All About Cork (Why We Use It, Video, After Five Years of Use)

Our Cork fabric – used in the The Swift in Cork, the Swiftette in Cork and Clear Organizer Wallet in Cork (both debuting Monday), Cork Sleeve for Amazon Kindle, Cork Organizer Pouches, and the Imago – has become one of our favorite materials.

First and foremost, visually and texturally it’s a stunning material. Our Cork fabric is made from real cork wood from trees grown in Portugal. Every inch of Cork fabric is completely unique due to the natural variances in the cork wood from which it is made, ensuring no two TOM BIHN bags in Cork are alike. Each varying pattern tells a little of the story of the tree from which it came.

Above: a photo of a cork forest in Portugal via the Cork Industry Federation.

Above: a photo of the Swiftette in Cork, a smaller version of our Swift in Cork. The Swiftette debuts Monday for pre-order.

Cork fabric is strong, durable, and naturally water/pet hair/stain resistant. You might first think of wine bottle corks – though both are produced from the same trees, our cork fabric is much different. It has a supple hand similar to leather. We’ve subjected our Cork fabric to our own creative tests (such as strapping it to a bicycle for two months of winter commuting) as have customers (see ex machina’s video demonstrating the flexibility of cork here). The verdict? Other than a natural darkening of the cork material over time, it’s tough stuff – stronger than some of the synthetic materials that other manufacturers use, though not quite as strong as our 1000d Cordura or 1050d ballistic nylon.

Bark is harvested from cork trees (Quercus suber) every nine to twelve years – without killing or harming the tree. Planted in 1783, oldest – and most productive – cork tree in the world is known as the Whistler Tree because it serves as a home for many songbirds. Cork is recyclable, biodegradable and renewable. Cork forests in Portugal provide habitat for a wide variety of birds and animals, including the Iberian Lynx, the most critically threatened feline in the world. (The fad in recent times of wine makers replacing corks with screw-top caps has threatened the cork forests – and the animals who make those forests their homes by potentially forcing the cork farmers to replace their cork forests with fast-growing eucalyptus or neglect them entirely.) Pretty much every part of a cork tree is eventually put to good use, including its acorns and leaves. It’s good for people, too: the cork industry in Portugal employes about 14,000 people.

Of course, the true test of our Cork fabric is time. Below is a photo of a Archetype in Cork (a bag we no longer make) prototype that has been used daily for the past five years. You’ll notice the slight darkening natural to the cork fabric. Other than that, it shows little signs of wear.



darcy | 23 April 2010 2:32 pm