Fashioning sustainable fabrics one glass of wine at a time.
Vegea is turning waste from wine production into bio-textiles for sustainable fashion design. We’re using grape skins, stalks and seeds discarded at wineries to create natural, raw materials, which can be used as an alternative to oil-derived textiles, such as synthetics.
Why?
The global wine industry produces 7 million tonnes of waste every year*. If landfilled or incinerated in large amounts, this waste pollutes our air, soil and water.
On a greater scale, fashion is one of the most polluting industries in the world. Synthetic textile production alone uses on average 100 million tonnes of oil every year.
That’s why we’ve developed and patented technology addressing both problems with one solution and helping businesses and consumers minimise their impact.
Funding would allow us to…
…advance our methods while fast-tracking our launch on the market. We’re dedicated to the continuous research, development and testing of our textiles to ensure they are compatible with fashion, furniture, automotive and packaging applications. Our first batch of production included prototypes for dresses, handbags and shoes!
What’s your blend for success?
When I learnt of the collapse of Rana Plaza in Bangladesh in 2013, a building which housed five garment factories, I immediately became aware of the social and environmental cost of clothing. This led me to drive positive change in the fashion industry through the creation of Vegea.
To be successful as an ethical fashion company, we believe in a blend of practising sustainability and working with a number of social enterprises, particularly those that provide safe employment to vulnerable people. The legal minimum wage in most garment-producing countries is rarely enough for workers to live on and basic health and safety measures do not exist.
*Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
