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What is your Vegan Leather?Updated a year ago

Vegan leather is a material that mimics leather, but is created from artificial or plant products instead of animal skins. In our opinion, the best choices are Recycled Eco PU, Cactus, Apple Skin, and Pineapple Leather.

Our team has worked hard from the very beginning to source a small, bespoke range of vegan-friendly leathers that don't compromise on quality or beauty and are as kind to the Earth as possible. 

We've sampled countless Vegan Leathers from various sources, origins and suppliers to find our top picks for our ST SOLEIL pieces. We've steered clear of toxic chemicals, PVC, dioxins (environmental pollutants found in cheap plastic leathers). Depending on the purpose of our product, we alternative between various vegan leather compositions.

Our Vegan Leathers are sourced from Europe and were selected for their beauty, high quality composition, opulent finishes, slow-made processes and lower environmental impacts. The Vegan Leather we've chosen is (far) below cow leather, cotton + silk in environmental impact - see the report here.

With a buttery soft texture and an opulent finish, our Vegan Leathers are an educated, considered and mindful Vegan Alternative that elevates our offerings. The 'eco' term references the recycled polyurethane coated fabrics we most often use, that is made with non toxic levels of chemicals, does not produce dioxins + adheres to both REACH + Prop65 standards. (40% post-consumer recycled polyester, 18% pre-consumer recycled polyurethane, 18% polyurethane, 10% Wood fibre, 14% calcium carbonate)

For bespoke items, we order our own stock of Apple and other plant leathers (these are at a much higher price point), where left over stock from this will be utilised in other vegan leather products in our collections.

We're excited to be sampling and testing out recycled PU leathers that are created from scraps and old products.

Our Vegan Leather covers are FSC® certified, phthalate free and REACH compliant. We support sustainability through the use of safe and environmentally friendly materials.




Our 2023 goal is to craft our products from 80% recycled material or minimum of 80% biobased ingredients.



EDUCATION:

  • Recycled Eco PU
    Eco PU is the term that forward thinking fabric manufacturers have applied to their synthetic leather collections, that are made with non toxic levels of chemicals. There are a couple of important standards that relate to safe use of chemicals in fabrics, relating to the environment + human health.  REACH + Prop65 are two such standards, and our fabrics adhere to these benchmarks.

  • Cactus Leather
    Launched in 2019, a Mexican based company engineered a fabric that utilises the dried leaves of cactus, as the key building block for adding to a fabric base.  The biomass (dried/ground cactus) is mixed with a water based polyurethane + pigments, to form the surface treatment for the substrate fabric, often being cotton or cotton/polyester.

  • Apple Leather
    Along the same lines as cactus fabric (in end product that is, we don't profess to know the inner workings of technical approach for each business), however Italian company Frumat developed the idea + partnered with manufacturers Mabel Industries to produce Appleskin 'leather'.  Polyurethane is still involved in the process, to ensure the fabric is robust + waterproof.  There is also Denmark based Leap, making 'beyond leather' using apple waste.  Leap material is made from a minimum of 80% biobased ingredients.

  • Pineapple Leather
    Pinatex is a fabric that has a substrate made from the felting of pineapple fibres.  The substrate can be used on its own, which is where the catchcry ‘my bag is made from pineapples’ emanates; however more commonly used in fashion, are the Pinatex fabric offerings that have a polyurethane coating, that provides the material with water resistance + longevity.

  • Biodegradability
    The challenge brands in the 'non leather space' face, is balancing the desire for fast biodegradability with robustness + longevity. Naturally, you don't want your products biodegrading before you're 'finished' with them, so getting that balance right in the development process is key. This is why polyurethane resin is so often used in the surface treatment, to ensure customer expectations are met regarding the longevity of an item. 
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