There are more and more new materials appearing on the fashion, design and upholstery for transport and interiors markets, with the stated ambition of replacing leather as the material of choice. This is usually on the basis of claimed improvements in sustainability, which are rarely, if ever, substantiated.
While the quest for greater sustainability is a necessary one, the presentation of leather, a long-lasting biodegradable material made from a renewable residual product of another industry, as unsustainable, is unwarranted and unsupported. Particularly when juxtaposed against emerging materials that are largely comprised of fossil fuel-based plastics.
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