Sooner than later, some of your favorite clothing items and accessories could be made with grape leather. And no, not that kind you ate as a kid. This new adult grape leather is made from the byproduct of Italian wine making — the stems, skins, etc. that are usually burned and dumped into landfills, creating all sorts of harmful environmental effects.
According to Refinery29, H&M recently granted 300,000 Euros to the researcher behind grape leather, Rosa Rosella Longobardo, in their effort to become climate positive by 2040. Longobardo worked in conjunction with a Milan-based architect named Gianpiero Tessitore, the brainchild of Wineleather, who is going to officially launch the product in Milan this October.
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Tessitore says the wine by-product (known as marc) is free, while the necessary machinery already exists, helping to make large scale wine-leather production a competitive alternative to skin.
That means wine leather can be used in car interiors and anywhere else real leather is often found. Drink wine. Save the animals.
