It was no question we wanted to sit down with Hannes Schoenegger, co-founder and CEO of QWSTION, to discover his insights into the journey of creating Bananatex®—the world’s first durable, biodegradable, and plastic-free fabric made entirely from Abacá banana plants. Schoenegger speaks passionately about the vision behind Bananatex® and the innovative processes that led to its creation, underscoring QWSTION’s foundational vision and commitment to sustainability's regenerative practices.
Grown in the mid- and highlands of the Philippines in a permaculture setting, the Abacá banana plants are resilient and self-sustaining, needing no pesticides, fertilizers, or extra water. These qualities make Abacá ideal for reforestation projects, enabling biodiversity restoration and supporting local farmers’ economic prosperity.
Bananatex® has rapidly gained attention in the fashion and interior design industries, with collaborations from major brands like Balenciaga, Stella McCartney, H&M, and COS. Its unique environmental benefits and aesthetic appeal even earned it the 2024 Monocle Design Award for "Top Material Innovation." Developed by QWSTION in collaboration with a yarn specialist and a weaving partner in Taiwan, Bananatex® adheres to Cradle to Cradle principles and biodegrades safely in both industrial compost and marine environments, setting a new standard for sustainable material innovation.
What was inspiring for you building your brand vision?
We started our bag brand QWSTION in 2008 with a purpose to prioritise the use of plant-based materials in a world full of plastics. Our journey started with what we could buy in the market, which was mainly cotton. In our search for good answers, we continued to question the norms of material development and worked with organic cotton, linen, bamboo, and hemp. At some point, we discovered the banana fibres "musa textilis" which is, from what we know, the strongest plant fibre in the world.
What motivated you to start this company?
After three years of development, we launched our first Bananatex® QWSTION bags and immediately decided to share our material development with as many companies and industries as possible. It's our goal to cause positive change, ideally in many different segments: footwear, sportswear, accessories, furniture, automotive.
What was the hardest part of creating this unique material?
It's very rare to develop a material from the ground up. From our experience, no one is doing that; the fashion industry usually stops their R&D efforts at the material purchase stage. Going all the way includes working with farmers, understanding how something is grown and cultivated, and it needs a lot of effort along the supply chain, looking into social aspects, energy, water, all substances involved, and so on.
We believe no one would have recommended such a journey to a small bag brand - but it felt like the right thing to do for us. Seeing Bananatex® being used among the most influential fashion brands is proof of our intentions. In our current system, you often face a situation where you have to decide between an economic or an ecological benefit, and it is very tough to go with the responsible option.
What is one piece of advice you can share with other Founders?
Be patient, stay true to your values, and remain persistent.
What is your long-term vision for the company, and how do you plan to achieve it?
We want to replace harmful materials that are being used in many applications today. Bananatex® can help drive the material change, and we hope we can play a meaningful role in that process.
What are your competitors doing that you would like to adopt for yourself?
Actually, there are by far not enough next-gen material innovators in the world. We estimate 50-100 meaningful projects globally. It's all about cooperation, supporting each other, and helping to speed up the process. In order to accelerate, we have co-founded the fibral alliance, which should support everyone involved in the natural fibre business, from pineapple to banana, from seaweed to kapok. The concept of competition should be something we have to re-think in general anyway.
What are your most significant challenges in maintaining sustainability practices as your company grows, and how have you overcome them?
One very important part of Bananatex® is the way the plant grows, in the wild or in agroforestry. It doesn't need any pesticides, fertilizers, or extra watering. It is part of permaculture reforestation programs and therefore can be cultivated in many areas in the world. The plant itself grows for up to 40 years, only the 18-month-old side-stems are harvested regularly. Alternative solutions are only meaningful at scale, and the potential for such programs is huge.
How do you balance profitability with ethical and sustainable practices?
This is, in fact, one of the core issues when you run a business like we do. In our current system, you get punished for working responsibly and you get rewarded for the opposite. The main problem is, costs and prices are not equal. Let's say you buy a backpack made from plastics (about 80% of all backpacks are), and you pay 50 dollars. The real costs for this product are much higher, maybe 300 or even 500 dollars - no one really knows - because future generations will have to solve the microplastic problem, or they will have to get the leftovers of this product out of the oceans, or the food chain, or deal with climate change after burning.
Whereas a backpack made from natural fibres, responsibly sourced, could be sold at USD 200 because of the way it's sourced and how people are paid along the production chain. But at the end of its life cycle, it will decompose easily and leave no trace. Once costs and prices are equal, and only policies can initiate such a change, the right choices will be super obvious.
How do you measure the impact of your sustainability efforts?
After we developed Bananatex®, we started sharing it with other, major brands. Those, of course, asked for certifications which made us dive into the details in a more scientific way. We worked with third-party agencies and made an LCA (lifecycle assessment) measuring every impact of every action and substance we use on every step of the supply chain. Like that, you can show the positive effects as well as compare your materials with others in a very clear way.
Is conserving and protecting the oceans important to you? And — What are you doing that is better for the oceans?
Conserving and protecting our oceans should be important to everybody - 50% of the air we breathe is produced in our oceans. By reducing the amount of chemicals being used in materials, by avoiding microplastics, and assuring an existing end-of-life solution for products, we try to contribute to the wellbeing of our planet, including people, animals, nature, and oceans.
If you are also a material innovator leading this new revolution we'd love to speak with you. Please get in touch with our team of contributors through our Contact Page.