When you set out to make a new, grape-based bio-leather, it’s fair for people to assume that creating the material and getting it into far-reaching use is the end goal of every step along the way. And, of course, to some degree it is: Planet of the Grapes was founded on the principle that fashion could – and needed to – do better in terms of material sustainability. But it was also built on genuine passion – on a love for wine and winemaking, for vineyards and vignerons, for the humble grape and for the land itself.
In a sense, what we do is as much a way of sharing that love as it is a rebuke to the wastefulness and toxicity of the fashion industry. In some ways, perhaps even more so.
Our grape leather is crafted from marc (also known as pomace) – essentially the waste created by vineyards in the process of making their wine. What they don’t want or need, we take and turn into something new.
This might sound like an indictment of profligacy, but, in truth, it’s actually quite the opposite. Marc, traditionally, has found a place as a fertiliser, as animal feed, and even in the wellness industries. With this in mind, it might sound like their loss is our gain, and that’s not entirely untrue, but this isn’t about one upmanship – it isn’t about taking something away from someone who doesn’t understand what they have – it’s about working with people who know exactly what they’ve got, who know it better than anyone, and who want to see that byproduct given a new life in a way that’s meaningful.
Essentially, it’s about collaboration; about coming together and understanding how everyone has a vital part to play in changing the future of our planet in their own way.
Annabel Sumiere of the Famille Sumiere, one of the largest independent winegrowers around Mont St Victoire in Aix en Provence.
KEEPING THINGS LOCAL
This is why we work directly with vignerons on a local basis. With minemakers not only in our immediate local area but also now in our extended community in Bordeaux. These aren’t strangers to us, from our home here in Provence, these are our neighbours, our peers, our colleagues and our friends – our community; what they do, every day, affects our lives in more ways than whether there’s wine on our shelves or marc in our reserves to make grape leather. They depend on the land and the environment to help make their wine, and – in turn – that environment, both the people and the literal terroir, depends on them. When things are in sync, what they – we – create is a beautiful thing.
In fact, back in November, Planet of the Grapes brought together winemakers, engineers, factory owners, sustainability specialists, large scale agricultural specialists, and other business owners with a stake in what we do to discuss how we can affect change more powerfully together. Everyone has their part to play.
That’s why we prefer to think of this not in terms of exchange – not in the machinations of trade or industry – but in terms of a thriving ecosystem. The more we work together, the more in harmony we are – as individuals, as organisations, as businesses and craftspeople; even as producers and consumers – the more powerful the end result.
Think of it like this: vignerons could easily choose not to sell us their marc – there are and always have been other uses, including a circular element on their own land – but, nonetheless, they do. Why? Because we get it. Or, at least, we like to think we do (naturally we’re not claiming to have picked up on all the intricacies of centuries of hereditary knowledge in our comparatively short existence). We know that marc isn’t just a mess to be cleaned up and thrown out – we don’t even really know if byproduct is the right word – but rather part of a process that deserves to be valorised in its entirety.
And now our grape leather is part of that process too. That’s something we’re as proud of as the product itself; to be a new part in a multi-generational tradition – perhaps even the start of a new tradition – that touches lives in so many ways and which could, hopefully, have a positive and long lasting effect on the planet. Or at least to be a part of that change; another piece of another ecosystem.
Anthony Triolo, the wine grower of our local American University, IAU’s vines
THE BIGGER PICTURE
And then, of course, there’s the ecosystem of material innovation on a broader scale. The progress we have achieved in recent years could never have happened if it weren’t for support and the sharing of ideas amongst the next-gen community. When innovators see each other as colleagues and collaborators, then change happens faster. When there’s too much gatekeeping, progress grinds to a halt.
And the same remains true of the fashion industry as a whole: when brands and manufacturers embrace the exchange of ideas, adopt new processes and new materials, and take on new partners that shake up their tried-and-tested ways of working, it feels more like we’re getting somewhere.
In this sense, we’re all part of one big ecosystem: brands, craftspeople, material innovators, and now – with companies like Planet of the Grapes in the mix – even vignerons. To see the bigger picture of interconnected traditions and innovations is to see a better future for our planet. A better future we can all share in.