Oh, you want some innovative high-fashion news to settle your eco-friendly nerves? Well, you needn’t look any further than Gucci’s latest invention, Demetra, a luxury material that gives a whole new meaning to soft, durable, scalability in design.

A result of the house’s commitment to explore and innovate materials for the future, Demetra has been in the works for over two years, masterminded by an array of the house’s own technicians and artisans. Produced in their Italian factory, Demetra was created using the exact same processes for tanning, using animal-free raw materials from renewable sources in order to seamlessly achieve the smooth and luxurious finishes synonymous with the craftsmanship of the Gucci brand.

“In our 100th anniversary year, Demetra is a new category of material that encapsulates Gucci’s quality and aesthetic standards with our desire to innovate,” says Gucci’s President and CEO, Marco Bizzarri. “Leveraging our traditional skills and know-how to create for an evolving future, Demetra offers our industry an easily scalable, alternative choice and a more sustainable material that also answers the needs of animal-free solutions.”

To celebrate such a triumphant stride forth, Gucci have given their Basket, New Ace and Rhyton sneakers a Demetra-infused revamp, using the fabric to cover the majority of the trainers’ upper and linings. Organic cotton, recycled steel and recycled polyester make up the rest of the design, which must make these footwear fancies some of the companies most sustainable pieces to date. Gucci will be making the material available to the wider fashion industry to customise to their heart’s content, announcing that the brand will also be upcycling and reusing Demetra scraps as part of the GucciUp campaign – let’s cheers to that!

Launching June 18th 2021, further sneaker models and other product categories using Demetra will follow soon. For more information, visit Gucci.com.