Leather: The Alternatives
Leather is a natural product that comes from the skin of animals. The most common leathers come from cattle, pigs, and sheep. Leather is a durable, versatile material used for centuries for clothing, shoes, furniture, and other items.
Leather production also causes serious animal welfare concerns. Cattle are slaughtered to obtain their hides, and millions of pigs and sheep are killed yearly to provide leather. The conditions in which these animals are raised and slaughtered are often inhumane.
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The environmental impact of leather production is significant. Leather tanning is a toxic and polluting process. The leather industry is one of the most polluting industries in the world, second only to the oil industry. Toxic chemicals used in leather production can contaminate water supplies and soil, and the excessive livestock on our planet also has an impact. The results are a mix of deforestation, land and water overuse, and gas emissions that all add to global warming. One can also argue that turning excess skin into leather is saving waste, but the truth is that the leather and meat industries are co-dependent.
There are alternatives. Vegan leather is faux leather made from non-animal materials, making it cruelty-free. And there are many different types of vegan leather. These include synthetic leathers, cloth, and vegan leathers made from plant-based materials. And while there are still questions about the environmental-conscious of the production process ¹, vegan leather is a better alternative to traditional leather. Some of these alternatives are explained below:
BIO-LEATHER
Shahar Livne developed a new handmade "bio-leather" by using fat and bones driven materials from the waste streams of slaughterhouses in the Netherlands and utilizing the wasted blood as a colorant and a plasticizer. The project is not without conflicts for Livne, who has been a vegetarian for more than 16 years for ethical reasons. However, as a conceptual material designer, she said her job is to use materials to provoke ideas and discussion. With sustainable blood sneakers hinged on the "nose to tail" philosophy, Livne said she hopes to show how detached humans are from production and nature in the post-industrial age. She said that animal blood is not only a significant pollutant in the meat industry but also symbolizes the source of life. Some critics have argued that designers should avoid animal by-products and pursue vegan alternatives, but Livne said they are missing the bigger picture.
Learn More: Shahar Livne
CACTUS LEATHER
Cactus leather is made from dried cactus leaves and is an alternative to traditional leather. It is made from cactus plants called pear cactus and is a vegan, sustainable substitute for traditional leather. The development of these vegan materials makes it even easier to avoid animal products and find sustainable materials for products such as ethical shoes. Cactus leather is a leather substitute that is not made by harming any animal, nor does it feature any animal product. It was first made from pear cactus leaves by the Mexican company Desserto. It makes a breathable material, as soft as leather.
Learn More: Desserto Cactus Leather
CORK LEATHER
Cork leather is made from the bark of cork oaks, using hand-harvesting techniques that date back centuries. Some advantages are lightness, water resistance, softness, and quiet lasting a lifetime. Because it comes from a tree that quickly regenerates its bark after being harvested, it can be harvested multiple times throughout its life, and there is no harm to the tree or deforestation that occurs.
Learn More: HZCork
LEAF LEATHER
Leaf leather is an innovative plant-based leather alternative made from tree leaves. To make leaf leather, people harvest fallen teak leaves, soak them in water and then leave them to dry. The soaked and dried teak leaves are then arranged in large sheets, which results in a sturdy and waterproof leather-like product.
Learn More: Beleaf
LINO LEATHER
Lino leather is a material researched into Linoleum. Changes have been made in the production process and the substance composition of Linoleum to develop a more tactile material with a wider range of application possibilities. Linoleum is made from natural materials like linseed oil, wood fibers, pine resin, limestone, and lignin. Unfortunately, the material created with these components is still, after 100 years, mainly applied as a flooring material. However, by leaving out the pigments and the limestone and pressing a fiber net between two Lino leather layers, the material gains depth and becomes more flexible and self-supporting. It gains the advantage of two useable sides instead of one. The combination of these characteristics has led to a vegan material that is similar to saddle leather and can be applied in furniture and fashion accessories. The existing linoleum flooring material contains many pigments to prevent color change, resulting in a material without any dept. Next to that, Linoleum is rolled as smoothly as possible. These features can give Linoleum a bleak and sterile look. Because Lino leather is created out of a more soft and flexible substance than Linoleum, the material can gain a rumen leather-like texture during production. This characteristic, in addition to the material's heavy weight, makes Lino leather suitable as an acoustic wall covering.
Learn More: Don Yaw Kwaning
MUSHROOM LEATHER / MYLO
Mushroom leather is made from mycelium, the vegetative part of a fungus. Mushrooms are already known for their tremendous benefits to the immune system, protection against cancer, and even slowing down aging. Mycelium is the network of filaments that form the underground thread-like structure of fungi. Mushroom leather production is entirely closed-loop. Closed-loop manufacturing in fashion means that the used materials must come from post-consumer waste. Furthermore, making mushroom leather requires minimal resources, water, and electricity.
Mylo made from mycelium, the underground root-like system of fungi, Mylo™ is a bio-based leather alternative that is soft, supple, and less harmful to the environment. The material that sparked a "mushroom leather" movement, Mylo, is made possible by the world-class scientists and engineers at Bolt Threads and is backed by pioneering brands like Adidas, Lululemon, Stella McCartney, and more. Mylo has undergone 5,000 iterations to date, removing 100% of the animal compared to traditional leather and more than 50% of the synthetic elements compared to pleather. With no scrim and no backing, Mylo promises to evolve to become an even better product with a lighter environmental footprint over time.
Learn More: Mylo
PIÑATEX
Piñatex is made from pineapple leaves after the fruit is harvested. It is an innovative way of utilizing a product that would otherwise be discarded, which reduces the amount of organic waste going to landfills and, thus, the methane emissions that would result. Through repurposing agricultural waste into natural textiles, Ananas Anam creates social impact by introducing new jobs in rural areas, while providing a second and diversified income stream to the pineapple farmers.
Learn More: AnanasAnam
TÔMTEX
Vietnamese designer Uyen Tran has developed a flexible bio-material called TômTex, a leather alternative made from food waste that can be embossed with various patterns to replicate animal leathers. The name tôm, meaning shrimp, references the discarded seafood shells mixed with coffee grounds to create the textile. According to Tran, the biodegradable material is durable while remaining soft enough to be hand-stitched or machine-sewn. “We are a plastic-free and 100% naturally biodegradable alternative to synthetic and animal leathers. TômTex is a revolutionary, bio-based, and high performance material created from seashell or mushrooms waste.”
Learn More: Tômtex
PALM LEATHER
Palm leather is made by dipping the dry and brittle leave from the Areca Betel Nut into a biological softening solution designed in 2011. After a few days, the material turns permanently soft and flexible and shows excellent aesthetic quality. The material can be processed on conventional machines. Palmleather is made by dipping the dry and brittle leave from the Arecae Betel Nut into a biological softening solution we’ve designed in 2011. After a few days the material turns permanently soft and flexible and shows great aesthetic quality. The material can be processed on conventional machines. The entire Palmleather project was instigated as a cheap plant based replacement for animal leather, plastic and rubber. These materials are sustainable nightmares and hit even harder in the poorer regions of the world.
Learn More: Studio Tjeerd Veenhoven
Sources:
¹ https://www.surfacemag.com/articles/vegan-leather-sustainable/
https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/moral-animal/
https://en.giesswein.com/blogs/news/cactus-leather-uses-benefits
https://mahileather.com/blogs/news/all-you-need-to-know-about-cork-leather
https://www.nomomente.org/post/plant-based-leather
https://www.donyawkwaning.com/linoleather
https://thevou.com/fashion/mushroom-leather/
https://www.mylo-unleather.com/
https://www.treehugger.com/what-is-pinatex-5074666
https://www.dezeen.com/2020/08/22/tomtex-leather-alternative-biomaterial-seafood-shells-coffee/
https://www.tjeerdveenhoven.com/portfolio_page/palm-leather/
