VINE LINES

Stella McCartney turns grape harvest leftovers into elegant accessories

- JACK MOSS

You might expect a designer collaborating with a champagne house to conjure up an aesthetically pleasing bottle or label, and perhaps some merch to match. But this was not the case for Stella McCartney’s recent collaboration with Veuve Clicquot. Instead, it involved the stalks, skins, pulp and discarded fruits from the wine grape harvest.

The reason is Vegea, a pioneering leather alternative from Italy made from the leftovers of large-scale grape farming. Founded in 2016 by furniture designer Gianpiero Tessitore and industrial chemist Francesco Merlino, it is solvent- and metal-free, and does not use any environmentally harmful substances. It also evokes real leather in weight and suppleness.