Pineapple Leather is Finally Here and It’s Changing Lives!
Ok, so you love splashing out on leather handbags, belts, jackets and more but let’s face it, leather isn’t exact;y animal-friendly. Well, what if we told you that there’s an alternative that is so close to leather you won’t even know the difference? No, we’re not talking about ‘pleather’ or other cheap knock-offs, we’re talking about pineapple leather – yes, yes leather made from pineapples! Here’s the low-down on this incredible innovation which is pretty much changing lives!
The brainchild of socially-conscious London-based textile company, Ananas Anam, pineapple leather is a natural and sustainable non-woven textile made from pineapple leaves. They’re calling it “Piñatex” and word in the fashion industry is it’s going to be game changing. Founder and CEO of Ananas Anam, Carmen Hijosa first discovered the remarkable textile when she was travelling in the Philippines and stumbled across a traditional Filipino shirt woven together with fibres of pineapple leaves (also known as a barong talong). The shirts gave her the idea for Piñatex and now, after years of research the product is finally on the market.
This natural form of leather is said to be incredibly durable as well as biodegradable, making it a stellar alternative to animal leather. But that’s not all, Piñatex is also one hundred percent vegan (obviously) and much more cost effective than animal leather and word is that large players like Puma are already looking into using the miraculous textile for future collections.
This revelation could lead to big things for the fashion industry in the future and will most certainly boost the pineapple farming industry worldwide. The only hope is that more and more designers embrace this new textile and use it as an alternative to animal leather. Of course, we’re hoping the new pineapple leather also makes its way to South African shores super soon!
To find out more about Piñatex click here.