During gel spinning/drawing of PVA fiber, a series of bands with ∼1 μmspacing are formed at angles of 75–90° to the fiber axis. Band angle varies depending on drawing temperature. The banded structure can be interpreted in terms of a model in which molecular axes are alternatively kinked from band to band. The stress-strain curve during drawing-contraction suggests that the formation of the banded structure is due to contraction strain of the deformed fiber, which is induced during stress relaxation. It is suggested that crystallographic, (101)⟨010⟩ slip plays an important role in the formation of the banded structure of gel-drawn PVA fibers.