Piñatex: Natural leather made from pineapple leaves

A project by Spanish designer Carmen Hijosa. This way, agricultural materials are reused, waste is reduced, and waste is avoided.

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pinatex

PINATEX: LEATHER MADE FROM PINEAPPLE LEAVES

A soft, natural leather, obtained from pineapple leaves, according to a typical circular economy process. Leather is one of the materials with the greatest questions regarding sustainability, which are intertwined with further questions regarding the ethics of its use. All these concerns have been addressed by Spanish designer Carmen Hijosa, who has dedicated the last 5 years to thinking, developing and patenting the perfect substitute for leather, which could be used to make shoes, bags and belts. Without ethical and sustainability issues.

The ecological leather of the Spanish Hijosa comes from a fruit, in particular from its leaves: the long, tough pineapple leaves, in fact, are perfect for creating a material that, without weaving, lends itself to becoming the perfect substitute for leather. Without any waste of edible fruit, starting from the waste to arrive at a fiber ecological and biodegradable which can even act as fertilizer when disposed of.

leather made with pineapple

SKIN THAT COMES FROM PINEAPPLE

Pinatex, this is the name of the patent, was born concretely after a trip by the designer herself to the Philippines, and a visit to the tanneries in the area: there, in fact, the weaving of pineapple leaves, which are certainly not lacking, is already a reality used in thelocal crafts, which is used to make hats and bags, but the flagship product is the barong talong, a traditional shirt woven from pineapple leaves. Back at headquarters, Hijosa decided to collaborate with local artisans and producers, patenting this fiber, which has a very low environmental impact. For one square meter of Piñatex you need approximately 460 leaves, which is waste material for large pineapple production and export companies, the very same ones that end up on our tables. This makes it economical and allows the recovery of a raw material that is in abundance and is thrown away. According to Hijosa, who has studied the situation in detail, the waste from the 10 top pineapple producing countries could replace the 50 percent of the world's leather production.

TO KNOW MORE: The dark side of fashion, when companies pretend to be green. Meanwhile, 100 billion garments end up in the trash every year (photo)

PINEAPPLE LEATHER

Patents for new materials rarely manage to be affordable, but that's not the case with Piñatex. Another strong point is its price, which immediately brought it to the attention of brands like Camper, Puma and Hugo Boss who created his own line of sneakers with this very resistant and flexible material, just like leather. fabric.

PIÑATEX

Its very low cost (approx. 23 euros per square meter compared to 25-38 euros for leather), ensures that eco-leather, not to be confused with synthetic leather, will find an increasingly important role within companies, not just fashion ones. The Spanish entrepreneur and designer, in fact, is working with partner companies to create smartphone accessories, car seats, and furniture items.

(Featured image and accompanying text taken from Piñatex Facebook page)

SUSTAINABLE FASHION:

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