New Vegan Leather Material Debuts at Milan Fashion Week
Lenzing Group and Natural Fiber Welding have collaborated to create a sustainable, animal-free leather material that is free from plastic and fully traceable from material to finished product.
Credit: Lenzing Group
Austrian textile company Lenzing Group has showcased its sustainable wood pulp fibers at Milan Fashion Week in collaboration with Natural Fiber Welding (NFW), a US-based material science company that has provided natural materials to brands such as allbirds, H&M and Camper.
The collaboration sees Lenzing’s sustainable fibers, branded ‘Tencel’, used as a backing option for NFW’s plant-based leather, known as ‘Mirum’. The final result is an all-natural, biodegradable luxury animal-leather alternative that can be used to create accessories, fashion, and footwear.
The Mirum x Tencel collaboration debuted during Milan Fashion Week’s international leather fair, Lineapelle, showcasing an animal-free alternative to a material that has typically been made from real skins.
“This partnership is a perfect example of how the combination of our sustainable Tencel fibers and innovative materials like Mirum can go beyond traditional textiles,” said Birgit Schnetzlinger, Head of Business Development Functional Wear and Footwear, Global Textiles Business at Lenzing AG. “With innovation at heart, there are infinite possibilities for application of the new material. Tencel fibers used as backer not only increase the level of transparency and traceability of Mirum, but also enhance comfort – and with a very low carbon footprint.
“We are confident that the versatile material will be loved by supply chain partners and brands across footwear, fashion apparel, accessories, furniture, and even automotive industries.”
Plants Not Plastic
Allbirds plant pacers made with Mirum and Tencel. Credit: Allbirds
Mirum is a 100 percent plastic free, vegan material made from natural rubber, plant and mineral pigments, plant-based oils and waxes, and a fabric backing, such as Tencel. To develop and add color to the textile, NFW uses natural ingredients like biobased charcoal, clay, cork powder, rice hulls, coconut fibers, recycled denim or seaweed. And rather than using PU (polyurethane) binders like many other leather alternatives, Mirum uses natural rubber and plant oils. Due to the biobased ingredients, products created with Mirum can be recycled into new Mirum products or ground up and returned to the earth.
Derived from sustainable wood sources using environmentally responsible processes, Tencel fibers are equally as conscious of their climate impact. The fibers are also completely traceable at any stage of production including the finished product, through Lenzing’s Fiber Identification technology, contributing to a transparent production process.
“At NFW, we believe that plant matter is the only material that can scale to replace plastic,” said Oihana Elizalde, Vice President and General Manager of Mirum at NFW. “Since its inception, Mirum has been engineered to benefit our planet. By adding fabrics made of Tencel to Mirum, we can enhance material transparency and traceability, while guaranteeing comfort and great hand feel on the skin.
“We are thrilled to join hands with the Tencel brand and we will continue creating greener alternatives for the fashion industry.One of the best examples of the collaboration is the Allbirds plant pacer which just released last fall and features Mirum with Tencel backing,” she added.
Next-gen materials like Mirum are high-performance, animal-free, and more sustainable for fashion, automotive, and home goods. Listen to the Species Unite podcast episode with experts from the Material Innovation Initiative (MII) to learn more about this rapidly expanding industry.
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