1.5 material focus

After briefly experimenting with dried fruit skins, I realised how much I enjoy the tact and feel of the material. As the materials I produced were much like leather I decided to research some other alternatives to leather...

a quick google search...

A lot of the articles and sites featured in the most popular searches all revolve around "animal leather alternatives" and "cruelty-free". This is great, but I love steak. However in terms of sustainability I think alternatives are very exciting.

Here are a few good sites and what materials they feature for alternative leather...

https://www.dezeen.com/2020/10/16/leather-alternatives-vegan-materials-design/

1. Piñatex by Ananas Anam - pineapple

2. Tômtex by Uyen Tran - "waste coffee grounds and the biopolymer chitin, which is found in the exoskeleton of crustaceans and in this case is sourced from discarded seafood shells."

3. Palm leather by Tjeerd Veenhoven - areca palm (same process as pinatex)

4. Bio-leather by Shahar Livne - discarded animal fat bones and blood

5. Mylo by Bolt Threads - mushroom

6. Lino Leather by Don Kwaning - linoeum

https://1410design.com/5-leather-alternatives-made-out-of-food-waste/

1. Wine Leather - aka Vegea

2. Coconut Leather - by Malai etc

3. Pineapple Leather - aka Piñatex

4. Mushroom Leather - by MyCoWorks etc

5. Apple Leather - by The Apple Girl etc

http://www.refinedtravellers.com/6-cruelty-free-alternatives-leather/

1. cork

2. mushroom

3. kombuca

4. lab-grown

5. pineapple

6. wine

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29vGM7EghtA

pineapple leather process

interpreting leather

When imagining leather made from fruits and other natural materials, my mind instantly thinks of using the skin, like the authentic traditional way of skinning an animal for their leather and hide. This "authentic" version can be seen with my first orange and banana peel experiments.

...