Salvatore Ferragamo launches Orange Fiber, an ecological collection

Salvatore Ferragamo asks for its space in the ecological fashion world, and how! Following the trail of other high-end fashion designers – such as Vivienne Westwood, Stella McCartney, Viktor&Rolf, Stella Jean and Prada– the Italian luxury brand joins the sustainability train with the launch of a Fashion Capsule Collection made with citrus fruits. Yes, yes … everything is possible in the fashion world … and more if a luxury brand proposes it!

Timed to coincide with the 47th edition of Earth Day, on April 22, the collection is made with the patented Orange Fiber, the first fabric in the world made with citrus fruits.

A Ferragamo with citrus

So, Salvatore Ferragamo is retracing the late namesake founder’s steps in developing collections with innovative materials.

It is the first fashion house to make use exclusively of Orange Fiber fabrics. This much-anticipated collaboration is born of a shared passion for creative innovation, sustainable design, and a beloved heritage of Italian excellence. The brand has come together to produce a limited edition capsule of ethereal, breezy pieces perfectly suited for the season and beautifully constructed with the softest of fabrics for a renewed wearing experience.

Two students and one lemon: Orange Fiber

It all started with the idea of Adriana Santanocito. She came up with the idea of using what remains after squeezing oranges for juice, which amounts to more than 700,000 tons of byproduct in Italy alone. While working on her dissertation in fashion design, Santanocito decided to develop the project with Enrica Arena, an International Communication and Cooperation student, with the support of the Polytechnic University of Milan. The students filed an Italian patent, which was extended to international protocol in the U.S., Brazil, India, Mexico and the European Union. So was born their company: Orange Fiber.

It is are the world’s first and only brand to produce a patented material from citrus juice byproducts, repurposing them to create beautiful, sensorial fabrics that reshape your sartorial experience. Our textiles are constructed from a silk-like cellulose yarn that can be blended with other materials. When used in its purest form, the resulting 100% citrus textile features a soft and silky hand-feel, light weight, and can be opaque or shiny according to production needs – says the label.

The Orange Fiber is a twill that looks and feels like silk. With it, Ferragamo’s team has created a capsule fashion collection of shirts, dresses, trousers and foulards.

Ferragamo asked free-hand architect and designer Mario Trimarchi (Compasso d’Oro 2016), to create exclusive prints that would have a strong Mediterranean feel in sync with the origins of the fiber. This resulted in designs that echo a metaphysical Sicily, the island’s nature and fruits and drawings of floating clouds and flowers, at times in an abstract version.

To end, we really like this topic Orange Fiber founders write on their website: We believe that luxury has risen to new standards. Modernity must look further than status and consider the future—most importantly, the future of our world. We are committed to bringing sustainable practices to the fashion industry, setting the example for waste reduction and organic repurposing.

We enable those who wear our products to become not just consumers, but contributors to the Luxury 3.0 movement, the contemporary way to construct an ethical and sustainable lifestyle. Yes, we love it!

+ info: Salvatore Ferragamo