Fashion designer Stella McCartney has launched a new collaboration with Veuve Clicquot to recycle its grape and cork waste into a range of vegan handbags and shoes called VEGEA.
The two LVMH brands have joined forced to put waste to good use, with grape stems and skins being used to craft McCartney's new VEGEA range which includes three bags, three styles of shoe and a bottle holder for Veuve Yellow Label Champagne.
VEGEA is made of 80% vegetal, renewable and recycled raw elements, a much lower environmental impact than leather - animal agriculture contributing an estimated 11-17% of the world's GHG emissions, with 65% of that being from cattle. By-products of Veuve Clicquot's harvest are combined with vegetal oils and natural fibres from agriculture, giving VEGEA a 40% lower impact on global warming as well as a 50% reduction in water usage compared to fossil fuel-based alternatives to leather.
Quoted on the designer's website, Stella McCartney said: 'I am so thrilled to be part of this first-of-its-kind partnership between a fashion house and a champagne Maison – connected by our shared passions for sustainability, craftsmanship and innovation. This collaboration is the perfect blend of my cruelty-free vision with Veuve Clicquot's incredible natural ingredients, using waste to circularly create a luxurious alternative to animal leather that can be easily scaled and change the industry. You truly cannot tell the difference; this is a better way.'
Find out more on Stella McCartney's website here.