NEW HAVEN, Conn. — Fashion trends come and go, and some have a big resurgence years later but in recent years, more shoppers have become concerned about how their clothing is produced and the toll that production takes on the environment.
A group of Yale students teamed up with hopes of serving shoppers who struggle with finding quality, environmentally friendly pieces, that’s when the Banofi Leather brand was created.
Jinali Modi and Isobel Campbell, both students of Yale’s School of Environment, initially collaborated on a research project digging into how crop waste could be reused.
After reviewing the possibilities with crop waste from mangoes, wheat fiber and other resources, Jinali thought of an abundant crop in her home country of India, bananas!
After two years of research and development, the team learned how to utilize banana crop waste.
“The stem typically gets burned or dumped and we take that stem and bring it back to the factory where we extract the fibers,” said Banofi CEO Jinali Modi. “We create a pulp material and then our final material is about 60% banana crop waste.”
With a few other additives including rubber, tree sap, coloring, and a shiny finishing coat, the end product is plant-based leather.
“It’s really exciting seeing the samples progress,” said Isobel Campbell, Banofi’s Head of Sustainability. “You get one and see that it’s really cool, it’s something physical. Then, you get another one and it keeps getting better and better and now I’m carrying around a Banofi bag using it day-to-day and that’s a really exciting thing to happen in two years.”
Maggie Boreham is currently a student at Yale’s School of Management, equipped with her real-world experience in the fashion industry, she signed on to help the Banofi team conquer the business world.
The trio decided to pitch its idea in a competition hosted by the Boston-area Hult International Business School, a decision that ended with a big payoff.
“Each year they have a different theme and this year's theme was redesigning fashion, so this was a perfect opportunity for Banofi,” said Maggie Boreham, head of brand partnerships and sales. “We didn't know where it would go. we just applied online, made our videos during a snowstorm in New Haven in one of our apartments, and sent it.”
Over the next year, Modi and Campbell graduated from Yale and returned to their home countries of India and England, but the team continued to work together virtually to advance through several more rounds of the pitch competition.
The competition started with 20,000 students competing against each other.
After making it to the final round of the competition in Paris, the Banofi team went up against five other teams, competing for a $1 million grand prize.
The ladies were in for a moment they described as life-changing, they came out on top in the competition and fashion designer Stella McCartney awarded them the top prize.
With a life-altering prize in tow, the Banofi team is now focusing on increasing its sustainability, securing other brand deals, and hiring a sales team.
“Eventually, we hope to see Banofi in every single product from footwear, to cars to furniture,” Boreham said.
As the team reflects on the past few years, the creation of the brand is also changing lives in India. Modi said the Banofi team didn’t realize how much of an impact their work had on the local economy.
“It’s been a very community-based business where 60% of our team is actually women, which is hard to do in a manufacturing setup in rural India,” Modi said. “It’s a network where a lot of people know each other, they’ve grown up together in the same communities and that community is quite invested in helping this business grow. All the way from raw material to production.”
To learn more about the Banofi Story, click here.
Symphonie Privett is a trending reporter at FOX61 News. She can be reached at sprivett@fox61.com. Follow her on Facebook, X and Instagram.
---
Have a story idea or something on your mind you want to share? We want to hear from you! Email us at newstips@fox61.com
----
HERE ARE MORE WAYS TO GET FOX61 NEWS
Download the FOX61 News APP
iTunes: Click here to download
Google Play: Click here to download
Stream Live on ROKU: Add the channel from the ROKU store or by searching FOX61.
Steam Live on FIRE TV: Search ‘FOX61’ and click ‘Get’ to download.