it closer to the body.
Descriptions of hand feel, weight and structure are our own assessment of the finished garment rather than laboratory measurements. The composition of the fabric and any certification held on the yarn are being confirmed with our supplier and will be published here once we have them in writing. TENCEL™ is a trademark of Lenzing AG. REPREVE® is a registered trademark of Unifi, Inc.
The other fibres
The right fibre for the job.
We do not build the whole range from one material. Each fibre is here because it was the right answer to a particular garment.