Cork is the natural choice for fashion venture

The Fashion Cork UK does not stop and has recently published an article in Bizcrowd (https://bizcrowd.com/Article/654).

Bizcrowd is the free on-line community for UK businesses powered by RBS NatWest.

Frank Germano, managing director of Fashion Cork UK, tells Bizcrowd why the natural material is perfect for eco-friendly fashion accessories.

Fashion Cork UK’s products include bags, umbrellas and footwear

Why are cork products good for the environment?

Cork is extremely light, impermeable to liquids and gases, elastic and compressible, an excellent thermal and acoustic insulator, highly resistant to fire, equally resistant to wear and tear, but above all cork is 100% natural, recyclable, biodegradable and hypoallergenic – three crucial attributes for a society that is seeking to become less polluted and more environmentally friendly.

The manufacture process of the products sold by Fashion Cork UK aims to protect the environment by taking the bark from cork oak trees that grow in Portugal, placing that bark in water for between three and six months and then baking it in the sun to produce cork fabric. The cork fabric is then taken to our factory in Portugal, where it is cut and prepared to produce fashion accessories that neither use any toxic products or any part of an animal.

What fashion products can be made from cork?

Most people associate cork with wine bottles and flooring products, but it has many other uses. Fashion Cork UK sells a wide range of hand-made, high quality items made from cork fabric and cork paper, including jewellery, handbags, purses, wallets, shoes, belts, umbrellas, mobile covers, stationery, hats, travel accessories and giftware. We have recently introduced a new line of business and office accessories, including a briefcase made from three layers of 100% natural cork.

How long has Fashion Cork UK been trading?

We started trading in May last year. Fashion Cork UK is the trading name of TechPrestige Ltd and the main and sole representative in UK market of Cork Design – a registered Portuguese trademark and market leader. The company group has been producing cork products for more than 20 years and has a presence in a number of countries, including Portugal, Spain, France, Russia, the US and Australia. In the UK, we sell our products online and through business-to-business outlets and business-to-consumer companies.

What challenges did you face bringing cork fashion to the UK?

The UK is one of the most high-profile fashion markets in the world. The greatest challenge I have faced has been creating a culture of green products. This is being achieved by promoting the message that environmental sustainability can generate economic gains.

Some people believe eco-friendly products do not last very long, but it took almost two years to develop our umbrella so it will stand up to the stresses and strains of the UK weather. All our products combine elegant, modern design with longevity.

What lies in store for Fashion Cork UK in 2014?

We are also exploring the possibility of introducing clothing, such as trousers and suits, made out of cork into the UK, and to work directly with UK fashion designers.

But in the meantime, we are continuing to recruit self-employed sales agents to supply the retail trade with our products and increase their availability.

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Fashion Cork UK. - Why Cork.

History of Cork:

Throughout history, there are many references to this product and its varied applications. In 3000 BC, the cork was already used in China, Egypt, Babylon and Persia to the manufacture of fishing tackle. In Italy have found vestiges dating from the fourth century BC, several artefacts such as floats, stoppers for casks, women's shoes and roofs of houses. It is also this time that we have one of the first references to the cork and written by the Greek philosopher Theophrastus, in their botanical treatises, referred in wonder, "the faculty that this tree has to renew its bark after it is removed."

Wine and cork are two products that have long been companions. Proof of this is an amphora dating from the first century BC found in Ephesus: not only was sealed with a cork stopper but still contained wine. Later, in the first century, the Roman naturalist Pliny makes a new and extensive reference to cork in his celebrated Natural History. Explains that in Greece it was worshiped as a symbol of freedom and honor, why only priests could cut. In the same work it is stated that the cork used to be consecrated to God Olympian Jupiter, and its leaves and branches were used to crown victorious athletes. In Pompeii, the Roman city destroyed by the brutal eruption of Vesuvius, were found wine amphorae sealed with cork.

In the eighteenth century, while in England the physicist Robert Hooke obtained the first microscopic image of cork using a microscope that he developed in France, the French Benedictine monk Dom Pierre Pérignon, treasurer of the Abbey of Hautvillers, we initiated the use of cork which forbade bottles of its famous champagne Dom Pérignon. A choice that continued over time and that still remains today.

Why Cork:

CORK IS: Recyclable, Waterproof, Washable, and Non-toxic; Lightweight, Flexible, Insulation.

The first cork extraction happens usually when the tree cover age between 25 to 30 years during the summer months from June to August. To make the extraction of cork is necessary to respect some rules, as its largest number of extraction times, higher quality cork has, i.e. the cork harvested first, is named for the virgin, the second generation is extracted named secundeira extractions and the following gives up her name amadia, the latter being of higher quality, and logically the most valued one that can be used to make corks. From this stage, the cork has its extraction in nine years. By the proven qualities of cork, it is used in the present day in various applications that include floor coverings, the insulation (thermal and acoustic), in the manufacture of musical instruments in home furnishings, and footwear in the industry various sectors, from automobiles, beverages, construction, masonry, decoration, clothing, bags and sacks, gifts, rain-hat, caps, among others. Portugal holds more than 50% of the world's cork, having as its production partners Spain, France, Italy and lately Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia.