The leather industry’s latest move towards sustainability | Vogue Business

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In the last few years, climate change goals, diversification strategies and consumer demand have all put pressure on brands to comply with new sustainability mandates. These mandates have seen a slow-but-steady transformation in supply chains, yet the change has been inconsistent, as mounting costs, a lack of regulation and the scarcity of viable solutions all create a complex playing field for brands. While some progress has been made in areas like logistics, real estate and post-sales programmes such as repair and recycling, materials innovation that can provide sustainable textiles alternatives has so far failed to achieve the scale required to match industry demand. Even some of the most developed solutions, such as Renewcell, have struggled to achieve commercial success.

Transformation in leather goods, the luxury gateway category and one that’s key for new customer acquisition, has been even slower. The race for vegan leather alternatives has produced interesting results, with Hermès’s experimentation in mushroom leather and Hugo Boss trialling pineapple-leather shoes. These examples stand out in a vegan alternatives market that is dominated by PU-based products, which are often more harmful to the environment. What’s more, while some bio-based leather alternatives provide a solution that appeals to the values of more conscious shoppers, attaining the same quality as a genuine leather product is a tall order, especially for a luxury brand whose reputation depends on the quality of design. For most brands that have thrived on the strength of their signature leather goods, real leather is here to stay.

With this in mind, a new sustainable solution to luxury leather must meet four objectives:

Evolved by Nature, a life sciences company specialising in Activated Silk™peptides, believes its new biofinishing system for leather could radically improve the sustainability of natural leather at scale. The solution works by providing a high-performing leather finishing system that results in a more durable end product, with added benefits including a reduced carbon footprint in the production (and application) of finishing chemicals and the removal of unnecessary plastics by replacing dangerous PFAS, aka ‘forever chemicals’, which are often used to add a layer of water and stain resistance to leather.

Evolved by Nature’s proprietary ‘Activated Silk L1’ leather finishing system provides a solution for brands that has the potential to transform the manufacturing process in a simple but effective way across up to 100 per cent of their assortment.

Enrico Mortarino, VP of textile innovation at Evolved by Nature, explains how brands are reluctant to eradicate natural leather due to its strong market performance. “Most brands with a high index of natural leather goods in their assortment are not going to get rid of those leather goods. It’s their bread and butter,” he says. “At best, they might have a small selection of leather alternatives, like PU or canvas, but real leather bags or shoes will remain the biggest proportion of their merchandise. So we were not looking to compete for that small share of leather alternatives. We wanted to create a solution that would positively impact the majority of their manufactured goods.”

The Activated Silk L1 finishing system.

The L1 finishing system comes with a lot of promises. From a sustainability standpoint, it produces a biodegradable finish that’s free from CMR solvents — which are toxic and threatening to long-term human health — via harnessing the same Activated Silk peptide chemistry that is used in Evolved by Nature’s skincare solutions. By taking industry waste — in this instance, the cocoons of mulberry silkworms that are harvested for fish food — and collecting its by-product, the biotech company is able to produce a sophisticated textile finish from what would have otherwise gone unused.

The L1 system has undergone stringent testing, demonstrating not only its capability in preserving the flexibility, strength and gloss of natural leather, but also resistance to eight types of common stains, including coffee and wine. Evolved by Nature boasts certifications from Leaping Bunny and the Leather Working Group as well as a Level 1 certification from ZDHC, the NGO that works to lower the use of hazardous chemicals across textiles, leather and footwear, alongside its contributions to eight of the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals. As designers become more attuned to consumer demand for more sustainable design, garments created using Evolved by Nature’s L1 finish are already finding fame on the runways and red carpets.

A cruelty-free technology, Activated Silk™ is based on the proteins that naturally derive from upcycled mulberry silkworm cocoons, which would otherwise be discarded post-harvest. More widely, the technology aims to replace fossil fuel-derived petrochemical supply chains with non-toxic natural peptides. The carbon-reductive alternative offers a solution for creating technically advanced formulas, including bioactive peptides for skincare ingredients, a PFAS-free leather finishing system and a rechargeable moisture-management coating for textiles.

A recent collaborator of Evolved by Nature is Authentic Thai Leather (ATL), a new consortium of Thailand’s top leather makers. Thailand has a history of textile craftsmanship, including providing high-quality leather to the global supply chain at more cost-effective rates. However, these suppliers are under constant pressure to meet new sustainability requirements and much of the agenda around sustainability has been set by policymakers in the West. These mandates are then handed down to manufacturers in the supply chain who are expected to comply, often without having much influence on those decisions.

This has created a power imbalance, where Western discourses around sustainability dominate the narrative while supplier voices are underrepresented. It also means that the needs and views of fashion economies such as France and Italy are much more likely to be considered in the decision-making about sustainability policies, putting brands in these markets in a better position to compete on sustainability criteria. Consequently, suppliers in Eastern and Southern economies are constantly playing catch-up to new benchmarks and best practices they’ve had little say in establishing.

ATL’s collaboration with Evolved by Nature demonstrates how biotechnology innovation can give suppliers from diverse markets a competitive edge. By making the Activated Silk™ L1 finish widely available to producers via the consortium, Authentic Thai Leather is able to level up the sustainability of local leather production at scale. This means leathers procured via ATL are up to 75 per cent bio-based and increasingly PU free, thanks to Evolved by Nature’s elimination of PFAS. With these new finishing techniques, ATL can deliver a sustainable, versatile, durable and stain-resistant solution for leather to the world’s leading brands, while remaining competitive on price. It’s a move that has the potential to level the playing field by making Authentic Thai Leather a compelling rival against European leather suppliers.

Nurrawan Ervadeekul, owner of Thai Tanning Co and co-founder of Authentic Thai Leather, adds: “Fashion buyers have been told that a more affordable, more sustainable leather doesn’t exist. Our partnership with Evolved by Nature proves this is a myth. It demonstrates the power of innovation to transform the business models of brands, manufacturers and even entire industries with more sustainable practices that can be implemented quickly, at scale and in a cost-effective way.”

For ATL, this is a pivotal partnership that positions Thai tanneries as leaders, rather than followers, when it comes to upgrading the sustainability of the global supply chain. But, for Evolve by Nature CEO Greg Altman, this is also an important concept that proves the global potential of the Activated Silk™ L1 system. “We’re thrilled that our Activated Silk is helping to give suppliers from markets like Thailand a competitive advantage in the global market. But, let’s be clear, this isn’t about ‘one-upmanship’ or East versus West,” he says. “We’ve created a solution that we really believe in, one that we think has the potential to improve the sustainability of virtually all leather products. We want to see leather goods makers using our innovative chemistry across the world and across all segments, from entry to luxury level.”

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