INNOVATORS
OVERVIEW
The Material Innovation Initiative works with entrepreneurs, scientists, and material companies to develop sustainable and animal-free alternatives to leather, silk, wool, down, fur, and exotic skins. Our landscapes below provide an overview of companies producing animal-free alternatives of these six materials. These landscapes are not intended to be a comprehensive view of market developments. A number of companies and entrepreneurs have asked to remain confidential.
Each company is categorized by the main technology used to manufacture their material; mechanical/chemical, mycelial growth, microbial cultivation, precision fermentation, and cell cultivation. Not every technology is appropriate for every material type. Silk alternatives, for example, are unlikely to be made with mycelium, because precision fermentation allows for a far better product. For more on how we define these technologies and on our selection process, please see the link below.
Leather Alternatives
MECHANICAL/CHEMICAL
Articor Cork Products
BarkTex
Gunas New York: Mulbtex
Nuuwai: AppleSkin
Nuvi Nomad: Nuvi Releaf
Ono Collaborations
Pretty Simple
Seringueira
STV: Palmleather
MYCELIAL GROWTH
PRECISION
FERMENTATION
Provenance Bio
CELL CULTIVATION
Qorium