Designer taps Planet of the Grapes for vineyard waste handbags

In China, designer Meng Du has launched a line of handbags made from vineyard waste—specifically grape marc, which is made up of the skins, pulp, pips and stems left after grapes are pressed.  

The textile is produced by France’s Planet of the Grapes. The process involves collecting marc from nearby vineyards, drying it using sunlight, grinding it into a powder, mixing it with other natural ingredients, and pouring it over a fabric made of stem fibers. After more drying, the resulting material resembles leather. The entire process takes four to five weeks. 

Du tells Dezeen the material is supple and feels like grape skins. “You can feel the broken down pomace under your fingers and it reminds you from where it came, and that’s what adds the character to the material,” Du says. “The material is lightweight and flexible and it has a really natural lustre to it and each piece is unique.” 

The collection is comprised of two oddly shaped bags. Unwasted Merlot is shaped like a discarded milk carton, and  Unwasted Chardonnay is made to look like a tin can. The shapes were chosen to highlight the need to recycle. “I found that beverage cartons and cans are often squeezed into strange shapes when they are recycled and to me, this imperfection illustrates the value of a second life,” said Du. “We called the concept Incognito—meaning that an item doesn’t look the way you think it will: although it looks like a squashed beverage carton, it is actually a fashion product. And though it looks like it’s leather, it’s actually made of grapes,” she added.