Pineapple: Once a fruit, now a leather alternative for shoes

Seven years in the making, a designer in the Philippines has found that pineapple leaves can be used an alternative to leather.

The product, named Pinatex, is a middle-ground between traditional leather and petroleum based textiles says designer Carmen Hijosa. The pineapple-based alternative has been used in prototypes for both Puma and Camper.

Pineapples leaves are a by-product of the already on-going harvest and can provide as much strength as traditional leather. The fibres are initially made into a mesh before going through a chemical process to create Pinatex, the end product.

[shareprints gallery_id=”30151″ gallery_type=”thumb_slider” gallery_position=”pos_center” gallery_width=”width_100″ image_size=”xlarge” image_padding=”0″ theme=”dark” image_hover=”false” lightbox_type=”slide” titles=”true” captions=”true” descriptions=”true” comments=”true” sharing=”true”]As it stands, the product has a ways to go before it can be used to make running shoes due to its lack of breathability. Unlikely as it may sound, Nike has made a leather running shoe in the past as a part of its Nike Free line.

Photos: Crane.tv