Fashion

Sustainable Leather Goods Will Soon Be Grown

by Melanie Richtman

Great news for the cows. According to The Cut, it is now possible to grow a leather handbag in a lab, thanks to the new technology presented at the Conde Nast Luxury Conference. Sophie Hackford, the director of WIRED Consulting, discussed the possibility of creating sustainable fabrics, showcasing the work of Modern Meadow, a company that is literally growing leather in a lab, making it possible to not have to kill a cow for a handbag.

The technology is profoundly simple, and also incredibly complicated for those of us without a PhD in biology, but I'll try to simplify. You can take a biopsy from a cow, replicate those cells, and literally create a perfect piece of leather. Since you are creating the leather, you can assure that it is flawless, free of hair, scars or defects of any kind—not to mention almost eliminating waste, since you can grow exactly what you need.

Hackford went on to explain that you could grow the leather around a 3D object, creating seamless bags and other products. And while authenticity might be a large concern in the luxury sphere, Hackford points out that the legitimacy of these goods would be incredibly difficult to fake or counterfeit, since it is such a highly technical process. It only seems like a matter of time before a leather-free designer teams up with Modern Meadow to add a sustainable edge to their collection.