How The Latest Advancement in Vegan Leather is Made

By Megan Dawson-Elli, Business Development Manager, THR3EFOLD

Spend anytime in NYC (our home) and you’ll quickly notice our obsession with leather. The benefit of leather products is that they look and feel amazing while lasting for years. Not to mention they’re warm and badass. These stylish pieces are not without their controversy though. Vegans are looking for animal free options while environmentalists recognize the harsh effects that tanning has on our planet. But textile science is finally catching up to demand and there is a whole new vegan leather on the market that is making waves. Here is how it’s made.

Introducing Zoa: The Biofabricated Leather
Modern Meadow is a company taking your favorite fabric and making it in a way that is animal-friendly. That is, growing leather using living cells and biofabrication. Their team starts by growing the protein collagen found in animals and through these 8 steps they create their leather material.

The Process of Making Vegan Leather
1 | DNA molecules
Let’s start at the cell level. If you’re going to recreate leather, the source is a pretty good place to start don’t you think?

2 | Edit DNA base pairs
Not a type of speaker. The base pairs are manipulated to create the right amount and type of collagen.

3 | Placement and multiplication
No need to review your times tables. The scientists put the DNA into the cells and let them multiply. Like bunnies.

4 | Protein collagen
These millions of cells create collagen, an essential part of creating leather.

5 | Triple helix structure
The formation of this structure leads to nanofibers.

6 | Fiber networks
Nanofibers get to create fibers.

7 | Material creation
Modern Meadows forms their unique material from the fibers and a secret element!

8 | The finishing touch
Using a responsible process, the leather is tanned and finished. Modern Meadows uses a process that uses less energy, chemicals, and water.

To learn more about Modern Meadows and their animal free leather, check out their website. At THR3EFOLD, we hope that technology will continue to help the fashion industry reduce its negative impact on our planet! Have fabric liability you're looking to sell? Sign up for Deadstock District and become an inaugural member today.