This pair of vegan trainers has been made from actual pineapples.
The W3RD Vegan Pineapple is the brand Mercer Amsterdam’s first-ever vegan trainer, made in collaboration with Piñatex, which provides a material made from the leaves of pineapple plants as an alternative to leather.
It’s sustainable and cruelty-free, and the shoes even support local economies and exports out of the Philippines where the leaves are purchased from.
On its website, Mercer says the leaves are discarded from the pineapple harvest, so the raw material requires no additional environmental resources to produce.
And the lining used for The W3RD Vegan Pineapple is made with OnSteam textile, a microfiber textile which gives the sensation of real leather.
The trainers cost €250 via the brand’s online shop, and you can visit the website for more information.
Meanwhile, veganism is taking off in the fashion world. February saw the first vegan fashion week in Los Angeles, whilst the piece that turned heads at New York Fashion Week was a vegan leather puffer jacket by Budapest-based ‘it’ label, Nanushka.
Last year vegan footwear accounted for 16% of the UK market – a figure that is set to rise in 2019 thanks to both high-street and designer brands offering stylish vegan options.