Piñatex® Ananas Leather

About Pinatex®

Piñatex® by Ananas Anam is a material manufactured out of pineapple lea fibre. The pineapple leaves are a byproduct of the pineapple harvest, so Piñatex® is also an upcycling of a waste product.

Piñatex® was created by Dr. Carmen Hijosa. Prior to working on Piñatex®, Carmen was a leathergoods expert, but due to the massiv environmental impact of the leather production, she developed a vision to look for a more sustainable way.

How Pinatex® is made

pinatex leaf collection

Pineapple leaves are collected after pineapple harvest and separated into fibers. The fine fibers are then washed and sun-dried.

After these steps, the intermediate product pineapple leaf fipre (PALF) is created. In the next step, a corn-based polylactic acid (PLA) is added to achieve certain material properties and consistencies.

The new intermediate is called piñafelt and is the starting base for Piñatex®.

The finishing of the products is done in Spain and Italy after it is prepared from the Philippines.

GOTS certified pigments are used for coloring.

Material characteristics of Pinatex®

Piñatex® is a durable and water resistant material, which can be used for fashion products, accessoires but also upholstery. Due to different coloring methods, but also the use of metallic foils, many colors and finishes are currently available.

Compared to other synthethic leathers it has a more pliable and softer touch. It should also be noted, that because Piñatex® consist of 80% pineapple fibres and around 20% PLA, it is fully biodegradable, which is a very desirable and admirable feature in the world of fashion. 

Why we use Pinatex®

Piñatex® is another core material for us in the context of sustainable fashion and we can hardly imagine doing without it.

Currently, we do not have an active collection with Piñatex® on sale, but behind the scenes we are already working hard on it.

The great product variation and material properties are convincing reasons for us to work with Piñatex®. Furthermore, the development and history of the founder Dr. Carmen Hijosa is incredibly inspiring and a true role model in the fashion industry.