Leather made from pineapples? You better believe it!
Launched by socially-conscious textile company Ananas Anam, pineapple leather (or “Piñatex”) is an “innovative, natural and sustainable non-woven textile” derived from pineapple leaves.
The “leather” comes from the tropical fruit’s waste plant fibres and is both durable and biodegradable, making it a great alternative to animal leather.
It was first discovered by Spanish designer and Ananas Anam founder and CEO Carmen Hijosa during a business trip to the Philippines, where she was introduced to the barong talong, a traditional Filipino shirt woven together with fibres of pineapple leaves. After five years of research between the U.K. and Spain, Piñatex was born.
Along with being socially conscious, Piñatex actually comes at a low cost. According to LifeGate, the pineapple leather is “about 23 euros per square metre versus 25-38 euros for the leather,” and is already being looked into by big companies such as Puma and Camper.
Not only will the introduction of Piñatex (and vegan leather for that matter) provide more opportunities for farming communities with the harvesting of pineapples, but it’s also a big step for the outing of animal textiles in fashion. With a tropical fruit making waves in the leather industry, we could be in for a major change.