Your Next Dress Could Be Made from Orange Peels or Maple Leaves

We now live in an era when materials formerly destined for the compost bin are spun into glorious designer garments modeled on runways. Leather made from apple peels, cactus, mushrooms, pineapple fibers, and more are expanding fashion designers’ toolboxes, and Los Angeles–based creative director Emmanuelle Rienda has been at the movement’s forefront for more than a decade.

In March, Rienda wrapped up her sixth annual Vegan Fashion Week, this one held at the California Market Center in Downtown LA. The Morocco-based Label Oued collective participated, and the event also incorporated reclaimed fabric from luxury fashion house Maison Balmain.

Speaking by phone on a recent trip to Joshua Tree, Rienda reflected on how the fashion industry has been innovating and setting new benchmarks.

How long have you been interested in vegan and sustainable fashion?

Emmanuelle Rienda: I moved to the United States from Paris in 2008, and for years I represented French designers in the US at the California Market Center in the Fashion District. This meant a lot of leather and fur (before the fur ban). I was successful in business, but in 2016, I became vegan and started to question everything in relation to the treatment of animals.

Sustainability was emerging, but nobody was talking about moving away from animal materials. I thought we needed to have this conversation. I discussed it with my French designers, but they weren’t ready yet to go on that journey with me. So, I had to make a drastic decision. Using savings, I closed my showroom and did research for two years. From 2016 to 2018 I was in the field trying to understand what was happening behind the scenes—how leather, fur, and wool were made, and what their actual impact on the planet was.

What did you learn during that time?

Rienda: Let’s use leather as an example. When you raise cattle, you create a lot of environmental damage through gas emissions, deforestation, and water waste. And then there is the taking of the cow skin. You must also consider that labor comes from countries like India where this subject is very complicated. There are psychological repercussions for the workers in these industries due to desensitization, not to mention all the chemicals that are used in the leather tanning process. Those chemicals not only harm workers but also make the product unsustainable and pollute waterways. This industry can devastate underserved communities.

How did your research materialize into the platform you have today?

Rienda: In 2018 I started to create an ecosystem of designers and industry professionals. I discovered new materials that weren’t talked about yet—I had samples of pineapple and mushroom leather; little squares from their factories, all still in development. Apple and pineapple leather are made using waste from the plant industry. And then there is cactus leather—cactus doesn’t need water to grow in the desert, so there’s no water waste.

My passion for leather alternatives grew, but they were still niche, and I always wanted to meet the mainstream fashion industry where it was. At the end of 2018 I launched a conference called The Future of Fashion, which was a turning point. We had designers from Disney, Calvin Klein, and Lucky Brand. It was the first time that vegan fashion was discussed in a mainstream event. And at the end of the conference, many designers reached out and wanted to explore new materials.

I knew I needed to amplify this voice in a big, creative way. So, I went to the Los Angeles Natural History Museum and pitched them Vegan Fashion Week. I envisioned “an ode to the animals,” a beautiful, artistic celebration of human evolution. It was held in 2019 at the museum with many vegan companies represented. This event skyrocketed the movement. Afterward, we had more than 3,000 articles globally—a $60 million impact in media value. This created a culture shift. The fashion industry was finally seeing vegan fashion, and we inspired designers to shift to vegan materials.

There is a perception that vegan leather is just all plastic or of poor quality. How do you address the idea that vegan fashion is less durable or luxurious than mainstream fashion?

Rienda: There has been so much innovation in the plant-based material space. But even so, many of these materials still contain some plastic. I always say that this is still progress. And now, for the first time in the market, there is a fully bio-based, 100 percent plastic-free, plant-based alternative to leather that is called Mirum. It’s made from natural rubber, plant oils, waxes, pigments, and minerals. So, we do have alternatives today that are fully ethical and sustainable.

Polyester is also a huge problem, so I love when designers come up with alternatives. I work with Korean designer Vegan Tiger, who is trying to tackle this issue. They’re using a fabric called Jurasil, which is recycled and plant-based, and they’re developing a material made from maple leaves. I also work with a brand called XIVI—they only use a material made of eucalyptus. Ferragamo is using silk made of orange peels.

How has Vegan Fashion Week evolved over the years?

Rienda: I am actually shifting away from Vegan Fashion Week and starting to call my platform Ethical Luxury Summit, because there’s a bigger picture. To me, what matters is to stop investing in damaging industries like leather and wool. If you use materials that are already available, like vintage clothing and secondhand leather goods, I personally believe that’s okay. And that space can be innovative too. I recently collaborated with École Duperré, a college of art and design in Paris, and two emerging designers: Victor Clavelly, who works with Rick Owens and creates sculptural garments while reducing waste by using computer-generated imagery (CGI), and Guy Chassaing, who works with Maison Alaïa and has created a fur-like material from upcycled wool. Materials and ideas like these are what true luxury means to me now.

You have a showroom in LA called Green Room. What is the mission of that space?

Rienda: I partnered with Maison Privée, which is a mainstream showroom with a robust network of celebrities and celebrity stylists. Green Room is a space inside their showroom, meant to take advantage of their incoming traffic and people who might not know about ethical, sustainable fashion. We represent designers from all over the world.

Our mission is to create awareness of ethical luxury and educate industry professionals. We also help with product development. We work with UK-based designer Willa Phoenix, for instance. She wanted to make a plant-based stiletto but was using PU (polyurethane, a type of plastic). I introduced her to Piñatex, leather made from pineapple leaf fibers, and we created the first pineapple leather stiletto. It was the first plant-based stiletto to be worn on the Oscars red carpet.

What are little ways people can be more ethical when it comes to fashion?

Rienda: First, try to reuse the pieces that you already have in your wardrobe. Maybe you don’t need to buy a new leather jacket if you already have one, and don’t need to invest again in the mass production of leather. Try to understand where your garment comes from and what it’s made of.

If you want to try to support the ethical fashion industry and emerging designers, quality is better than quantity. Try joining communities or platforms that are elevating this passion, because it’s niche. I like the website Good on You, which rates brands on their sustainability practices.

There is still zero certification in the space. We still have to pick and choose what we want to support: labor rights, animals, or the environment. My work is focused on fashion that encompasses all three pillars, so we don’t have to choose anymore.