This cow leather replacement product was finally created in 2013 by Dr Carmen Hijosa, after she spent many years in the Philippines developing and researching into this natural substance. From her discoveries, she learnt how to develop what would have been a waste product of the pineapple, into a new fabric. It is estimated that over 40,000 tonnes of the pineapple leaf is left to rot or burn globally each year. Dr Hijosa has made use for this wasted product, helping our environment and the people in the Philippines who farm pineapples all year around. Dr Hijosa tested on other fruits such as bananas fibres and sisal, but found that the pineapple fibres were the only product which could survive the manufacturing process she wanted to take. Carmen Hijosa used to work within the leather industry, but then left these traditional aspects of cow leather, to spend the next seven years at the Royal Collage of London to develop her textile whilst she earned a PHD.

About 480 leaves go into the creation of a single square meter of Pinatex, which weighs and costs less than a comparable amount of leather. "It's created from a by-product of agriculture, meaning it's a total waste product," says Dr Carmen Hijosa, Founder of Pinatex. "This really means that in order to have Piñatex, a textile, we don't have to use any land, water, pesticides, fertilizers ... we are actually taking a waste material and 'upscaling' it, meaning that we're giving it added value."(Dr Carmen Hijosa speaking to interviewer about product) This new product has given the farmers who harvest the pineapples a larger source of income with the farming and making of the pineapple fibres. After the farmers start to separate the long fibres of the leaves, the first step in creating this textile, the biomass they end up with, can be used to fertilize the pineapple fields. Making this product a better option to cow leather, as no part of this fruit is wasted. This fabric is also amazing for the aspects that it is very flexible, can be printed on and stitched into easily. This is a fantastic development for the fashion industry, as this non-woven textile opens many new doors for pattern and print onto our accessories. Pinatex is also available to purchase on a roll, this avoids the wastage caused by irregular shaped leather hides. Which saves money and wastes less of this sustainable fabric, making it more beneficial in comparison to cow leather.

Many Designers have started to use this textile as the company Ananas Anam has been recognised within the fashion industry as a “pioneer in the department of innovative and sustainable textiles”. Shoe brand Camper and fashion brand Ally Capellino have developed prototypes for Pinatex creator Dr Hijosa. Ananas Anam has then had designers from the fashion industry design products using the inatex leather. Compainses such as; NAE, Vegatar, Po-Zu, Ina Koelln, ROMBAUT, Vegemoda, Maravillas Bags and Taikka. These products of bags, shoes and laptop cases can be found on the company’s official website, ananas-anam.com.

What is fascinating about this product is how this company has manged to turn fibres of pineapple leaves into shoes and bags. The leather is stunning in both colour and texture, making anyone want to buy these products. This economical leather has so many benefits to the traditional leather. The fact that if more people were to switch to pineapples, many more animals will be saved from a horrible fate, restoring more humanity back to our world. The change to Pinatex from tradtitional leather will have a big impact in other counrtires, for example, if and when this company begins to expand more due to the high demand for the product, the communitites in the Phillipines who help to develop this product will become welthier. This will create such a possitive impact, making the lives of everyone better. Just demonstrating the possitive side effects this change woud have on the global communityand to the Fashion industry as more comsumers (the costumers) are asking where and how products are made in this day and age.