While the fashion pack are hitting the catwalks at Paris Fashion Week, students at London's Kingston University are trying to lower the industry's carbon footprint by using biodegradable materials to produce luxury clothes, shoes and accessories.
The fashion industry has a high environmental footprint.
The manufacture of synthetic fibers like polyester alone produces nearly five times as much carbon dioxide per kilogramme as some organic cotton and more than twice as much as hemp, according to a Stockholm Environment Institute study.
Waste industry reports say that more than one million tonnes of textiles are thrown away every year, with most going to landfill and only 25% recycled.
InCrops, an initiative based at the University of East Anglia, sponsored the Kingston fashion project, asking students to create designs that show renewable raw materials derived from crops can be used to create low- or zero-carbon fashion.
Apart from stilettos made from pistachio shells and coffee beans, the designs produced include a wood-chip corset by British designer Stefanie Nieuwenhuyse, unveiled at London Fashion Week last September and modelled by singer Pixie Lott in Vogue.
Other designs include a bodice made from orange peel by Hoyan Ip and scented jewelry made from biodegradable plastic.
"InCrops' interest in the luxury sector gave us a steep challenge as many fashion practitioners have failed to successfully communicate the relationship between fashion and bio-waste," said Nancy Tilbury, MA Fashion course director at Kingston University.
"Our students rose to the challenge and produced excellent work that has been sought after by musical artists and the fashion press."
Designers have made progress in recent years in bringing organic cotton and recycled materials to the high street, but whether orange peel dresses will be worn in the future remains to be seen.
