時尚新寵 菠蘿葉做成的皮革

Animal leather alternatives like Polyurethane and PVC leather may have solved the fashion industry's animal cruelty problem, but they are not the most environmentally friendly solutions. Piñatex – a new leather-like material made from pineapple leaves – on the other hand, may just be the all-around eco-leather we've all been waiting for.

類似聚氨酯和PVC革的動物皮革替代品或許已經解決了時裝業的動物虐待問題，但它們並非最環保的方案。而現在，一種類似皮革的新材料Piñatex橫空出世。這種用菠蘿葉子做成的材料可能正是我們期待已久的全能環保皮革。

Piñatex or "vegan leather" is the invention of Dr. Carmen Hijosa and her innovative materials company, Ananas Anam. While working in the Philippines as a consultant to the Product Development and Design Center of the Philippines in the '90s, she discovered the properties of pineapple leaf fibers and dedicated her life to creating sustainable alternatives to leather and petroleum-based textiles. After years of research, Ananas Anam has finally come up with what it believes is a viable alternative to animal leather. It recently showcased the versatility of Piñatex during a presentation held at the Royal College of Art in London, where designers displayed various clothing items and accessories made exclusively from the revolutionary material.

Piñatex，或者說“素皮革”，是卡門•伊卓莎博士及其材料創新公司Ananas Anam的發明。90年代，伊卓莎博士一直在菲律賓的產品研發和設計中心當顧問。那時，她注意到菠蘿葉纖維的性能，並開始致力於創造可持續的皮革替代品和以石油爲原料的織物。經過多年研究，Ananas Anam公司終於打造出自認爲成功的動物皮革替代品。最近，該公司在倫敦皇家藝術學院向人們展示了Piñatex的多功能性。設計師們展示了專用這種革命性材料製成的多種衣物和配件。

This new vegan leather is made from bonded fibers that are extracted from pineapple leaves on plantations by farmers before they are cut up and layered. These fibers then go through an industrial process that yields the innovative Piñatex textile. The canvas-like materials can then be dyed, printed and treated to give it different thicknesses and types of texture, including leather. The production creates a byproduct of biomass which can be returned to the farmers to be used as fertilizer on their plantations. To produce one square meter of medium thickness Piñatex, 480 pineapple leaves are required. That may seem like a lot, but it's only the leaves from 16 pineapples, leaves which are otherwise just left to rot in the fields after the pineapples are picked.

這種全新素皮革的原料是菠蘿葉中萃取出來的黏合纖維。纖維萃取由種植園的農民們在將菠蘿葉切碎並分層堆積前完成。接着，這些纖維需經過一系列工業處理，才能生產出革命性的Piñatex。之後，這種類似帆布的材料可以被染色和印花，經過不同的處理來得到不同的厚度和包括皮革在內的各種質地。生產過程中出現的有機物副產品可以被農民回收利用，充當種植園的肥料。生產一平方米中等厚度的Piñatex需要480片菠蘿葉。可能這聽起來很多，但其實16顆菠蘿即可長出這麼多葉子。何況這些葉子如果不拿來生產材料，在菠蘿採摘完畢後，它們也只能留在地裏腐爛而已。

Piñatex is still in development, and currently includes a non-biodegradable protective top layer for durability, but Ananas Anam is looking into natural alternatives in the hopes of soon making the material fully bio-degradable. Dr. Hijosa admits that it will take some time before vegan leather becomes market ready, but brands like Puma and Camper have already created sample shoes out of Piñatex, and designer Ally Capellino has turned into fashionable bags, and they all turned out quite well. As for how well items made of Piñatex actually perform in real-life usage conditions, that remains to be seen.

Piñatex仍處於研發階段。目前人們正在嘗試利用不可生物降解的保護層來延長它的使用壽命。不過Ananas Anam公司正在研究自然替代品，希望很快能讓這種材料可完全生物降解。伊卓莎博士承認，素皮革距離上市仍需一段時間，不過彪馬和露營者等品牌已經利用Piñatex打造出了一些樣品鞋，英國的箱包品牌Ally Capellino也已將Piñatex製作成時尚箱包。這些產品的反響都很不錯。至於Piñatex的製品在現實使用中的表現如何，仍有待觀察。

To continue her research and hopefully turn Piñatex into a commercially-viable sustainable alternative to animal leather, Dr Hijosa is currently trying to secure more funding for Ananas Anam, of which she is the majority owner. She is also looking into other possible uses for Piñatex, including anti-bacterial wound bandages, as the material would allow air to circulate to an injury, and insulation for homes.

爲了繼續進行研究並希望將Piñatex變爲商業上可行的、可持續的動物皮革替代品，伊卓莎博士正在爲Ananas Anam公司籌集更多資金。她是公司的大股東。她仍在探索Piñatex的其它潛在用途，包括製成抗菌創可貼（該材料的透氣性很好）和房屋的絕緣材料。