Conventional leather production is rife with environmental issues — including
rampant
deforestation,
toxic chemical use, and the unsustainable draining of land and water resources
inherent in raising cattle. Here are some of the latest innovators finding
creative solutions to two of our most environmentally damaging industries: food
and textile production.
Chef creates sustainable leather from eggplant skins
Image credit: Omar Sartawi/Instagram
Jordanian chef Omar Sartawi is transforming otherwise wasted eggplant skins
into a timely and fashionable commodity: sustainable face masks. Sartawi salts,
dehydrates and cooks the eggplant skins, so they become a richly textured,
durable, leather-like — but breathable — material. When finished properly, he
says the material can last for two to three years.
As Sartawi explains in the video: “There’s an ongoing trend toward sustainable
luxury; so I thought, why not create leather using the eggplant peel –
preserving the eggplant. Instead of throwing out these peels, we can recycle
them and use them for fashion, for several things. So, I started developing it.”
Transforming fashion through materials innovation
Join us as leaders from Crocs, Hilos, Marchon Eyewear, Planet FWD and Target discuss real-world examples, practical strategies, and supply chain considerations for developing eco-friendly clothing, shoes, and accessories that minimize waste and protect the planet — Tuesday, Oct. 15, at SB'24 San Diego.
The chef works with Jordanian designers Salam
Dajani and Nejla
Asem to finish and bedazzle the
masks, respectively. The masks appeared last month at Jordan Fashion
Week, as part of
its Born Again
campaign — featuring a series of sustainable face masks made by local female
artisans.
Sartawi told The
National
that he envisions rescuing leftover eggplant from hotels and restaurants to
create the leather, and divert food waste, on a larger scale.
“There is so much we can do with things that people do not even think about," he
said. "If we could start collecting all of this wasted food and turn it into
clothes for the less fortunate, so much could change.”
Sartawi also said he plans to open-source his method for creating the material,
so that people around the world can replicate it at home and do their part to
eliminate food waste.
Add cacti to the world’s ‘most versatile plants’ list
Image credit: Desserto/Instagram
Nopales (cacti) are not only the most abundant plant in Mexico —
their cultivation offers a number of climate benefits: They don’t require a lot
of water to grow, they sequester
CO2 and regenerate
quickly (only mature leaves are trimmed from the plant to make the leather). And
some
varieties
are even being put to use as a source of renewable energy.
Now, the plant offers yet another marketable alternative to conventional leather
— thanks to Mexican entrepreneurs Adrian López Velarde and Marte
Cázarez, co-founders of startup Adriano Di
Marti — a company that would develop
the nopal-based, vegan leather, Desserto. Velarde had worked with leather in
the auto industry and Cázarez worked with it in fashion, so they were both aware
of the environmental impact of the ubiquitous material. Compelled to find a
better alternative, the two left their respective jobs and joined forces — after
two years of R&D, the team launched the durable, breathable, biodegradable
cactus leather in July 2019 and showcased it in October 2019 in Milan.
According to
designboom,
once the leaves are cut, they are dried under the sun for three days until the
desired humidity levels are achieved. The organic raw material is then processed
and mixed with non-toxic chemicals, and shaped into any texture and color. The
ranch from which the company sources the cacti is fully organic, and all cactus
materials that aren’t used are sold nationally to the food industry.
The team says the material lasts up to 10 years and is cost-competitive with
conventional leather. Desserto won the sustainability award at Monte Carlo
Fashion
Week
in May, and was a finalist in the 2020 LVMH Innovation
Awards this week.
Danish startup to fashion industry: ‘How do you like these apples?’
Image credit: Beyond Leather Materials/Instagram
Meanwhile, Copenhagen-based Beyond Leather
Materials is on a mission to make waste
beautiful — as a B2B supplier of a biodegradable, leather-like textile made from
apple pulp, a byproduct from juice and cider production.
While it’s not the first company to create leather from fruit
waste,
it is now poised to scale: The startup, founded in 2016, recently landed a €1.1
million seed investment round — which will help the company enter the €70
billion leather supplier market this year and start to provide its material to
the fashion industry.
“[Beyond Leather Materials] have invented a unique patent-pending solution which
solves a huge environmental problem caused by the production processes involved
in producing animal leather,”
says
lead investor Steen Ulf Jensen. “The massive inbound interest in Beyond
Leather Materials’ first product proves to me they are creating real value for
both the fashion industry and increasingly conscious consumers.”
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Sustainable Brands Staff
Published Jul 7, 2020 2pm EDT / 11am PDT / 7pm BST / 8pm CEST