At this year's Future Fabrics Expo, banana plants emerged as a fruitful source for making more sustainable materials. Here, we spotlight four examples of the plant being transformed into leather alternatives and clothing fabric.
Hosted by non-profit organisation The Sustainable Angle at Magazine London, the annual Future Fabrics Expo aims to showcase sustainable and responsibly sourced fabrics and products for fashion and interiors industries.
This year's edition of the fair had over 10,000 products on display, and materials made from banana plants were among the pick of the bunch.
Read on for four sustainable materials made from banana plants exhibited at the Future Fabrics Expo.

Banofi leather
Banofi (above and top) is a plant-based leather made from banana crop waste. It was created to offer a vegan alternative to animal and plastic leather while also upcycling the waste from banana trees, which bear fruit just once in their lives. Banana crop waste is sourced from farmers in India and fibres are extracted to create the main raw material. This is combined with natural gums and adhesives and then finished with synthetic coatings to make it more durable.
Banofi claims its leather uses 95 per cent less water and causes 90 per cent less carbon emissions than animal leather. The brand hopes to make the material fully bio-based in the future.

Fiiba
Also making use of banana crop waste was Fiiba, which transforms the waste materials into woven fabric designed as an alterna...