Pineapple fibers drying; Piñatex creator Carmen Hijosa examining fibers
Image Credit: B.Banco
McCartney’s movement is growing. Piñatex, a sustainable textile created from pineapple leaves, was created by Carmen Hijosa, whose startup Ananas Anam has helped turn the fruit’s waste into a fiber that functions as a leather alternative, which brands like Puma and Camper have used for protoypes. “The fiber is sourced from the waste leaves from existing pineapple fruit farming so the raw material does not require additional land, water, fertilizer or pesticide to produce, meaning it has a much lower environmental footprint than leather, as animal agriculture is a resource-heavy industry,” Hijosa explains. “Unlike a lot of leather, particularly low-cost and low-quality leather, which uses heavy metals and toxic chemicals in the process of tanning, Piñatex does not use any harmful chemicals in production.” Designers and start-ups like MycoWorks and the tech firm Grado Zero Espace have also been experimenting with mushroom leathers, textiles made from various elements of fungi, which produce an uncanny approximation of suede.
There’s more on the horizon. Stella McCartney recently teamed with Bolt Threads, a San Francisco biotechnology firm focusing on innovative materials and this fall, the MoMA exhibit Items: Is Fashion Modern? will feature a McCartney dress made from Bolt’s spider silk, a man-made fiber created from a harvested protein. Animal materials, you’re on notice.
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