BILLIE EILISH TEAMS UP WITH GUCCI TO DEBUT VEGAN HORSEBIT BAG
Billie Eilish is on board with Gucci’s debut of their opulent Horsebit 1955 shoulder bag, which is made with an in-house substitute for animal leather.
A new Gucci campaign with vegan pop icon Billie Eilish features an inventive vegan bag.
The brand has unveiled a vegan rendition of its iconic Horsebit 1955 bag, made from Demetra, an alternative material that does not involve animals.
The shoulder bag, which costs over £2,600, comes in plain black or a beige monogram print and has an archival equestrian emblem.
The bags are the result of Gucci‘s ambitious plan to introduce new eco-friendly bio-based materials into the fashion industry, with the goal of making it more sustainable.
Gucci’s vegan leather
When Gucci launched its first line of vegan shoes back in 2021, it gave a sneak peek at its cutting-edge vegan leather substitute.
The impressive 77 percent of the raw material used to make the faux-leather is derived from plants, and it was inspired by the Greek goddess of harvest, Demeter. Gucci tans its vegan leather in the same way that it does its animal leather to give it durability.
Demetra is an in-house, two-year-old product made entirely of non-GMO wheat, responsibly sourced viscose, corn, and wood pulp. Gucci has sourced the wood pulp from sustainably managed forests in order to ensure that the material is as environmentally friendly as possible.
Additionally, leftovers of the vegan leather substitute will not be thrown away because the Gucci-Up program, which aims to establish a circular economy, will process and repurpose them.
As part of its commitment to enhancing the sustainability of its fashion lines, the fashion giant is looking for ways to reduce the amount of synthetic materials used in the bags by utilizing more bio-based inputs. However, the vegan bags still contain some synthetic materials.
In order to grant licenses for other brands owned by its parent company Kering to use its Demetra leather, Gucci is attempting to patent and trademark the material.
Billie Eilish X Gucci
Eilish, who frequently uses her platform to promote veganism, reportedly told Vogue that she felt “honored” to be a part of the company’s “evolution in rethinking tradition.”
“It’s a new understanding, and one that isn’t afraid to evolve in a new direction, that truly matters to me,” she added.
Vegan leather bags
Along with Stella McCartney and Hermés, Gucci is the newest fashion house to take up the sustainable and fashionable trend of vegan leather bags.
Stella McCartney first introduced her renowned Falabella and Frayme bags in vegan leather substitute Mirum earlier this year.
Hermès has also collaborated with MycoWorks, a biomaterials tech company, to introduce a vegan version of its Victoria shopper bag, which is made of Sylvania, a bio-based material derived from mushrooms.