Mio Borsa, a vegan leather bag brand based in New Delhi, has unveiled its Spring/Summer 2020 collection of handbags. This stylish, cruelty-free line is made using Piñatex, an eco-textile made from pineapple stems.

Mio Borsa founder Palavi Behl believes that fashion should be about holistic trends and integrity. As such, Behl created a line of cruelty-free, vegan leather handbags to show the world what fashion can be without using animal skins of any kind. The line includes bucket, drawstring zip, baguette box, sling and shoulder bags as well as clutches and totes.

Related: Dutch designer creates leather alternative from palm leaves

The vegan leather is not just environmentally friendly — it is highly durable and wears well. It is also dirt-resistant, making it easy to clean. Mio Borsa’s vegan leather is made with a combination of pineapple stem extract and polyurethane, a synthetic resin. Polyurethane is often used as a wood sealant because of its resistant to water, abrasions and stains.

The Mio Borsa bags feature both modern and classic silhouettes, each with a distinctive look. While they are certainly beautiful, they are also functional and affordable, as the designer hopes to make sustainable fashion more accessible. Each bag is offered in multiple colors, so you can choose a favorite or buy multiple hues to coordinate with your outfits.

For centuries, fashion has required great sacrifice from the animal kingdom. Fur made with mink, leather made from the hide of cows, snakeskin, alligator skin — the list goes on and on. Now, it’s time to move into a new era of fashion: cruelty-free fashion. There are lots of ways to shop sustainably and stylishly at the same time, and Mio Borsa is here to prove just that.

“While leather requires the skin of animals, faux and vegan leather offer alternatives that keep us looking good and doing good,” the company said. “And not only is it better for the world, it’s better for our closets and wallets too: vegan leather is almost always cheaper than the real thing, and can be versatile and adapted to whatever our needs are.”

+ Mio Borsa

Images via Mio Borsa

Many people quickly associate denim and Levi’s. The iconic red tab label is instantly recognizable. Now, those looking for sustainable clothing options can also turn to the brand with its newest men’s product line called Levi’s Stay Loose, which is made with hemp.

Stay Loose offers several options for men with, as the name implies, a loose fit through hips and thighs. With typical Levi’s innovation, the styles are fashioned using Cottonized Hemp, which is a fancy way of saying a portion of the yarn comes from the hemp plant and the manufacturing makes it feel like cotton. Now that hemp is legal to grow across the U.S., myriad products have adopted the beloved material for its strength, but also because it requires less water, chemicals and land space than cotton. 

Related: These sustainable shoes by Rackle are made from hemp

Janine Chilton-Faust, global VP of men’s design at Levi’s said, “The Stay Loose is the perfect jean to tap into the trend of looser silhouettes, which embraces both style and comfort. A fuller fit, a wider leg, a little taper, and with a throwback ‘90s vibe that’s still very contemporary.”

The Stay Loose standard length bunches just over the top of sneakers while the crop length allows the wearer to show off their shoe of choice. They are available in a range of black, indigo and faded indigo washes. In addition, the Stay Loose Carpenter Pant features the traditional carpenter style with lower pockets, side utility pockets and, of course, the hammer loop. Another option, called the Climber Pant, comes in a lightweight, non-stretch canvas rather than denim and features an elastic waist band for comfort.

While Cottonized Hemp shows potential as a more sustainable material, these products are still only comprised of 23% hemp and 77% cotton, so cotton isn’t completely out of the equation just yet.

Other products from the company also include the Cottonized Hemp, including the classic Stay Loose Trucker jean jacket. For women, the High Loose pant line offers three options that incorporate the material, too. All products should be widely available in fall 2020.

+ Levi’s 

Images via Levi’s

Dutch architecture firm Mecanoo has won an international competition with the design for the Brink Tower, a new mixed-use skyscraper that will connect Amsterdam’s Van Der Pek neighborhood with the Overhoeks. Designed as a solution to the shortage of high-quality housing for young professionals, international students and young couples in the city, the eye-catching tower will include approximately 400 new residences and offer a variety of shared green spaces to encourage a sense of community. Sustainability has also driven the design of the sleek high-rise, which aims to achieve an EPC (Energy Performance Certificate) score of less than zero through the addition of solar panels and energy-efficient systems. 

Slated to begin construction in 2022 with an expected completion date of 2025, the Brink Tower will occupy a prime location in the Overhoeks that is easily accessible from Amsterdam Central Station via the ferry service. The building will comprise 28 floors and rise to an approximate height of 90 meters.

Related: Mecanoo unveils stunning glass lake house that harmonizes with nature

To accommodate a diverse group of people, the architects have designed the home with a variety of housing types. The approximately 400 homes will include 120 social rental homes (among the social rental limit), 30 care homes and over 250 rental properties in the middle of the building. The residences and neighborhood meeting spaces will be set above an attractive plinth that will house street-level retail facilities and restaurant spaces. 

One of the most eye-catching features of the building will be the addition of greenery around the facade. The various terraces and roofs will be installed with “polder roofs” — named after the lush land tracts ubiquitous in the Netherlands — that will be heavily landscaped. The polder roofs will serve as “green enclaves” for residents and rainwater collection sites; collected rainwater will be reused during the growing season to irrigate the roof gardens. The solar-powered building will also encourage sustainable mobility by providing shared electric cars and bicycles.

+ Mecanoo

Images via Mecanoo