luxury

a piece of cultured leather that looks like animal leather

© VitroLabs
Leather Alternatives

DiCaprio Backed VitroLabs Appoints Industry Figures to Bring World’s First Cultivated Leather to Market

VitroLabs, which raised $46 million in a Series A from high-profile investors including Kering and Leonardo DiCaprio this May, has appointed a notable Board of Directors as part of its mission to create luxurious next-gen leather from cells. The San Francisco-based startup says it has been officially manufacturing its cell-cultivated leather in its pilot plant and that its R&D team is working on advancing its proprietary tissue engineering processes to develop the next-gen leather that luxury brands seek for their products. Appointed to the Board of Directors this week are Anthony Chow, co-founder of Agronomics; and Martin Avetisyan, chief growth officer and member of the Executive Board at FARFETCH. Agronomics is a cellular agriculture investment group headed by billionaire philanthropist Jim Mellon, while FARFETCH is …

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NOIRANCA Brown Leather Handbag

©NOIRANCA
Non-Food

Introducing NOIRANCA: Vegan Luxury Handbags That Outperform Animal-Based Leather

As the world of vegan leather and biomaterials continues to expand and flourish, there is ongoing debate as to whether these fabrics truly compare to animal leather in quality and how they impact the environment.   NOIRANCA is a new handbag and accessories brand determined to settle this controversy by bringing unrivaled excellence and eco-transparency to vegan leather. Encouraging consumers to “buy less and enjoy longer”, the brand uses PETA-approved fabric to craft luxury handbags it says are 40% more durable than conventional leather.  Uniqueness and empowerment Launched in 2021, NOIRANCA (a combination of the words “noir” and “bianca”) first debuted a handbag line in five styles inspired by iconic and powerful women such as Deborah Harry, Alice Neel, Grace Jones and Patti Smith. The company’s …

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Louis Vuitton

©Louis Vuitton

Non-Food

Louis Vuitton Releases Sustainable Corn-Based Vegan Sneakers 

Luxury fashion house Louis Vuitton has entered the rapidly growing sustainable shoe market. With its new Charlie sneakers, the French brand is utilizing 90% recycled and bio-sourced materials, including Biopolioli – a corn-based plastic. Featuring a unisex design, Charlie is Louis Vuitton’s most eco-friendly sneaker offering to date; the laces are made from recycled fibers, the soles are composed of 94% recycled rubber, and the tongue is from Econyl – a renewable nylon fabric. Every pair of Charlie sneakers is produced in Louis Vuitton’s workshop in Fiesso d’Artico, Italy, and come in low and high-top versions.  Biopolioli is just one of the latest biomaterials to be changing the world of fashion as the concept of “luxury” seems to be changing in the face of the …

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