Perfect natural style. Alain Laboulle
In leather goods, leather of animal origin can be replaced by so-called vegan leather. We appreciate these no-nonsense alternatives.
If we had to associate a name with vegan faux leather, it would be Stella McCartney. The convinced vegetarian stylist refuses to use materials of animal origin. It’s an opportunity for him and other brands on the same path to explore new materials that look like animal skins… without the animals.
100% synthetic version
Brands that want an alternative to leather have two solutions. The simplest is 100% plastic (sometimes recycled) artificial leather. Thus, we find iconic models in the vegan version, such as Adidas Samba or Dr. Martens 1460. While the English brand has developed its own synthetic material out of conviction since 2016, others use the term “vegan” to mean something very basic. Artificial leather.
(partially) vegetarian version
The second solution is supported by brands that innovate to offer more eco-friendly materials. Like Stella McCartney, they add plant-based materials to synthetics to reduce the amount of plastic. Achille Gazagnes, founder of vegan sneaker brand MoEa, breaks down their composition: “an average of 59% plant-based imitation leather and only 20% plastic.” The rest is corn viscose or cotton.
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Apples, oranges, grapes…
Some woven plant materials look more like cotton than leather. This is the case with banana and pineapple fibers made from leaves. Others end up closer to animal skin, such as apple, orange or grape skins. Apple and orange varieties are mainly from Italy. they are waste products from the juice industry. As for grape must, it comes from… vineyards.
How to find your way there?
Like the terms “steak” or “milk,” the word “leather” is prohibited unless it refers to an animal product. Sometimes the term “vegetable leather” is used for animal hides that have been treated with vegetable tanning. There are vegetable imitation leather products that are not vegan due to animal based adhesives. Three labels are authoritative for vegan products: PETA Approved Vegan, V-label and Vegan Societythe most demanding.
Wool and alpaca sweater, Mango Committed, recycled brocade dress, Ganni, vegan leather shoes, Adieu × L’Exception, organic cotton socks, Baserange. From left to right, Vegan leather bag, Nanuska, upcycled bag, Medea, recycled bag, Cahu. Director: Sylvie Clemente. Hair and makeup by Cyril Lanoir. Model: Ioni Guraliuk, (Metropolitan Models).
Alain Laboulle
Featured, mushroom
Gwenaëlle Ferlicot, creator of leather goods brand Ashoka Paris, presents her first collection… with mushrooms. “It is a revolution. the fibrous side of the mycelium allows to significantly reduce the proportion of plastic in the finished material, which is 85% plant-based.” For her part, Stella McCartney has gone a step further with the innovations around the mushroom. A stylist named Mirum has developed a material that is 100% reusable for the first time without adding any plastic. Her bag The Frayme Mylo featured this season is made entirely of mushrooms.
Source: Le Figaro
