This vegan leather by Uncaged Innovations mimics the conventional material

Sustainable design and environmentally conscious practices sit conspicuously in the offing for the sphere of design. Material innovation, specifically the development of biomaterials, is experiencing a sharp surge. For years, sustainable alternatives to leather have been amongst the most sought, owing to its massive carbon footprint and the undeniable damage it inflicts on the environment. The ever-increasing vegan leather alternatives have been derived from bizarre sources such as mycelium, algae, pineapple plant and even fruit waste such as banana peels. Despite exemplary efforts by product designers and researchers towards achieving a replacement of a largely coveted material, the attempts have fallen short of the industry’s needs. The question remains: how can authentic leather-like characteristics be replicated in a sustainable substitute?

Founded in 2020 by sustainability expert, entrepreneur, and vegan Stephanie Downs, New York-based company Uncaged Innovations concocts sustainable materials that can replace conventional leather without compromising its valued attributes. The company is on a journey of constant innovation to create cruelty-free and more eco-friendly materials that may serve markets such as home goods, automobile design, and fashion design. “I wanted to build a company that worked to improve animal welfare because, through the work that I’d done helping animal welfare groups, I’d seen that there was tremendous demand in fashion and automotive for sustainable leather alternatives,” says Stephanie Downs, CEO and co-founder of Uncaged Innovations.

The reliance on a single source is a common thread that ties the existing leather alternatives in the market together. The startup realised that no one plant or sustainable source ticks all the boxes of essentials in vegan leather. “The innovations that were available in the market had issues such as not being able to scale quickly, having high plastic content, or they were simply too expensive. Existing innovations were not hitting the mark of what fashion brands needed,” explains Downs. Addressing this inadequacy, researchers at Uncaged Innovations resorted to blending multiple biomaterials to bring about realistic results. The objective was to preserve the unique qualities of leather—strength, stretch, flexibility, smell, and distinctive hand feel—while safeguarding the tenets of sustainability.

The biomaterials company harnesses the power of technology in collaboration with nature to mimic the quality and durability of leather. What started as countless experiments with numerous plant materials and combinations culminated in a formula of material networks that mirror leather without losing its essence. The experimentation undertakes thorough testing for factors like strength and elasticity with components including extracts from corn and wheat, natural rubber, coffee, flowers, and even rocks.

An important observation addressed in the product design is the variation of leather from one industry to the other. An outfit made of leather should feel different from a car seat made of leather. The different concoctions of plant materials provide the company a leeway to customise and make a wide range of variations. “As a company passionate about sustainability and animal welfare, we strive to create leather alternatives as a way to remove animals from the supply chain. We also believe that our products have a positive impact on the environment as our materials are toxin-free, biodegradable, and recyclable,” shares Down.

In most cases, vegan leather is made from plastic, which does not fulfil its promises of sustainability. The biomaterial by Uncaged Innovations rejects plastic entirely by employing small quantities of plant-based polyurethane or other plant-based plastics to enhance material performance. In conjunction with being free from animal products, the bioleather produces significantly lower carbon emissions and saves large quantities of water in the process as opposed to traditional leather. When the material wears down, it can be recycled into the second generation of bioleather—an initiative contributing towards a circular economy. “As an innovation company, we always have new developments in the works, but the focus now is working with existing and new partners to bring our materials to market in their designs,” says Downs.

The crusade by Uncaged Innovations is fueled by the need to reimagine and is driven by a single motive: producing an industry-friendly, vegan, and suitable alternative to conventional leather. Helmed by Stephanie Downs and co-founder and CTO Xiaokun Wang, the company strives for innovation with a purpose. In a time when environmentally conscious solutions are vital, the biomaterials company catalyses this exploration by ‘uncaging’ their perceptions and imagination—envisioning a future where next-generation materials entirely oust animal leather.