Leather Made From Pineapple Leaf Fibres Receives ‘PETA-Approved’ Logo

For Immediate Release:

6 May 2016

Contact:

Sascha Camilli +44 (0) 2078376327, ext 235; [email protected]

LEATHER MADE FROM PINEAPPLE LEAF FIBRES RECEIVES ‘PETA-APPROVED’ LOGO

London-Based Textile Pioneer Ananas Anam Uses Plant-Based Fibres to Help Shoppers Stay Chic While Being Kind to Animals and the Environment

London – The demand for leather-free clothing, shoes and accessories continues to skyrocket as shoppers grow increasingly concerned about the cruelty to animals, environmental impact and worker abuse involved in the production of animal-derived clothing. Now, an innovative new material called Piñatex is the first fabric to receive a “PETA-Approved Vegan” logo for supplying compassionate designers and shops with a sustainable, high-performance vegan leather.

Piñatex, created by textile company Ananas Anam, is made from the fibres of pineapple leaves – which are a by-product of the fruit’s harvest, so no extra land, water or pesticides are required to produce it. The high-quality fabric is the product of seven years of research and is already being used by the fashion brands Po-Zu, nae and Vegatar.

“Ananas Anam’s Piñatex fabric uses cutting-edge technology to create cruelty-free designs that are both sustainable and chic”, says PETA’s senior manager of corporate products, Yvonne Taylor. “PETA celebrates innovations that show how outdated wearing animal skins is and how easy it is to look fabulous while being kind to all living beings.”

PETA – whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to wear” – notes that animals killed for leather endure castration, branding, tail-docking and dehorning without painkillers before being skinned and dismembered alive. In addition, tanneries are notorious for polluting the surrounding land and water as well as exposing workers to excessive amounts of toxic chemicals, including arsenic. An estimated 90 per cent of all tannery workers in Bangladesh die before the age of 50.

Ananas Anam’s pioneering textiles earned it the 2016 Award for Materials Innovation from the Arts Foundation UK and the Innovation Award at the 2015 PETA UK Vegan Fashion Awards.

The “PETA-Approved Vegan” logo allows designers and retailers to showcase their cruelty-free items and raise awareness of sustainable and ethical fashion.

For more information, please visit PETA.org.uk.

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