Everything you need to know about vegan leather

It’s no secret that the fashion industry is one of the biggest culprits of climate change, but it might surprise you just how much the production of leather garments impacts the environment. From deforestation to make way for cattle, to the use of toxic chemicals in tanneries that are poisoning the landscape and even the garment workers, the ethical uproar concerning the leather industry is hot on the heels of that of the fur trade.

Thankfully, many companies have been quietly working on alternatives to animal leather for a number of years, and it seems that now is the time for these innovative creations to shine.

Put in the simplest of terms, vegan leather is a leather-like material that is made using no animal products at all. This means however, that the petroleum-based faux leather polyvinyl chloride (PVC) can call itself vegan, despite the fact that it isn’t much better for the environment than animal leather, due to its use of fossil fuels and non-biodegradable plastic. The materials to opt for instead are those that are bio-based or lab-grown and use minimal amounts of plastic and harmful chemicals – it’s helpful to look out for any mentions of a V-Label, B Corp certification, PETA approval and Eurofins Vegan Verification. But you really don’t have to look hard to find exciting and sustainable leather-like fabrics: from by-products of pineapple farming and winemaking, to fungus fibres and even lab-grown collagen, there’s a whole spectrum of fascinating technologies to discover.

One of the major players in the vegan leather world at the moment is Mylo™ Unleather by Bolt Threads, which is backed by ethical fashion trailblazer Stella McCartney. At the recent United Nations Climate Change Conference that took place in Glasgow, McCartney presented the exhibition ‘Future of Fashion: An innovation conversation with Stella McCartney’ and called on delegates to sign a pledge to ban the use of fur and leather outright. Part of the exhibition included a living fungi sculpture, which celebrated the magical properties of mushrooms that the label has harnessed to create a brand new material.

“It began 20 years ago with the desire to create the best possible faux leather, back when people told me I wouldn’t have a successful luxury business if I didn’t use real leather, and after years of research and development I believe we have achieved the best faux leather on the market,” says McCartney.

The Stella McCartney spring 2022 collection will present the world’s first commercially available mushroom leather bag, Frayme, which recently made its debut on the Paris Fashion Week runway. The It bag is made from mycelium – fungal threads that serve as the subterranean root system of mushrooms.

“Mycelium allows us to create a material that isn’t thin or papery, and meets brand and customer desires for a soft, supple material similar to traditional animal leather. Mycelium is a fibrous organism and the branching network of fine mycelial fibres functionally replicates fine collagen fibres, giving Mylo a desirable hand and robust mechanical performance,” says Bolt Threads CEO, Dan Widmaier.

The material can be grown within two weeks and all production is powered by 100 per cent renewable energy. In addition to Stella McCartney, other companies in the Mylo consortium include: Adidas, who have made a Stan Smith Mylo prototype; Lululemon, who plan to make a range of yoga accessories; and luxury goods giant Kering – owner of Yves Saint Laurent, Balenciaga, Alexander McQueen, and Bottega Veneta, to name a few. While Mylo is not entirely plastic-free at the moment, its treatment processes are based on the principles of Green Chemistry, which makes it one of the most sustainable vegan leathers on the market right now.

Related: The new sustainable materials to know

Another intriguing name in the mix at the moment is Ananas Anam: a B Corporation that has developed Piñatex® – a leather alternative made from the fibre of pineapple plant leaves. The leaves that the fibres are extracted from are the by-product of existing pineapple harvests; in fact, the company has recently partnered with Dole Sunshine Company, which means that tonnes of waste leaves will now be saved from incineration each year. Labels including Paul Smith, Hugo Boss, Sézane and H&M have all used Piñatex in their products already and Nike actually put the fruit at the forefront of its design and campaign in its ‘Happy Pineapple’ collection earlier this year.

Mexican start-up Desserto makes its own leather alternative using the nopal cactus (or prickly pear cactus). Its award-winning technology – it won the Green Product Award in 2020 – boasts a number of environmental benefits too: its plantation is organic, needs no irrigation, and its crop is perennial, meaning that a new one only needs to be planted every eight years. The cactus is also a natural carbon sink, so the farm is actually carbon negative, plus the resulting material is partially biodegradable. Desserto began by collaborating with the automotive industry predominantly, but it has now been tapped by H&M, Fossil, Adidas and Karl Lagerfeld. Earlier this year, Karl Lagerfeld worked with supermodel, actress and activist Amber Valletta to create a sustainable accessories capsule, which included a Desserto version of the K/Kushion bag in a rich shade of rainforest green.

Meanwhile over at Von Holzhausen, it seems that fully biodegradable vegan leather isn’t as far off in the future as we might have thought. The brand’s supple bags are crafted from Banbū Leather (made from bamboo fibres), as well as a completely unique material made from recycled plastic bottles.

“Technik-Leather is unique because it uses proprietary technology integral to its construction which makes the material biodegrade in a landfill condition in less than 10 years as opposed to
hundreds of years, typical for most vegan leathers,” says founder Vicki von Holzhausen.

While there are already some key players in the vegan leather world, the range of different formulations on offer is vast: shoe brand Veerah and handbag designer Marina Raphael use a textile made from apple peels; Gucci has developed its own alternative leather called Demetra from wood pulp; and Veja uses organic cotton canvas coated with polyurethane, corn starch and ricinus oil to make its well-loved vegan sneakers. At nat-2, there appears to be no idea too futuristic or eccentric for founder Sebastian Thies, who has created footwear using components including stone, coffee grounds, flowers, cannabis leaves, algae and moss – “every product that comes to life and is more sustainable than before is a step in the right direction for all of us,” says Thies.

The speed at which vegan leather makers are appearing and developing shows no sign of slowing either – the bio-based leather market size is estimated to reach $868m by 2026 with a compound annual growth rate of 6.1 per cent, which means that we’re on track to eradicate so much unnecessary animal cruelty. The industry still faces some challenges though: these include making sure that the material is durable enough so that it doesn’t fall into the clutches of fast fashion, and cutting the use of non-biodegradable plastics to a minimum.

In the last few weeks, Ganni announced that it will phase out the use of all animal leather by 2023, and to help it do so, it plans to partner with VEGEA™ – an Italian textile manufacturer that makes a leather alternative out of grape skins left over after winemaking.

Related: These Ganni shoes are made from grapes

“You have to be much more mindful of durability, because we tend to benchmark plant-based alternatives to animal leather, which is crazy wear-resistant. VEGEA™ has gone through rigorous testing to ensure it lives up to our high standards of durability,” says Ganni founder Nicolaj Reffstrup. “We’re even expecting to further increase the amount of plant-based content for future collections, as the material is still in a development stage.”

Stella McCartney, who has been campaigning for sustainable solutions for decades, is also positive about the effects vegan leather can have on climate change: “Being the first brand to try and develop this technology into a viable alternative to leather that could actually replace a huge part of the industry has been incredibly motivating, not to mention the colossal impact it can have on the planet. In terms of the longevity of leather alternative innovations such as mushroom leather, I truly believe this is only the beginning and in a few years’ time this will be the norm.” And as we witnessed at COP26, if anyone can predict the future of fashion and help pave the way for others, McCartney can.

Related: Meet the Danish design duo who keep sustainability at the heart of their craft