The leaves are a by-product of the pineapple harvest, so no extra land, water, fertiliser or pesticides are required to produce the raw material. It is an innovative replacement for animal leather and plastic-based vegan leather. After five years of research conducted between Spain and the UK, she created Piñatex, a material derived from pineapple leaves (one square metre requires about 480 fibers) that doesn’t need weaving. Shoes, bags, watches straps, apparel goods, but also car seats and interior design furnitures can be created using Piñatex. Trendy and sustainable bag! Created in 2006, the annual competition is the fruit of a partnership gathering the Women’s Forum for the Economy and Society, the luxury house of jewellery Cartier, INSEAD business school and the global management consulting firm McKinsey & Company. Piñatex is a natural material made from surplus pineapple leaves. Called Piñatex - piña is Spanish for pineapple - the new material was created by Carmen Hijosa, who worked as a consultant in the Philippines leather goods industry in the 1990s. Please scroll down for details. Now running a startup–at age 63–she’s ramping up manufacturing of her pineapple-based leather, called Piñatex. Piñatex was created by Carmen Hijosa, a 63 year old Spanish woman who used to work in the Phillipines leather goods industry in the 1990s. Piñatex is a textile material created by Carmen Hijosa, who set out to create a sustainable alternative to leather. Created by Ananas Anam, Piñatex is a natural, cruelty-free textile derived from pineapples that is shaking up the leather industry.From animal cruelty to dangerous chemical tanning, leather has long been the source of much controversy so Dr. Carmen Hijosa, founder and CEO of Ananas Anam, made it her mission to develop and offer an alternative that was both … The undertaking supports ecological, intelligent, and innovative design policies. A post shared by Piñatex® by Ananas Anam (@pinatex) on Oct 30, 2017 at 5:25am PDT The leather-like material is primarily produced from the wastage of … And the best part is that not only the materials are sustainable — the manufacturing process is too, as well as socially responsible. Piñatex is an innovative natural textile made from pineapple leaf fibre. Conventional manufacturing processes of animal leather are not sustainable for our environment due to the large use of resources, animal industry, and the toxic chemicals used to create leather. She started looking for alternatives to leather and found that a traditional Filipino garment called Barong Talong was made from the strong, durable fibres of pineapple leaves. Size: 21 cm high, 17 cm radius This unique piece was lovingly handmade by Wayuu women. The latter is an innovative and sustainable textile created from pineapple leaves. It was created in 2013, has its head office in London, and manufactures and sells Piñatex®. Image: Ananas Anam.