Leather is typically viewed as a “premium” material where we usually see it used in high-end fashion like wallets and handbags. It has also been used to make accessories for phones, cars, and so on. However, while it does have a nice feel to it, the dark side to leather is that it typically involves the killing and skinning of animals.
The good news is that in the future, that may not necessarily have to be the case because thanks to Adrián López Velarde and Marte Cázarez, they have founded a company called Adriano Di Marti in which they process the cactus plant to create a new material that is said to be almost identical in terms of feel to actual leather.
This is good for the environment because not only does it help reduce the number of animals that are killed for the sake of fashion, but because cacti can be grown and does not require a lot of water, it is sustainable. The company will also be adopting the use of natural dyes to process the leather to further reduce its impact on the environment.
So far, the company has been able to use the cactus “leather” they’ve created to fabricate all kinds of products, like car seats, bags, and shoes, just to name a few.