The Spanish brand Loewe makes T-shirts from ... orange peel

Laura Scholz

18.6.2025

Translation: machine translated

There is already "leather" made from apples and robust fabrics made from banana plants. Now Loewe is launching a T-shirt made from orange peel.

The harbour city of Catania on the beautiful Mediterranean island of Sicily is home to Orange Fiber, a company founded in 2014. The company does not press and sell litres of fresh succo d'arancia. On the contrary: Orange Fiber does its business with the waste from local juice producers - the orange peel. Around 700,000 tonnes of this is said to be produced throughout Italy every year, and an unimaginable 32 million tonnes worldwide.

And what is made from all these peels that are supposedly destined for the rubbish bin? Citrus cellulose! In other words, the basic ingredient for sustainably produced, silky-soft textiles.
«We process the leftovers from the citrus juice industry in our plant in Sicily and extract the citrus cellulose suitable for spinning», explains Enrica Arena, one of the two founders of Orange Fiber, in an interview with FG Conscious Fashion. «We then pass this on to our partner who is responsible for spinning before the yarn is sent to selected fabric manufacturers, who ultimately process it into exclusive fabrics.»

Loewe × Orange Fibre

When it comes to exclusive fabrics, the Spanish luxury brand Loewe doesn't take long. And so its range includes a collaboration with Orange Fibre. The «Draped Top», which can best be described as an asymmetrical, double-layered T-shirt, is made partly from the Italian citrus fibre mixed with Tencel, a cellulose fibre obtained from wood from sustainable forestry.

So much Mediterranean sustainability comes at a price, of course. In the case of the «Draped Top» from Loewe, this corresponds to 945 francs. Not suitable for every wallet - but the idea and the process behind its manufacture are nevertheless fascinating. Loewe offers a little insight into this on its Instagram account. It's worth watching, and it only takes 52 seconds. The video can be found here.

Laura Scholz

Senior Editor

Laura.Scholz@digitecgalaxus.ch

Always in the mood for good hits, great trips and clinking drinks.

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