Pina fiber is the ingenious fabric derived from the leaves of the Spanish Red Pineapple. and is the finest of all Philippine hand-woven fabrics.
Pineapple fibers are an ivory-white color and naturally glossy. This delicate and dreamy cloth is translucent, soft and fine with a high luster.
ince piña fabric is hand loomed by only a few weavers, it is very precious and scarce, which also makes it expensive.
The major end use of Pina fiber is the Barong Tagalong, wedding dresses and other traditional Philippine formal dress. It is also used for table linens, mats, bags and other clothing items.
Because it is lightweight but stiff, this sheer fabric can be used in any creative design. There are few clothing items more beautiful than those made from pineapple. I do know this exotic fabric is on my wishlist.
The traditional decoration for this fabric is a style of hand embroidery called calado. An embroidered piña garment is called piña calado. These handwoven fabrics are colored with vegetable dyes originating from leaves, and bark of different trees.
Pina fiber is often blended with cotton, abaca, and silk to create wonderful light, breezy fabrics. When woven with silk, it’s called piña seda or piña-silk. Piña jusi is blended with jusi (abaca or silk) for strength and sheerness and is less expensive than 100% piña.