Pineapple leather and the woman who made it her second act
Karla Renteria used to spend her days connecting data centers across continents. Now she connects pineapple farmers in the Philippines to closets in Los Angeles.
The material she works with is called pineapple leather. After a harvest, the spiky pineapple leaves are usually burned or left to rot. Renteria's brand, EcoPersona, turns them into something you would carry to dinner.
She is the first to admit she hasn't solved all of fashion's challenges. She just refused to wait for permission to start. "We don't have to conquer the world," she said. "One step at a time is going to help the entire planet. One less paper cup, one less straw."
That is what brought her to Los Angeles, to the first executive in-person program from ASU's Conservation Futures Academy. She came curious. "I'm looking for the next level of materials and textiles," she said. "What's the next project that's going to help my brand?"
What is pineapple leather?
| Pineapple leather is a leather alternative made from the fibers inside pineapple leaves, an agricultural waste product. The pineapple industry produces an estimated 40,000 tonnes of waste leaves a year, most of it burned or left to rot. The trick is to catch that waste before it goes up in smoke. Makers strip the long fibers from the leaves, press them into a felt-like sheet and finish it into a material that looks and behaves like leather. One square meter takes about 480 leaves, roughly the waste from 16 pineapple plants. A disposal problem on one end becomes a second income for farming communities on the other. Renteria's favorite part is what happens after that. "My partner takes all the pineapple that's waste in the Philippines and transforms it into a fabric," she said. "We present the fashion as high style, something you can use every day," she said. "At work, with friends, for dinner." |
The honest catch
She is also honest about the catch. Pineapple leather is not fully biodegradable. Most versions mix the plant fiber with a corn-based bioplastic and add a coating. It's a lower-impact alternative to animal leather, not a perfect one.
From 17 data centers to pineapple totes
| Renteria's career pivot came from a phone call. She'd spent years in IT, carrying a computer science degree and a master's in business and marketing, running projects most people never see. "One day I was building one of these massive IT projects, interconnecting 17 data centers with fiber optics," she said. Then a former client in Peru called. "He said, you're one of the best salespeople I've ever met. My uncle has an alpaca farm, and we're struggling. Would you help us build a community?" She said yes. And that's how a fiber optic engineer ended up building an alpaca cooperative in Peru. EcoPersona grew out of that leap. First came baby-alpaca pieces made without chemicals. Then bringing pineapple to her customers. "I'm all about community," she said, and she means it as strategy, not sentiment. "Eco Persona is not only about the well-being of the planet, but the well-being of humans, and a community that is ethical." She is clear about why she aimed at fashion, of all things. "If you really want to make an impact, you need to find an industry that really has an issue," she said. Fashion, she figured, qualifies. The numbers back her up. |
The global fashion industry is worth more than $1.7 trillion a year and ranks among the world's most polluting industries. The United Nations estimates it produces up to 8% of global carbon emissions, more than all international flights and maritime shipping combined. The size of the problem is the size of the opportunity.
How ASU teaches nature-positive fashion
"How ASU is teaching these in their classes is super important," she said. To her, that means showcasing real examples of biomimicry.
Biomimicry is the practice of solving human problems the way nature already has. Pineapple leather is a pocket-sized version of it: a material answer borrowed from what a plant throws away. That idea sits at the center of what ASU’s Conservation Futures Academy teaches. Conservation is about protecting land and wildlife — and it's about designing better systems for how raw materials become the things we use every day.
"Nature positive is when we use materials to design fashion and accessories that are good to the planet," Renteria said.
She calls it "engineering for beauty and protecting the planet," the motto stamped on everything she makes.
About the program
| Karla Renteria attended Nature-Positive Fashion: The Next Era of Leadership for Long-Term Resilience, the first in-person executive program from ASU's Conservation Futures Academy. The one-day convening at the ASU California Center in Los Angeles brings together leaders across design, sourcing, conservation and investment to work through what is actually changing in the industry. Participants earn a certificate and badge. The next date is being set. Join the interest list: Nature-Positive Fashion: The Next Era of Leadership for Long-Term Resilience |
