Is Cultivated Exotic Leather the Future of the Fashion Industry?
By growing real animal skin from cells, ProjectEx is offering a promising solution that could meet the demand for exotic leather, while saving millions of snakes, alligators, crocodiles, and other reptiles.
Singapore-based cultivated leather startup ProjectEx is reimagining the exotic leather industry to provide designers and consumers alike with the striking patterns of python crocodiles, without the need to slaughter millions of animals each year.
Launched by biomedical engineer Dr. Viknish Krishnan-Kutty, CEO of Cellivate Technologies, and Adrian Fürstenburg, an award-winning South African Designer, ProjectEx will combine its biotechnology and synthetic biology expertise to grow its alternative skin material that aims to fill the gap in the market of cruelty-free exotic leather.
The company has announced a $1 million pre-seed fundraising round to assemble a core group of professionals and create its first pieces of exotic leather made from cultivated animal skin within 18-24 months.
The company’s first product will probably be watch straps for luxury horology brands and, afterward, the world’s first handbag made out of lab-grown exotic leather, ProjectEx told Vogue Singapore.
“As a designer, it’s my responsibility to look at more sustainable and beautiful materials for my clients. This is how ProjectEx started. I’ve noticed a gap in the luxury market where we’ve been dependent on animals such as crocodiles, alligators and ostriches because they produce beautiful patterns. But there’s been nothing to replace that yet,” Fürstenburg explained to Vogue Singapore.
“ProjectEx is basically giving the high-net-worth individual a brand-new material that has the same properties as exotic leather goods such as the pattern, finish and shine. We don’t want to takeaway from the properties that the animal kingdom has given us and thanks to technology, we don’t have to harm animals in the process.”
Crocodile leather belts. Credit: Amy Jones/Moving Animals
‘To create magic’
ProjectEx is in discussions with prominent luxury brands belonging to LVMH, Kering, and Richemont groups.
The company’s advisory board consists of Albert Koh, an industry expert from the Koh family, who previously sold Heng Long tannery to LVMH, and Stanislas de Quercize, former global CEO of Cartier and current board member of the luxury brand Christian Louboutin.
ProjectEx was recently awarded the Vogue Singapore Innovation Prize, which seeks to support local talent, overcome obstacles to innovative education, and uplift the ASEAN fashion industry.
“The way I look at it, ProjectEx is a steam engine compared to a horse carriage. We are able to create leather for the luxury industry from cell up and not the other way around,” Krishnan-Kutty told Vogue Singapore. “This is no longer going to be limited by the animal but rather, is going to be up to the designer’s imagination. Imagine a car seat made entirely from lizard leather.
“This is very exciting for us because it’s a realm where both fashion and science can come together in a synergistic way to create magic.”
Luxury without cruelty
The animal abuse inherent in the exotic skins industry has been well-documented over the years, leading to some luxury brands such as Burberry, Chanel, Hugo Boss and Paul Smith, shunning crocodile, alligator and python skin from their collections.
However, despite the growing awareness surrounding the industry’s animal slaughter and greenhouse emissions, many high-end fashion brands including Hermès, Louis Vuitton, Gucci, and Prada, are only doubling down on their use of exotic skins.
Credit: Amy Jones/Moving Animals
By growing real animal skin from cells, ProjectEx is offering a promising solution that could meet the demand for exotic leather, while paving the way for a kinder, more sustainable future.
“At ProjectEx, our goal is to change the way luxury products are produced and starting with that, have an impact on the rest of the notoriously wasteful fashion industry,” Dr. Krishan-Kutty said in a statement. “Our vision is to create luxury without cruelty, and by using our technology, we know that this is possible.”
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