Footwear label Dear Frances launches vegan collection made from fruit waste

London-based luxury footwear label Dear Frances has unveiled its first eco-vegan collection featuring four season-less styles from the brand’s core collection.

With a focus on slowing fashion down through conscious production and aligned partnership, the label's latest collection is responsibly made and produced in Italy using fruit waste from apples, which are by-products of the food and drink industry.

This natural waste is used to substitute other raw materials of chemical origin in the products, lowering the emissions and the consumption of energy through the entire production chain. The apple residual is naturally dried and turned into an apple powder which is then used in the production of the collection.

The debut vegan collection includes two vegan leather boots, a minimal ankle boot with block heel and lace-up combat boots as well as the classic low-top trainer, available in three colourways, and sliders that come in green, tan and black croc.

Jane Frances, Designer and Founder of Dear Frances, said in a statement: “We have always been committed to being a sustainably conscious brand aiming to reduce waste where possible and so when launching our debut vegan collection, we wanted to be sure that not only is the collection leather-free but that it is also created in a sustainably conscious way.

“We didn’t want to just replace leather materials for plastic that was going to cause lots more harm to the environment, so we spent the time searching for a natural alternative that produced a product that felt as soft and durable as our mainline collections. In doing so, our vegan collection has been a few years in the making.”

In addition, all of Dear Frances shoes, from its mainline and seasonal collections to the vegan collection, are packaged in recycled shoe boxes made with the process residues from organic grapes, sourced locally from crops surrounding its workshops in Italy. The paper is FSC Certified, GMO-free, contains 40 percent post-consumer recycled waste and is produced with EKOenergy, resulting in a 20 percent reduction in carbon footprint.

Dear Frances’ debut eco-vegan collection launches online exclusively at dearfrances.com on 4 November. Prices range from £295 to £895.