Two men from Guadalajara, Mexico, have created the first vegetable alternative to leather made out of Mexican cactus.

Adrián López and Marte Cazárez carried out experiments for two years in order to create a sustainable and ethical alternative to leather which would guarantee resistance and breathability.

To find the right material, the two young men were inspired by similar efforts to create leather alternatives out of raw materials such as apple peels and pineapples.

The idea of ​​using the Mexican cactus came almost by chance: the two were reflecting on how this plant was widely used in cosmetics for the production of shampoos and creams, when they realized that if it’s good for the skin, why not use it to create a skin-like material?

“The cactus has many cosmetic properties: it’s used for shampoos, for creams … Then, we said: ‘If it’s good for the skin, why not create skin?’, And that’s how the idea was born at first,” said Marte Cazárez.

After several failures, the two young Mexicans managed to produce a material similar to leather in texture. It was inexpensive to produce and best of all it was vegan friendly. Now their fabric is ready to replace animal skin and synthetic imitation leather.

In addition to responding to the demand of consumers who do not intend to purchase items made with animal skin, the use of thi new plant tissue will also bring benefits to local cactus farmers.

Given the numerous advantages of this innovative fabric, we hope that this solution will be adopted soon by companies that produce leather goods.

Watch the video here:

Photo credit: El Heraldo