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Spotted: Interdisciplinary designer Iris van Herpen has partnered with Magnum ice cream to create the world’s first vegan, haute couture dress made from cocoa beans. Van Herpen is known for her integration of technology into fashion, and Magnum’s entry into haute couture is another step in the brand’s embrace of sustainability.

Waste cocoa bean husks from the production of chocolate were transformed into an organic, vegan biopolymer material. The design was then 3D printed before being finished by hand with upcycled organza, copper coating, and intricate, plant-inspired details.

Introduced on the runway of van Herpen’s AW22 show, the Magnum Vegan Dress is part of the designer’s ‘Meta Morphism’ collection that focuses on a new age of digitalism. Magnum is at the start of a new long-term partnership focused on circularity with the Leeds Institute of Textiles and Colour. The ice cream brand’s waste products will become a reliable, circular source of material for the fashion industry.

Having been in the headlines for years over its wasteful practices, the fashion industry is experiencing a renaissance of improved environmental standards and new processes. From using an invasive fish species for a new type of leather to a B2B platform that sells unused fabrics, Springwise has spotted innovations focused on creating circularity and sustainability in an expansive industry that crisscrosses the globe.  

Written by: Keely Khoury