Beyond the traditional vegan leather made of PVC or polyurethane, more and more brands are partnering with different companies to develop alternatives based on mushrooms, cactus or pineapple peel.
Mexicans Adrián López Velarde and Marte Cázarez Duarte created an alternative to animal skins by transforming nopal cactus into a bio-material called Desserto in 2019. This has become one of the preferred materials for fashion brands seeking to offer more sustainable products around the world. Now, they are innovating again with the creation of the first vegan leather made from agave.
This new material is not only an alternative to animal skin but is charting a path of sustainability for the tequila industry. Since the pair started Desserto, they haven’t stopped in their development and research efforts and they realized that there are other fibers in Mexico that can give us the same raw material, or even better.
The tequila industry, despite being one of the most important in Mexico, is one that leaves a lot of waste throughout the process, such as leaves and bagasse, so they saw an opportunity to investigate how to develop it.
The tequila industry in Jalisco is not only a cultural flagship but also has a strong economic impact. National Tequila agave production in 2020 was 1,519,000 tonnes, of which 74.3 percent came from Jalisco, and generated an estimated 24.65 billion pesos in revenue for the state. However, just as the industry has continued to generate revenue and continue to grow internationally, it has also increased its level of waste and its impact on the environment.
It was precisely this impact that caught the attention of Desserto's founders, who had their sights set on agave for several years to apply their technology. In Mexico, approximately 360,000 tonnes of bagasse are generated each year. This is normally given away or sold to brick kilns where they burn it and use it as a source of cheap fuel that generates a great impact on air pollution and ash, so it’s not sustainable.
The pair saw an opportunity where they could unite the tequila industry with the fashion industry in a sustainable way. This is how Desserto Agave Limited Edition was born. This new bio-material allows the tequila and agave production chain to expand and reach the fashion industry, innovating the way it is produced and contributing to the creation of eco-conscious products, which are also Standard 100 certified by OEKO-TEX® for their dyes.
Turning Tequila Waste into Textiles
Unlike its flagship product, Desserto, where the company grows the nopal cactus to use it as an alternative material to the skin, for Desserto Agave the company does not grow the plant, but collects the agave waste from the tequila factories and then processes it.
For this first production, they processed 12 tonnes of bagasse, which generated 1 tonne of raw material already processed to be used in the material, giving a yield of approximately 8000 meters. And although that sounds like a lot, there is a lot more where that came from. Adrian shares that for every liter of tequila, around 7 kg of bagasse is generated.
Turning the remains of tequila production into a new textile increases the life of the agave plant, which spends 6-7 years in the field before it can be harvested. Once cut, it is processed into tequila, but the fiber is not required, so it becomes waste. Now, this waste has a new life as it is collected and processed again to become Desserto Agave.
The new material, Desserto Agave, has the capacity to offer the same uses as cactus skin, such as bags, wallets and accessories, among many others. One of its differences is that this new proposal is softer to the touch. In addition, it has up to 89 per cent biological content. In addition, Marte adds that the smell is also a little different. Unlike cactus skin, which has a sweeter, biscuit-like aroma, agave skin smells more of nature, of earth, of something older.