Sustainable Movements from Global Alternative Leather Market

 

“Alternative Leather” are not always what they seem:

First, leather is of natural origin and made from the hide or skin of an animal. International Standard Organization (ISO) defines it as: Hide or Skin with its original fibrous structure more or less intact, tanned to be imputrescible, where the hair or wool may or may not have been removed.

 

On the other hand, the term ‘Alternative Leather’ is any “leather-like” materials out there in the market. Often interchangeably used with the term Vegan Leather, it is made out of any material that is not of animal origin. However, unlike the image of the term ‘vegan’ brings, it is important to note that ‘vegan’ does not necessarily mean ‘natural’ and it has no relation to environmental aspects. Truthfully, majority of alternative leathers out there are from fossil-fuel resources, composed of a substance made with polyester or nylon, coated with PVC or PU. And we all know; how harmful those plastics are to our Mother Earth. Therefore, it is deceiving to call a material ‘Vegan Leather’, but this type of “Green-Washing” is often done to the consumers to convey a misleading image of the material.

 

What types of alternative leathers are out there in the market?
However, there have been various efforts to correct this problem in the past few decades. With the global issue of climate change and the help of technological development, some newer alternatives are based on plant or fruit fibers, such as apples, cactus, pineapples, and even mushroom. And we are glad to see that those newer alternatives are bringing more environmentally sustainable values to the market.

 

The “New Alternatives” Key Players
As can be seen from the above graph, it is worth noting that Bolt Threads and MycoWorks (both developing ‘mushroom’ mycelium-based technologies) have higher company value than other similar sustainable-leather manufacturing companies. Notably, Bolt Threads was valued more than three times as much as Natural Fiber Welding, even though NFW records higher revenue.
This indicates that compared to other R&D technologies such as plant (pineapple, cork, apples, etc.) extraction, mycelium-based technologies have been evaluated for greater future business feasibility and social value.

 

 

Hebronstar Strategy Consultants

Yoo, Jung Won / Associate Consultant