Alternative Leather: 8 Companies To Watch

1. ICTYOS: Creating leather from salmon

France-based ICTYOS combines a rich legacy of tannery craftsmanship with modern eco-responsible practices. Founded by Benjamin Malatrait, Gauthier Lefébure, and Emmanuel Fourault, they have dedicated years of research and development to create sustainable sea leather, leading the way in technical advancements that meet the demanding requirements of various industries, including watchmaking.

A new era for sea leather

ICTYOS meticulously selects the finest fish skins from their French agri-food partners, ensuring the highest quality sea leather. Their supply chain is characterized by traceability and local partnerships, minimizing the carbon footprint and adhering to an upcycling philosophy.

They offer a range of leather, including trout leather, sturgeon leather, and salmon leather. Their commitment to eco-responsible practices and innovative research and development contributes to a more sustainable leather manufacturing process — an uncommon thing in the leather industry.

2. Mycoworks: making leather out of mycelium

MycoWorks merges art, science, and technology to create innovative materials using mycelium, the root structure of fungi. The journey began with artist Philip Ross, who explored the potential of mycelium for art and design.

This journey eventually led to the founding of MycoWorks in 2013, with the goal of bringing mycelium-based materials into the mainstream. They have since advanced mycelium materials to the highest standards of quality and sustainability, launching their flagship material, Reishi™.

Innovative mycelium leather

Mycoworks’ proprietary technology engineers mycelium cells during growth to create interlocking cellular structures, resulting in materials with unparalleled strength, durability, and performance. Their flagship product, Reishi™, is a premium, natural material that offers the strength and feel of animal leather with a significantly lower environmental impact. Reishi™ is grown in their California facilities and is tanned and finished in Europe using MycoWorks' proprietary chrome-free techniques. It has various finishes, including Reishi™ Natural, Reishi™ Doux, and Reishi™ Pebble.

3. TômTex: making luxury from waste seafood shells

TômTex is a company established in 2020 by Uyen Tran, a former fashion student at Parsons and a designer for prestigious fashion houses in the United States. The core mission of TômTex is to address the critical issue of textile waste in the fashion industry and promote a circular, bio-based approach to design and production. The company has developed an innovative and eco-conscious material, TômTex, derived from seashell or mushroom waste.

Bringing wasted seafood shells to new use

The sustainable lifecycle of their products sets TômTex apart. Starting with the responsible consumption of shrimp, which results in chitosan waste, TômTex sources this chitosan to create fabrics tailored to customer specifications that ultimately biodegrade after being discarded by the end user. These 100% biodegradable fabrics are a genuine step forward in reducing waste and promoting sustainable practices within the textile industry.

4. Vitro Labs: making animal leather without harming animals

The brainchild of Ingvar Helgason and Dusko Ilic, Vitro Labs aims to produce billions of square feet of real leather with minimal impact. Their process involves taking a harmless biopsy from a single cow and, through a combination of science and natural processes, reproducing conditions that allow skin cells to regenerate indefinitely.

This approach has the potential to change the way real leather is produced, reducing the environmental footprint while still retaining the beloved qualities of genuine leather.

Bioengineering animal leather

By harnessing the power of nature and bioengineering, they've created a process that offers animal hides with the same qualities as traditional leathers but without the waste and harm to animals. The positive impact of this solution lies in its ability to offer sustainable leather without the need for traditional animal farming. It reduces the harm to animals, eliminates the environmental footprint associated with livestock, and simplifies the leather production process.

5. Ecovative: mycelium-based leather alternative

Eben Bayer and Gavin McIntyre founded Ecovative in 2007. The idea of using mycelium to grow materials came about in their “Inventor’s Studio” class. Since then, they’ve gone on to wax stronger, staking a claim as a forward-thinking and eco-friendly company focusing on various markets, including the leather market.

A new wave of mycelium leather

Ecovative's specialized soft goods division, Forager, offers a sustainable alternative to traditional leather production. They utilize their innovative AirMycelium™ technology to cultivate synthetic-free, vegan materials suitable for the fashion industry. Forager's mycelium hides, grown in just nine days, are completely vegan and boast remarkable characteristics like high tensile strength, tear resistance, and durability, on par with animal leathers. These materials offer fashion brands a way to align with eco-friendly and ethical practices, reducing the need for traditional leather production.

6. PersiSKIN: Leather made from persimmon peels

Founded in 2021, PersiSKIN has its roots in the Science Park of the University of Valencia, Spain, where its multidisciplinary team conducts research and development to create innovative vegan leather solutions. With expertise in research, design, chemical engineering, and agronomy, PersiSKIN aims to provide sustainable alternatives to animal and synthetic leathers, offering an environmentally conscious approach to leather production.

Persimmon as a leather alternative

Located in the heart of the persimmon production center in the Valencian Community, PersiSKIN leverages the abundance of this fruit as the primary raw material for their innovative leather alternative. Their plant-based leather is a game-changer in the fashion and materials industry, taking advantage of 100% of persimmon crops, which had previously seen significant wastage. PersiSKIN's innovative vegan leather contributes to a circular economy by utilizing surplus persimmon crops. Their process minimizes environmental impact, reduces waste, and promotes sustainable practices.

7. Gozen Bioworks: premium leather substitute

Gozen Bioworks is a biomaterial company based in Turkey, founded by Pelin Gözen, Kadir Eren, and Ece Gözen. The company has gained recognition for its work in creating bio-based animal-free leather. Their latest product, Xylozen™, stands out as a soft bio-based leather. It is thin, strong, and soft, so that it can be a viable replacement for traditional leather, even in luxury tiers.

Xylozen™ as a premium leather substitute

Xylozen™ stands out due to its thinness, strength, and softness. These qualities collectively eliminate the limitations that have constrained traditional leather. Gozen Bioworks' leather is entirely animal-free, aligning with the growing consumer demand for sustainable alternatives in the leather industry. A key breakthrough in their technology is the scalability of their bioproduction process. While competitors are working on developing systems to distribute nutrients efficiently, Gozen Bioworks has already designed its leather with scalability in mind.

Final thoughts

The rise of truly eco-friendly alternative leather brands is refreshing to see. Hitherto, the problem with alt leather was finding a delicate balance between sustainability and durability. Earlier alternatives often struggled to match the durability of traditional bovine leather, potentially leading to shorter product lifespans and a higher overall environmental impact.

To address the durability challenge, some plant-based leather products incorporate a polyurethane (PU) coating to enhance strength, which can raise concerns about biodegradability and reliance on petrochemicals.

However, with the new wave of fully-circular leather alternatives, there is growing optimism that these challenges can be overcome. Companies are actively working to develop innovative solutions that combine traditional leather's durability with plant-based materials' sustainability.