From wsj.com
Luxury brands like Louis Vuitton and Hermès are trading traditional leather with animal-friendly alternatives, and what these new hides are made of might surprise you
NOT SINCE the Space Race has fashion been so into science. In the past few years, luxury brands have been in R&D overdrive experimenting with vegan leather alternatives. Stella McCartney and Hermès are making “mushroom” leather handbags. Designer Guo Pei (best known for creating Rihanna’s yolk-yellow 2015 Met Gala gown) employed the pineapple leather Piñatex in her fall 2020 couture collection; labels including Karl Lagerfeld and Everlane have produced cactus-based leather accessories; and Gucci last year unveiled sneakers made of Demetra, the brand’s 77% plant-based material containing wood compounds.
Technically, old-school pleather (aka vinyl, aka the stuff that covered the seats of your grandfather’s 1980s station wagon) is vegan, but because it’s a plastic product, it’s not exactly eco-friendly—or even biodegradable in most cases. Thus, eco-conscious fashion fans are excited by the possibility of strutting around in fruits, veggies and fungus (yes, fungus). But while these earthy substitutes might seem more ethical than animal products, they come with their own share of problems.
Dr. Anika Kozlowski, an assistant professor of fashion design, ethics and sustainability at Ryerson University in Toronto, said that many plant-based leathers still contain plastic.“When you have hybrid blends, it’s actually worse,” she said, because instead of biodegrading, the plastic portion will break down into microplastics and release toxic chemicals in the process. “It’ll be like a polyester. It’ll just persist in the environment for hundreds of years.” Many companies producing leather alternatives don’t disclose every material used to make the final product, making it difficult (if not impossible) for consumers to be fully aware of what they’re buying.
That said, the desire to do right by animals is still pushing some shoppers to choose flora over fauna.
Brittany Leddy, a 31-year-old marketing manager in New York, is a vegetarian and has been buying vegan leather for five years. In her experience, items like tank tops can degrade quickly, while structured pieces like jackets or handbags tend to last—and look the most like the genuine, animal-derived article. “It’s definitely going to feel thinner when you really examine it,” she said of vegan options. “But from a distance, you can’t tell.”
Here, a guide to four plant-based leather alternatives, what they’re (mostly) made of, and the sort of accessories that are being designed with them.
Corn-Based Leather
Cornstarch and corn-based resin or plastic can be used to coat humdrum canvas and create a luxe and realistic leathery feel. So far, this technique has primarily been used on sneakers made by such brands as Veja and Louis Vuitton. A new black-and-white version of the latter’s logoed, kernel-coated kicks are pictured here. Sneaker, $1,130, Louis Vuitton, 212-605-9910
Pineapple Leather
Piñatex is made of fibres from discarded pineapple leaves that would otherwise be farm waste. This leather alternative—known for its distinctive wrinkled appearance—is used in everything from home furnishings to clothing and accessories, like this textured silver crossbody by New York-based vegan brand Alkeme Atelier. Bag, $449, ShopAlkemeAtelier.com
Cactus Leather
Despite being made from nopal—aka “prickly pear”—cactus leaves, Desserto leather is buttery soft. Since its 2019 introduction, it’s proven a viable leather substitute for upholstery, boxing gloves and the interior of a Mercedes-Benz concept car. When conceiving its new tote (above) the basics brand Everlane went with a cactus-based leather that it bills as biodegradable. Tote, $298, Everlane.com
‘Mushroom’ Leather
Luxury brands are having fun with fungi thanks to new hides derived from mycelium (basically a fungus’s root system). Often called “mushroom leather,” this not-at-all-gross textile most closely mimics animal leather in look and feel. It’s been eagerly adopted by Stella McCartney and heritage French leather-goods house Hermès, whose mycelium-based Victoria Bag (rendered above) hits stores this year.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/vegan-leather-guide-11644613118
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