The shoe that thinks it’s a Pina Colada

Pineapple and coconut are a match made in tropical heaven. At Po-Zu, we are coconutty about all things coconut – including our comfy coconut Foot Mattress and our edible coconut shoe cream. So imagine our excitement when we heard about a new leather-substitute material made from pineapple leaf fibres. We just knew that we had to create a tropical, sustainable dream of a vegan shoe.

Our new Spring Summer collection, launching in March 2016, sees the arrival of our beautiful new ballet pumps Ello, made using Piñatex. These shoes are some of the first products on the market made with this innovative material.

Dr Carmen Hijosa, CEO of Ananas Anam Ltd, has spent the last seven years researching and developing Piñatex. While working in the Philippines, Carmen became aware of the qualities of pineapple leaf fibres, including their fineness and strength. She began to explore possible ways to develop a new textile material that could be used as a replacement for leather.

Not only is Piñatex a breathable, biodegradable vegan material, the pineapple leaf fibres are a natural by-product of the pineapple harvest, using a material that would otherwise have gone to waste. No extra water, land, fertilisers or pesticides are required to produce them. In addition to the environmental benefits that this brings, it means extra income for the pineapple farming communities in the Philippines.

Sven Segal, Founder of Po-Zu, said, ‘We were so excited when we heard about Piñatex. We are always looking for new ways to further reduce the environmental impact of our shoes. We already use a coconut by-product to make our Foot Mattresses. So to be able to use a material made from pineapple fibres to make the uppers is a perfect fit.’

Although these shoes are ballet pumps, we think they’ll have you salsaing down the street, imagining a beach beneath your feet!