The groundbreakers | Innovative materials | H&M

Leather from grapes? Believe it. In collaboration with Italian wineries, Global Change Award winner Vegea™ has found a way to turn waste from winemaking into a vegetal leather alternative. As well as being animal-friendly and free from solvents, no heavy metals or other harmful substances are involved in the process of turning discarded grape skins, stalks and seeds into beautiful vegan leather. Extra fun fact: the name Vegea™ comes from the combination of “veg” (vegan) and “gea” (Mother Earth).

Say hello to the first fashion material made from 100% discarded cotton! The Swedish company behind Circulose® found a way to take discarded cotton and viscose, turn them into a slurry and create a biodegradable pulp that can be turned into new fibres, yarn, fabrics, and garments. All with no loss in quality compared to virgin fibres. Powered by renewable energy — with no need for virgin cotton, trees, or oil — this clever innovation is a circular dream come true.

Every year, leftovers from food crop harvests are burnt or left to rot. But the millions of tonnes of waste from banana trees, pineapple leaves, rice straws, sugar cane stalks and straw from hemp and flax are a valuable resource. Global Change Award winner Circular Systems decided to do something about this. By transforming forgotten food-crop waste into a high value natural fibre product, the idea is for farmers to get additional income while the leftovers won't end up polluting our planet. Agraloop™ BioFibre™ is fully recyclable, renewable and biodegradable.

When life gives you lemons (or oranges), don't make lemonade. Make a luxurious fibre. At least that's what Italian company and Global Change Award winner Orange Fiber thinks. Using by-products from the citrus juice industry (over 700,000 tonnes of it is produced every year in Italy alone), they found a way to repurpose waste into a more sustainable fabric. It works like this: once the citrus fruits have been squeezed out of all their juice, cellulose fibres are extracted from the peel and pulp. The cellulose is then spun into a biodegradable yarn with a soft silk-like feel.