Designers make boots and handbags from fruit skins and seeds in latest eco drive 

Forget leather and pleather – designers and high street brands are turning to materials made from fruits in a bid to boost their eco credentials.

H&M offers Vegea vegan leather boots made of grape skins, stalks and seeds while Marici handbags at Selfridges are created from 80 per cent pineapple leaf fibre.

The growth of vegan fashion has spurred on experimentation with and producing clothes from the wine and juice industry’s leftovers.

The process sees leaves, skins, stalks and seeds dried, milled, chemically treated and rolled into faux leather felt.

Cecilia McNeil, a specialist in sustainable materials for H&M, told The Sunday Times: ‘One of the benefits of the material is that it utilises resources that would otherwise be considered waste by using leftovers from wine production.

‘The material does contain some polyurethane [plastic] and this is something we are working to improve.’

Meanwhile, Luxtra London’s online boutique sells bags and wallets made from fruits such as apples and pineapples.

Owner Jessica Kruger, 33, said: ‘At the moment the cost of fabrics with more fruit flesh and less plastic are prohibitively expensive but economies of scale will help make that come down.

‘However, there also needs to be more consumer awareness, perhaps, that things might need to be a little bit more expensive in order to ensure an ethical supply chain.

‘Cow leather is one of the most durable natural materials out there and other materials cannot quite compete.

‘I was looking at a Piñatex cardholder my colleague has in silver and it is 800 days old and is in good nick, the stitching is perfectly intact.’