Zagreb-based innovative plant-based leather manufacturer Sabant collaborates once again with Croatian creatives - this time joining forces with Ira Rumora, a Croatian designer known for slow fashion. Eclectic hats made from beer leather are part of the autumn/winter 2024 collection titled "Survival Tactics," with photography by Future Folklore.

The Croatian brand Sabant, whose innovative Beer skin™ is the world's first plant-based leather derived from beer and pending a global patent, has been sharing its boundary-pushing creations with local creatives for some time. After a successful collaboration with the brand Raw Bag™ and their crumpled bags, Sabant now shapes its beer leather with Ira Rumora, a renowned Croatian designer whose aesthetic is anything but ordinary. The talented Future Folklore, comprised of Nikola Zelmanović and Luka Kedžo, created the photos for the collection.

Sabant’s innovative approach involves transforming barley malt waste from beer production into high-quality, plant-based leather, showcasing their commitment to sustainability.

In her autumn/winter '24 collection "Survival Tactics," Ira Rumora is inspired by survival tactics and the roles we choose to save ourselves from the scrapheap of today. She has created four archetypal heroes: Tin Man, Boxer, Spike, and Fisherman, with the latter two protected from the world by hats made from Beer skin™.

The Spiked Hat serves well for defense, while the Fisherman’s Hat metaphorically conveys the well-known saying "gone fishing" (unavailable, on vacation) and reminds us of the importance of taking a break from the hustle of the world and sources of stress. "I was precisely looking for a leather like Beer skin™ for my collection - the strength and quality of the material allow achieving the desired shapes of hats without the need for linings and additional unnecessary materials. It's truly wonderful to have high-quality plant-based leather available on the market, practically next door, that can support the demands of collection concepts," Ira comments.

Although it may not seem at first that Sabant and Ira have much in common, their perspectives and approach to quality and craftsmanship align. Sustainability is at the core of Sabant's company and operations, their plant-based leather made from alcohol industry by-products is produced locally and sustainably, and the high quality of the material allows various industries to replace current textile solutions with more sustainable ones without compromising product quality. Ira shares a similar vision; her slow fashion brand embraces sustainability, does not use animal-based materials, and the collections are made to measure, handcrafted with great attention to detail, without mass production.

To learn more about the future of sustainable fashion and why plant-based leather is leading the charge, explore how Sabant is championing sustainability in style.

"We are very happy when we see our beer leather become art in the hands of creatives. That was the goal from the very beginning, to produce a high-quality sustainable material that could be used in various ways, while always allowing the user to say: This is made from beer!" comment Tamara Vučetić and Andrej Marić, founders of Croatian Sabant. "We are not stopping at Beer skin™; new leathers are in development and production, with alcohol being the main ingredient. Some of them will premiere this year, again under the baton of our talented designers," says Tamara.

For the collection shoot, styling was done by Marcela Vrček, makeup by Iva Rukavina, and the models portraying the characters are Evita Mandić and Lucija Dujić.

The autumn/winter 2024 "Survival Tactics" collection is very limited and awaits its official presentation. For all inquiries about the collection, visit @sabant.skins and @ira.rumora.