our-material

Vegan leather, also referred to as faux leather or a leather alternative, has witnessed a surge in diversity in recent years. Various innovative materials have emerged in the market, including leather made from cork, wine, mushrooms, and more. Here, we will provide an explanation of how Piñatex, a particular vegan leather, is crafted.

Tucked away in China's southern Guangdong Province, lies Xuwen County, a landscape speckled with pineapple plantations under the warm embrace of the sun. This is where the process of Piñatex fabrication begins.

Piñatex is crafted from the fibers of pineapple leaves, which would typically be regarded as waste after a pineapple harvest. Rather than discarding these leaves, they are thoughtfully collected and undergo a thorough cleaning process. Subsequently, a patented machine is employed to extract the fibers from these leaves, transforming what would be waste into a valuable resource.

Once the fibers have been extracted, a sustainable approach is taken with the discarded waste. Some of these waste materials are repurposed as animal fertilizer following special treatment. Meanwhile, the extracted fibers undergo a thorough cleaning and drying process, followed by an enzyme refinement stage.

Through this industrial process, the fibers, along with cotton, hemp, and other materials, undergo a transformation into non-woven textile. The non-woven textile serves as the foundation, which is then finished with rubber, solvent-free PU (polyurethane), ultimately resulting in what we commonly refer to as vegan leather.