CNN reports— “Lionfish leather and python handbags: These accessories are made from exotic invasive animals”

ORIGINALLY REPORTED BY JACOPO PRISCO FOR CNN Read Full Article

“Pythons from Florida’s Greater Everglades, silverfin carp from the Mississippi River Basin and lionfish from Caribbean reefs are the three alien invasive species that Miami-based startup Inversa currently harvests. The leather it produces is eventually turned into products such as clothing, bags and other accessories by fashion brands such as Gabriela Hearst, Khaite, Catherine Holstein and Johanna Ortiz.

Invasive species are animals and plants that are introduced due to human activity to an area where they are not native. They end up harming the local ecosystem, for example by eating native species, spreading disease or outcompeting other organisms for food or resources. They can cause extinctions and irreversible damage to the environment. ‘My co-founders and I firmly believed that one way to solve this problem was to tap into the power of the consumer,’ Chavda added. ‘We then zeroed in on the fashion industry — it really wants to do better and it’s looking for healthier and more sustainable feedstock materials.’

Inversa manages a network of hunters who procure the invasive species, and then processes the skins in three tanning facilities — two in Europe and one in the US. ‘Invasive species are a 21st century ecological crisis whose management cannot be solved with outdated, fragmented approaches,’ Chavda said. ‘We are building a completely transparent, traceable and verifiable supply chain, all the way back to the hunting itself.’

He added that Inversa is working with about 50 fashion brands and will soon expand into even more species, which he plans to announce next year. The company mandates that the final products mention either its name or the fact that the leather is sourced from an invasive species, and it states that this method of leather production offers an 89% improvement on carbon emissions and brings land use to almost zero.

Inversa said that it adheres to humane killing practices and is backed by American nonprofit environmental organization Conservation International and The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, among others… Inversa’s work was assessed by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Switzerland, which found it had a positive impact on biodiversity.”

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