Vitrolabs, a California biotech startup creating cow-free leather from cell cultures, has been working with Gucci-parent Kering to develop leather alternatives for fashion, the companies announced today.
Vitrolabs has raised a total of US$46 million from investors. The goal is to build and scale the world’s first pilot production of cell-cultivated leather and to fast-track commercialisation. The partnership highlights the explosive growth in the development of leather alternatives.
Notably, this is the first to claim production of ‘real’ leather — as opposed to a realistic leather-like material — without the use of animals and collateral impacts on land use, greenhouse gas levels and tropical forest loss.
Vitrolabs has developed a technique and capacity to replicate cow-skin cells in a lab. The cells were given a similar environment where they can produce a hide like they would in an animal, but within Vitrolab cultivators.
The news also comes on the heels of rival group LVMH announcing a partnership with Imperial College London and Central Saint Martins UAL to develop lab-grown fur, potentially signalling greater both acceptance and availability of animal-free alternatives to materials that have long been core to the luxury sector.
That’s significant: while fashion brands increasingly recognise the damage and risks associated with leather production, leather has remained dominant, particularly in luxury. The ability to source a more sustainable real leather could be a game-changer for the industry.
Recently Lerins launched the new sustainable trainer brand with £130 (US$168) shoes made with a leather-like material created from grape skins left over from wine-making.
Would you ever wear shoes made from “grape leather”? Or gloves in “cactus leather”? What about a “kombucha leather” jacket and a “mushroom leather” bag?
With the drive towards more sustainable fashion, the burgeoning world of animal-free "alt leathers" is becoming increasingly mainstream.
So-called "plant-based leather" promises great benefits for the planet. Not only is Lerins upcycling an existing waste stream (as is also the case for "leathers" made from apples, bananas and pineapples), it’s also disconnecting from the cattle industry, and in doing so, avoids the issues of greenhouse gas emissions, deforestation and animal welfare.
Lerins joins a growing number of brands working with plant-based leather alternatives, among them Allbirds, Hermès, Reformation and Stella McCartney.
Stella McCartney is launching grape leather shoes and handbags, and a mushroom leather bag, made from mycelium, the root structure of mushrooms. Allbirds’ first plant leather shoes, made with vegetable oil and natural rubber, are expected “in due course”.
However, it’s proving hard for plant-based leather alternatives to compete with the durability of bovine leather, which is problematic if it affects a product’s lifespan.
The solution, so far, has been – controversially – plastic. Many of these leather alternatives use a polyurethane (PU) coating in order to improve durability. If you’re combining natural and synthetic materials, there will be issues at the end-of-life stage. The plastics will compromise a product’s biodegradability.
There is no question that the plant-based leather industry wants to crack this problem. No one is happy to have petrochemicals in their products. Let's hope that competition will force companies to develop more sustainable solutions.