We hear more and more the term vegetable leather or even vegan leather. But what do these terms actually mean?
Adapta helps you see more clearly between all these material names.
To understand these different terms, it is of course important to understand what leather is. In France, the word leather is a term regulated by law and only animal skins can be called leather.
According to decree no. 2010-29 of January 8, 2010, implementing article L.214-1 of the consumer code to certain leather products and similar products:
"The use of the word "leather", as a principal word or as a root or as an adjective, whatever the language used, is prohibited in the designation of any material other than that obtained from animal skin by means of tanning or impregnation which preserves the natural shape of the skin fibres."
So here is the first confusion that is important to avoid. Leather is an animal waste, so it is semantically incorrect to call a plant material that. As we have just seen, it cannot be called that from a legal point of view either.
A second confusion can then arise. We sometimes hear talk of vegetable leather, which may therefore seem inconsistent given the definition previously given. However, it is indeed correct. Why?
The term vegetable leather does not refer to a final leather-like material that comes from a plant.
In fact, this nomination does indeed refer to genuine leather, but having undergone a vegetable tanning process. (More information on tanning in our article More than 3 years of activity: for what impact? (adapta-paris.fr) )
Over time, alternatives to leather have developed, mainly for cost reasons. These materials were intended to offer an appearance more or less close to real leather but at a much more affordable price. We mainly spoke of imitation leather or "skai".
These materials had gradually lost popularity, due to a connotation and image of poor quality products.
In recent years, these alternatives have come back to the forefront and have multiplied, in order to respond to new purchasing issues for certain consumers. Through the vegan movement for example, some people no longer wish to use materials of animal origin.
What we call vegan or other materials today is ultimately just the imitation leather of a few years ago. The names change, although the idea remains the same: to offer alternatives to leather.
The compositions of the materials are nevertheless different from the imitation leather that we have been able to know. More and more plant waste is now used to obtain materials that are visually close to real leather and it is generally possible to create them from anything. Here are some initiatives:
Mirum : a material combining agricultural waste such as coconut fiber, cork powder or soybean oil, produced by Natural Fiber Welding
Viridis : a material made from recycled corn seeds
Desserto : a material made from cactus leaves
A final question may then arise. Since these materials are truly vegan, are they less polluting? Well no, not necessarily. To obtain an appearance that is intended to be close to leather, many imitation leathers are in fact mainly composed of plastics. These final materials are obtained from petrochemicals, processes that have a real environmental impact. We therefore invite you to stay informed about the compositions of the different materials.
At Adapta, we pay attention to these different terms so that our customers are fully aware of our different materials. The term vegetable leather is used for leathers that have undergone a vegetable tanning process, and all this information is always given to you. We do not and will never use the term leather for any material that does not come from an animal, to highlight the know-how of the leather industry.
These vegetable tanned leathers are available on our website.
Finally, these new materials, such as leather, are being continuously improved thanks to extensive R&D. This is a step in the right direction to offer the highest quality alternative possible to people who do not wish to use materials derived from animals.
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