Nashmin One of my all time favourite trends is all – leather pieces or rather, fake leather but of course, not pleather. The reason i’m bashing on pleather is that unfortunately, it releases toxic fumes and is not an eco-friendly alternative to real leather. Lucky for us, plant based leather is here to stay and provides a safe, sustainable, alternative to leather.
Mushroom, pineapple, apple, cork, cactus and tree bark are all excellent components of the new wave of faux leather and there are many companies partnering with faux leather experts to dip their toes in this new sustainable sector of the industry. Take Adidas, for example, who has recently partnered with mushroom leather pioneer, Bolts for their new edition of Stan Smiths.
Or, Slava, partnering with Piñatex, a producer of pineapple leather who has paved the way for other leather alternatives to enter the market.
As we all become conscious consumers, we look for products that make a difference, are eco-friendly, stimulate sustainable consumption. It has almost become ‘easier’ for small businesses to target this consumer because they’re starting from scratch. Big companies have a hard time reconciling past practices with new, more sustainable processes and this can come off as disingenuous to the conscious consumer.A lot of influencers and celebrities have also gave support and promote vegan leather where it gains a lot of attention, where people are becoming aware of what they are buying.
One way for these bigger brands like Coach, Dior, or Louis Vuitton, to capture the attention of the conscious consumer even though they use use real leather, is to adjust their production to be energy efficient and eco-friendly.
I don’t know about you, but i’m so excited to see consumers influencing businesses for good!
