Sustainable fashion: Balenciaga launches signature sneakers made from banana plant
The luxury brand has teamed up with Bananatex, a next-gen material that’s completely natural and free from animal skin and plastic.
Credit: Balenciaga
Luxury fashion brand Balenciaga has announced a new version of one of its signature sneakers - and their made from banana plants.
Known for its oversized, chunky look, the brand’s popular Triple S sneakers have been released in many different colors and fabrics since first launching in 2017, but now its latest limited edition is perhaps the most eco-friendly yet.
Teaming up with sustainable fashion brand QWSTION, Balenciaga’s newest Triple S sneakers now feature an upper made from next-generation material Bananatex.
Bananatex is a durable fabric made from naturally grown banana plants. The material has become known in the industry for its sustainability credentials, as it is made from a completely natural source without any plastic or animal derivatives.
A fabric sample of the finished Bananatex product. Credit: Bananatex
The Triple S shoes featuring Bananatex come in two colors, natural white and black, and are available now in selected Balenciaga stores around the world and online.
“The launch of the iconic Triple S with Bananatex, our next-generation innovation, is a huge honor”, Hannes Schoenegger, co-founder and CEO of Bananatex, said in a news release.
The innovative Bananatex fabric first launched in 2018, and has quickly entered the fashion industry through partnerships with leading mainstream brands and high-end fashion houses.
Its manufacturing process is circular, with banana plants grown in self-sufficient forest which requires no pesticides, fertilizer, or extra water to cultivate.
The abacá plants have several stalks which are harvested annually and regenerate fully within a year. It is these stalks that contain the banana fibres that are harvested, combed, and pressed into sheets. The sheets are then spun into yarn, which is then weaved to create the finished Bananatex fabric.
A farmer harvests the banana fibres from the stalk. Credit: Bananatex
Working to produce fabrics and clothing in more sustainable ways has become a major focus of the fashion industry in the last decade. Brands are developing the next generation of materials that aim to have a fraction of the environmental impact when compared to current fabrics made from the likes of animal-leather and plastic.
Many brands have already released eco-friendly versions of classic designs including Gucci, Zara, and Nike, and even car manufacturers have taken note too, with the likes of BMW and Tesla increasingly using more sustainable vegan leathers for car interiors instead of animal-derived leather.
Plant-based materials, which include everything from mushroom leather to Bananatex, not only offer a more sustainable solution, but don’t require the mass farming and slaughter of animals either.
Worth over $100 billion, the animal-leather industry slaughters more than a billion animals for their skins every year.
Contrary to popular belief, animal leather is not simply a “by-product” of the meat industry - it’s a co-product. Animal leather is in itself a fully mechanized, independent industry that has a detrimental impact on the planet, animals, and the factory workers involved in its production.
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