The new you will be wearing bamboo

ByDave Hall

The new you will be wearing bamboo

Clerics sporting clothes made of biodegradable bamboo could soon be de rigueur – if one CRE Midlands exhibitor’s ideas catch on.

Lottie Sparey, 34, is founder of Lottie’s Eco, a husband and wife team from Worcestershire who make clergywear from organic bamboo.

‘It is Lottie’s first CRE and we are excited to welcome her unique collection to the exhibition and specifically our presentation on the first day – Clergy on the Catwalk,’ said event director Brett Pitchfork. Lottie began the company after working in South Africa for Playtex and Wonderbra.

‘I have a passion for creating something that is beautiful and comfortable. True comfort lies in that ahhh… feeling when you put something on after a hard day,’ she said. ‘I was studying contour fashion at De Montfort University in Leicester and became interested in creating next level clothing that would look great and also protect the planet.’

She first discovered the qualities of bamboo in South Africa.

‘It is an amazing product, replenishing itself once cut within a year,’ she said. ‘A prolific grower, it needs no fertiliser or chemicals and very little water. It is 100 per cent biodegradable, absorbs more carbon dioxide from the air than cotton or timber and releases more oxygen into the environment. Unlike polyester and nylon synthetic fabrics bamboo breathes and has a unique softness which makes for great wearing.’

Clergy on the Catwalk at CRE Midlands (11am, Wed 4 Mar, Inflatable Theatre) will also feature a wide variety of formal and informal ecclesiastical clothing from leading designers like Hayes and Finch, Collared clergywear and designer Rev Naomi Nixon, new CEO of the Student Christian Movement. In her spare time, Naomi makes clerical tops and dresses to sell in Coventry’s St Clare’s at the Cathedral.

• Lottie’s Eco are on stand D13 at CRE Midlands

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