In collaboration with H&M, New Moves focuses on the forward-looking shifts in fashion. Valentina Longobardo chats about VEGEA, the innovative business transforming winegrowing byproducts into a leather alternative.
— valentina longoboardo
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As we face up to environmental issues and shift our behaviors, no individual or industry can be overlooked—this includes fashion. The way we make, buy, and use garments needs a radical rethink. In collaboration with H&M, WIRED Brand Lab’s New Moves series has looked to the leading luminaries that are making positive moves in changing how we approach clothing with sustainability in mind. With this fourth and final video, we complete a series that has looked at figures from make-do-and-mend advocates to supply chain disruptors.
“I love the fact that we are using a natural byproduct and transforming it into something valuable,” says textile innovator Valentina Longobardo from a vineyard in Northern Italy. Founded in 2016, her brand VEGEA performs the seemingly fantastical feat of turning winemaking byproducts into a leather alternative. Along with VEGEA’s other cofounders, “we came up with the bold idea to develop a bio-material out of repurposed grape waste.”
With synthetic textiles using an average of
100 million tonnes of oil every year, VEGEA’s work plays a part in overhauling the fashion industry with sustainability at its heart.
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The finished plant-based fabric is not only vegan but also eschews the petrochemicals used to make most standard synthetic leathers. “We use grape skins, stalks and seeds that remain after crushing the fruits to make wine. This is then mixed up with vegetal oils and compounded into a material that looks and feels like real leather,” she explains. Coming in an array of textures, hues, elasticities, and thicknesses, VEGEA’s fabric is free of harmful toxins and polluting substances, “and on top of this we use renewable energy sources to power our facilities.”
— valentina longobardo
“We develop a bio-material out of repurposed grape waste.”
With synthetic textiles using an average of 100 million tons of oil every year, VEGEA’s work plays a part in overhauling the fashion industry with sustainability at its heart. They aim to scale up with the potential for VEGEA fabrics to replace the use of 1200 tons of fossil fuel-based material per year in 2030, which equates to about four million pairs of shoes. “We live in a world of limited resources and we need more innovations like this to close the loop in the fashion industry,” Longobardo says. It’s these emerging technologies that will not only help us reduce our consumer footprint now, but also ensure a better future for generations to come.
See the first three instalments of the New Moves series for how you can take positive steps for making fashion more sustainable.
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It’s the estimated average time garments are worn before being disposed of.
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FIND OUT MORE ABOUT HOW H&M IS MOVINGTOWARDS A SUSTAINABLE FASHION FUTURE
The wine industry generates seven million tons of waste annually and though these are usually burned, emitting CO2, VEGEA uses these viticultural leftovers to close the loop on sustainable production, one glass of wine at a time. It’s the transformation from something discarded into something desirable that inspires Longobardo, “vineyards are happy to work with us because we use their waste material and convert it into a beautiful fabric that can be used in fashion, upholstery, packaging.”
Their groundbreaking work won VEGEA a Global Change Award from the H&M Foundation, “which really helped us to scale up our innovation and most importantly get connected with the fashion industry,” Longobardo explains. Last year, they worked on a range of shoes and bags in the H&M Conscious Exclusive collection made using their material.
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The wine industry generates seven million tons of waste annually and though these are usually burned, emitting CO2, VEGEA uses these viticultural leftovers to close the loop on sustainable production, one glass of wine at a time. It’s the transformation from something discarded into something desirable that inspires Longobardo, “vineyards are happy to work with us because we use their waste material and convert it into a beautiful fabric that can be used in fashion, upholstery, packaging.”
Their groundbreaking work won VEGEA a Global Change Award from the H&M Foundation, “which really helped us to scale up our innovation and most importantly get connected with the fashion industry,” Longobardo explains. Last year, they worked on a range of shoes and bags in the H&M Conscious Exclusive collection made using their material.
100
PLAY