As we herald in a new year, 2026 AD - I am bereft of resolutions, reflections + rhetoric in this months' Field Notes. Instead, I want to share a story of materials with you.
Vegan leather. A misnomer, not because intentions weren't noble when adopting such a term - but because it is a broad term + it explains nothing of the ingredients or the process. At best, this confuses, at worst, it reinforces a commonly held view that 'vegans are hiding something, it's all just plastic'.
Well, on that -
There is nothing to hide - in my view - when it comes to non animal derived materials. I don't believe we should be professing perfection, simply an alternative based on ethics + environmental impact. There are synthetics involved in many options + increasingly there are plant ingredients involved in the makeup of an animal skin alternative.
The process for the materials we work + experiment with, is generally one of a coating - there is a recycled synthetic substrate (a base material) + a coating. The coating may be a polyurethane 'paint' or it may be a combination of plant ingredients (olive or apple waste for example) with PU. It then has a heat emboss on the surface for a smooth or a textured finish - reflective of the de-haired skin of an animal like an adult cow or calf. In the case of emulating animal fur, it could be completely made from plant fibre, such as Bio-Fluff's nettle derived fur.
Leather. Equally a broad term. Sure, it means de-fleshed, de-haired (mostly), chemically processed animal skins to prevent putrification - yet provenance + species of animal (cow, pig, calf, lamb, sheep, horse, snake...), farm, lifespan, slaughter process, tanning ingredients + human labour involved in all aspects of this, is opaque. I'd suggest purposely opaque.
Up to 90% of the worlds fashion leather is chrome tanned, providing consistent + colourfast tones. A PU coating is often sprayed on the surface, adding to water resistance, offering rich colour and/or variation in texture, such as a shiny patent. A heat emboss is often applied along the way to give the surface a consistent texture - this is necessary in particular for lower grade leathers. A colour coating along with this emboss tends to cover bite or whip marks the animal has experienced.
What is marketed as 'natural' is in fact a highly manipulated material that started as the skin of a sentient being.
Getting synthetics out of the leather alternative space is not easy - mainly due to the need for weather resistance (aka a coating), and of course, price always comes into the equation. There are some brilliant pioneers in the space like Uncaged Innovations + Alt.Leather who have succeeded in creating synthetic free, plant based leather alternatives + if this is your number one focus - ie no synthetics - I encourage you to look them up + see what brands are offering with their materials.
I have much admiration for the founders + teams behind these materials, and hopefully in time, can make it work to integrate them into our collection. Price + logistics DO come into it though - and for now, our bags in Mabel's Uppeal™️ appleskin, and Oleatex's olive derived / corn + soy bio PU, make up our partially bio-derived collection.
Materials are complex + they ALL have an impact on the planet. We choose to create bags from materials that do not come from animals because we don't want to knowingly contribute to the mass exploitation of animals on the planet, plus, and here's the kicker for the naysayers - even a PU coated fabric has a lower environmental impact than animal leather.
Marketing is clever + money is powerful. The animal leather elements of the fashion industry (footwear, handbags + clothing) are valued around AU$500 billion + projected to get to $700-800 billion in the next few years.
This size of business does not give up their legacy materials easily, irrespective of the ethical + environmental imperatives. It's my hope that we all become more curious, discerning + engaged with the world around us along with the information being served to us daily.
As always, thanks for being here. Wishing you all the good things in 2026.
Cathryn 💋