Beyond the traditional 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. At the moment, the fashion sector is scouring for innovative and above all eco-responsible materials. Fish skins, fruit, cork, recycled fibers: the industry is not rejecting any source to replace cotton, leather, or oil. In this race against pollution, the Californian company Allbirds has taken a big step forward. Dedicated to producing the most sustainable footwear, Allbirds is a certified B Corporation brand. Founded in 2016 by Tim Brown, former captain of the New Zealand football team, and Joey Zwillinger, cleantech entrepreneur, engineer, and renewable energy expert, the sneaker brand launched its first collection based on stylish models that harnessed creativity, performance, and ecology. The company uses 100% renewable energy for all its owned and operated facilities, as well as 100% renewable energy for its finished goods manufacturers.
Allbirds “Plant Leather” In February of 2021, Allbirds announced that it was investing $2 million in US-based Natural Fiber Welding, proving once again that the brand is genuinely putting its green ambitions into practice, basing its core business around reformatting natural polymers. The company uses finished materials that don’t use synthetic binders or textures with complex constructions, by developing technologies based on natural plants and fibers. The absence of polyurethane coatings stands out in an industry that often layers plastic over its Mirum fiber is made from natural and biodegradable polymers, and its finished materials are never coated with polyurethane and use no synthetic binders, and Mirum is synonymous with 100% natural inputs and zero plastic use. The material uses a blend of virgin and recycled plant matter. The aim of this investment is to provide the fashion industry with the world's most sustainable alternative to leather. This alternative will be called Plant Leather, a natural plant material made from vegetable oil, natural rubber and other organic ingredients. It has 40 times less carbon impact than leather and 17 times less CO2 than synthetic leather made from plastic. The absence of polyurethane coatings stands out in an industry that often layers plastic over plant-based leather alternatives as a way of sealing and protecting them.
This partnership is a testament to the fact that, contrary to popular belief, climate-concerned companies can thrive by prioritizing collaboration over competition and accelerating demand for green technologies. The stakes are high: this is about making long-term progress towards the eradication of oil in the fashion industry. Plant-based leather can be molded to create different textured finishes. Several independent designers have experimented with plant-based leather substitutes that are made entirely without plastic, including Tjeerd Veenhoven's Palm Leather and Don Kwaning's Lino Leather, both of which were introduced as early as 2018. The latter even has a similar composition to NFW's Plant Leather, which consists of a mixture of linseed oil and cork powder applied to a fabric backing in the same process used to make linoleum flooring. Allbirds argues that its version is the first scalable and affordable one for mass production, as it is made from readily available materials such as vegetable oil and rubber.