By Phoebe Yu, Founder & CEO

I Couldn’t Find the Perfect Sheets. So I Made Them.

In 2006, I moved to Melbourne and was furnishing my apartment from scratch. I recall being in stores, touching sheet sets and reading labels, feeling oddly frustrated by the lack of choice.

The options were either cheap sheets that wore out fast, expensive luxury sets, or ‘eco-friendly’ products that didn’t feel luxurious or perform well. I couldn’t find bedding that was soft, responsibly made, and affordable all at once.

I wanted sheets that were silky, breathable, and durable for a great night’s sleep, without sacrificing environmental or ethical values. Nothing seemed to offer both the comfort and cooling of the best sheets and the peace of mind that comes from making a greener choice.

That was the moment the idea for ettitude began.

What made it especially personal was this: I sleep au naturel. Bedding comes into contact with my skin for eight hours every night. So what a fabric feels like, how breathable it is, and how it is made have always mattered to me in a very real way. I was looking for something I genuinely wanted to sleep in.

A personal problem that revealed a bigger system problem

My background in textile supply chains helped me see the trade-offs behind sourcing and manufacturing fabrics. The problems in the bedding aisle reflected a wider systemic issue — not just a lack of better products.

My personal frustration soon turned into a strong belief: there had to be a way to make bedding that felt luxurious and was better for you, without the environmental downsides of traditional textiles.

The original vision was simple: prove that sustainability and luxury need not be opposites. Back then, sustainable often meant beige, scratchy, and a compromise on quality. I wanted to show that a product could be softer, perform better, and have a lower environmental impact at the same time. Over time, I realised that the real opportunity was to create a better material from the ground up. That is the thread that still connects everything I build today: start with something people deeply want, then solve the upstream material problem in a way that can scale.

That belief even inspired the name. ettitude comes from ‘eco-attitude,’ which means living mindfully and comfortably shouldn’t be at odds.

Why bamboo was never an arbitrary choice

I didn’t pick bamboo because it was popular. I chose it because it was all around me growing up. In China, bamboo is everywhere and part of daily life. That personal connection stayed with me, even before bamboo became a trend in Western wellness or homewares.

That personal connection was important. My professional knowledge of bamboo’s potential when processed well was important too. Bamboo grows fast, doesn’t need replanting, and thrives with little help. It grows without irrigation or the heavy pesticides that cotton often requires. As a raw material, it showed enormous promise.

But I also knew that bamboo’s benefits were often lost because it was usually processed in ways that degraded it. For years, most bamboo fabric was made as bamboo viscose, or bamboo rayon. It felt soft, but the chemicals used in making it stripped away many of the environmental benefits people assumed they were getting.

The raw material was sustainable, but the process was not. Traditional bamboo viscose uses harsh chemicals, such as caustic soda, to convert bamboo into fibre. The real challenge was to find a cleaner way to make high-quality bamboo textiles.

The hard part: building a better process

ettitude came to life after years of testing, development, and trial and error in weaving, finishing, and dyeing. All that work led to CleanBamboo®, our proprietary bamboo lyocell fabric. Instead of converting bamboo into fibre using harsh chemicals, as in viscose or rayon, we use the Lyocell method. In this method, bamboo pulp is dissolved using a non-toxic, organic solvent. This occurs in a closed-loop system, where 98% of the water and solvent are recovered and reused during production.

That technical distinction is core to our innovation. The Lyocell method enables us to achieve both the luxurious softness and durability that customers value in bedding, and a more efficient, cleaner production process that uses fewer resources and produces less waste than conventional viscose methods.

The textile industry has a long history of greenwashing. I wanted CleanBamboo® to be the opposite — something you can trust and verify. That’s why we go through strict third-party certifications. Each one involves independent audits, material testing, and regular checks. These make sure our supply chain, manufacturing, and product safety meet the highest standards for sustainability and transparency.

Today, ettitude is:

•   B Corp Certified — meeting rigorous standards of social and environmental performance, accountability, and transparency

•   OEKO-TEX Standard 100, Class I — the highest classification, meaning our fabrics are certified safe enough for direct contact even with babies’ skin

•   FSC-Certified and Eco-Cert organic certified bamboo sourcing — ensuring our raw material comes from responsibly managed forests

•   Climate Neutral Certified — meaning we measure, reduce, and offset our full carbon footprint across the entire business, verified annually by a third party

•   1% for the Planet member — committing 1% of annual revenue to vetted environmental nonprofits

In a market full of feel-good promises, third-party certification is what turns a claim into a fact.

Why performance comes first

One of the biggest lessons I learned early on is that being right isn’t enough. People need to see the value straight away. Most customers don’t buy for sustainability first; they buy for better sleep, better feel, and better performance. The deeper story is what keeps them coming back.

That changed how I built ettitude. I didn’t want customers to feel like they had to do moral homework just to buy bedding. I wanted our products to fit into their lives — better sleep, softer fabric, less overheating, a healthier feel against the skin, and real value for money.

Early on, a customer told us that after switching to CleanBamboo®, she finally woke up feeling cool and rested, rather than hot and sweaty. Another said: “Your sheets are unbelievably soft. My husband never commented on bedding before, but now he refuses to sleep on anything else.” And then there’s Erin S., who wrote: “My teenage daughter is autistic and experiences sensory overwhelm. These sheets are a higher price than I would ordinarily pay, but they are worth it. She loves the pillowcases. Beautiful quality, wash well, and look gorgeous.”

Stories like these remind me why the material details matter. Better sleep is not just a comfort upgrade — for some people, it is a meaningful change in how they move through their day.

That’s still my philosophy for our brand. Product benefits draw customers in, while our mission of positive impact builds trust and loyalty.

The early days were very unglamorous

Like many founders, we started out very humbly. My garage was our warehouse. We packed orders ourselves and learned as we went, relying on determination and hard work.

One of my favourite memories is Christmas Eve in Melbourne, driving around personally delivering packages with my then-boyfriend, now husband. We were racing the clock to get orders to customers in time — loading the car, navigating neighbourhoods, dropping off packages one by one. I felt like Santa Claus.

I still smile when I remember it, because it captures why I started ettitude in the first place. Good sleep is one of the best gifts you can give anyone, any time of year. Better rest changes how you feel, how you recover, how you show up, and how you live.

Those early deliveries were exhausting, but they made our mission real. We were bringing something into people’s homes that could truly make a difference in their lives.

From Melbourne startup to global brand

ettitude started in Melbourne, but it didn’t stay local for long. Orders from the United States started coming in organically, proving the brand could travel.

As the business grew, I realised I needed a partner who truly understood branding and the American market. That’s how my co-founder, Kat Dey, joined. We connected through AngelList, and I sent her a set of sheets.

After she and her husband slept on them and had one of the best nights of sleep of their lives, she decided to join the company. Her branding skills complemented everything I had built on the product and supply chain side.

Together, we took ettitude global. What began as a bedding brand became proof that if you make a truly better product and share the story so people can feel it, you can change how a whole category thinks.

The numbers behind CleanBamboo®

I believe credible brands are defined by real, measurable impact.

CleanBamboo® uses 99% less water than a conventional cotton sheet set.

CleanBamboo® reduces CO₂ emissions by 38% compared to cotton.

Our closed-loop manufacturing system recycles 98% of the water and solvent used in production.

Bamboo grows without pesticides, fertilisers, or irrigation.

Cotton accounts for 16% of the world’s insecticide use, even though it covers only 2.3% of farmland.

Those numbers matter because they make the mission measurable. They show that material innovation creates real-world environmental gains while improving the customer experience.

What ettitude stands for now

Today, I see ettitude as more than just a homewares brand. We make sheets, towels, and other home essentials, but our real goal has always been to show that better materials can change what comfort means. ettitude was created to prove that luxury, performance, and lower-impact manufacturing can go hand in hand.

The textile industry remains one of the most polluting and chemical-intensive industries in the world. Most of the harm is hidden from consumers, buried in supply chains, water use, and chemical processes that never show up on the label. Once you learn about the materials and chemicals used in textiles, you can’t ignore them.

That’s why this story still matters. ettitude is proving that material science can move everyday products in a more sustainable direction. What began as a personal frustration in a Melbourne flat became a company built on a simple idea: the sustainable choice should also be the obvious choice.

That’s the mission behind ettitude, and it’s still the foundation for everything I do.

 

FAQ

What is CleanBamboo®?

CleanBamboo® is ettitude’s proprietary bamboo lyocell fabric. It is designed to deliver the softness, breathability, and performance of luxury bedding using a closed-loop process that avoids the toxic chemistry used in traditional bamboo viscose.

Why did Phoebe Yu start ettitude?

I started ettitude after moving to Melbourne and struggling to find bedding that was high quality, affordable, and sustainable all at once. Because bedding is so personal to me — especially as someone who sleeps au naturel — the feel and integrity of the material mattered deeply. With a background in textile supply chain management, I saw an opportunity to create a better material and a better brand.

Why bamboo?

Bamboo felt personal as well as practical. I grew up in China, where bamboo was a familiar part of everyday life and culture. Professionally, I also understood its potential as a fast-growing, regenerative raw material when processed responsibly.

When did ettitude launch?

ettitude launched in Melbourne in 2014 after years of research and development on what became CleanBamboo®. In the earliest days, the company was extremely hands-on — my garage served as the warehouse and customer orders were sometimes delivered personally around Melbourne.

Is ettitude a B Corp?

Yes. ettitude became a certified B Corporation in April 2022, meeting independently verified standards for social and environmental performance, transparency, and accountability. B Corp certification requires meeting rigorous benchmarks across governance, workers, community, environment, and customers.

How is bamboo lyocell different from bamboo viscose?

Bamboo viscose, also called bamboo rayon, typically uses harsh chemicals such as caustic soda to dissolve bamboo into fibre. Bamboo lyocell, including CleanBamboo®, uses a non-toxic organic solvent in a closed-loop process that recycles most of the water and solvent.

Is CleanBamboo® safe for sensitive skin?

CleanBamboo® is designed for direct skin contact and is made free of the harsh chemicals used in traditional bamboo viscose. That matters to me personally, because bedding touches bare skin for hours every night. CleanBamboo® holds OEKO-TEX Standard 100 Class I certification — the highest classification available, independently verified as safe for direct contact with babies’ skin.

What does ettitude stand for?

ettitude stands for the belief that sustainability and luxury do not have to be opposites. The name comes from ‘eco-attitude’ — the idea that comfort, performance, and responsible material innovation can coexist.