BRITISH VOGUE reports— “Can Ethical Exotics Ever Be Ethical? Gabriela Hearst Says Yes”

“Exotic leathers are increasingly being phased out by the fashion industry, amid concerns about the inhumane treatment of animals. In recent years, the likes of Chanel, Burberry and Marc Jacobs have all banned the use of crocodile, snakeskin and ostrich leather in their products.

It may have come as a surprise, then, when Gabriela Hearst – known for her commitment to sustainable and ethically produced fashion – quietly introduced real python leather in her spring/summer 2025 collection, sourced from Florida-based materials company INVERSA. “I meet with start-ups all the time, but I was so impressed with what INVERSA is doing,” the designer, who has created a pump and sling-back flat using the leather, tells British Vogue.

Along with invasive pythons, INVERSA also helps tackle the issue of invasive silverfin in the Mississippi river basin, and invasive lionfish in the Caribbean Sea. It was the latter that inspired Chavda to launch the company in the first place. “I’ve been diving my whole life, and I’ve been watching coral reefs die slowly in the most painful, dramatic death,” he reflects. “No one was doing anything about the invasive lionfish; they’re like the poster child for invasive species. They kill about 80 per cent of juvenile populations within five weeks of showing up on a coral reef.”

So far, INVERSA has culled 50,000 invasive species so far, in keeping with strict ethical standards, but has even bigger ambitions moving forward. “For us, it’s about getting to 500,000, getting to five million, because the problem is so much bigger than any of us realise,” Chavda says, noting that invasive species, which are linked with 60 per cent of species extinctions, are one of the top drivers of biodiversity decline on the planet.

While Hearst notes that there are some challenges when it comes to importing and exporting exotic leathers (which is why the brand’s python shoes will be direct-to-consumer to begin with), INVERSA – unlike many new-gen materials – is ready to scale up. “I think we will run out of shoes before we run out of problems, unfortunately,” Chavda says of the ability of its leathers to reach a mass audience. “It’s about bringing the message to as many people as possible, and letting them know there’s no trade-off here.”

Indeed, INVERSA offers the rare proposition that buying a shoe might actually be good for the planet, as well as turning the conversation about exotic leathers on its head. “We call ourselves ethical exotics for a reason,” Chavda concludes. “There’s few other ways to have that massive of an impact, [simply by] buying a shoe.”