Paris – Sneakers made from banana or pineapple leaves,
dresses from nettles or fish scales — the search for sustainable materials
has taken the fashion industry to some wild places.
Experts warn these new textiles are not a quick fix for fashion’s enormous
problems with over-consumption and waste, but may be a necessary step in
developing cleaner technologies.
“You could possibly eat the final product,” said Hannes Schoenegger,
co-founder of Bananatex, which uses leaves from banana trees in the
Philippines to make bags, T-shirts and a line of shoes for H&M that sold out
within two hours.
He was speaking at the Premiere Vision Paris conference, where industry
professionals gather to find out which fabrics will dominate coming seasons.
“We only harvest the sides of the plants, and they’re already growing in
the forest, so no chemicals, pesticides or even water are used,” Schoenegger
added. He was among multiple stalls presenting new bio-sourced materials.
Brazil-based Nova Kaeru offered leather made from the discarded scales of
the giant pirarucu fish and another from the…
