This Startup Makes Vegan Silk from Oranges

An innovative startup that creates vegan silk from citrus fruit fibers was highlighted during The Future of Fashion Conference in Los Angeles last month. Italian startup Orange Fiber was founded in 2014 by Adriana Santanocito and Enrica Arena with the mission of creating a “new way of living an ethical and sustainable lifestyle, which looks beyond social status and considers the future: the future of our planet.” The company extracts cellulose from hundreds of thousands of tons of citrus-fruit byproducts and repurposes them into lightweight materials that can be used in the same way as silk. The brand partnered with famed Italian brand Salvatore Ferragamo which showcased its materials in an exclusive Summer/Spring 2017 collection. In addition to citrus fruit, in recent years, innovative textile makers have created fabrics from plant-based derivatives such as fennel, mushrooms, apple peels, and pineapples.