Mango "Leather"

.

We're all aware that food waste is a problem. However here are some numbers to drive home the magnitude of the issue...

Another food-related number that is hard to fathom is this one: 

1 billion animals are slaughtered each year for food.

One BILLION.  

Whilst the skins of some of these animals are used to make leather - "upcycling" them if you will - turning a raw hide into the leather used for our bags and shoes requires huge quantities of water and toxic chemicals. Like most things in the world, the impact is most brutal on poorer and less developed regions, both in terms of human health and environmental degradation.

At LUXTRA, it's our mission to drive positive change in the fashion industry both for the planet and for our fellow humans involved in the fashion supply chain. Our latest collection is made from an embossed mango "leather" - a vegan and highly sustainable material that is made in the Netherlands from discarded mangoes.

We purchase the material from a company called Fruit Leather Rotterdam. The founders Hugo and Koen hand make every sheet, transforming discarded fruit into durable, leather-like material. The guys put it best, saying: 

 

Fruitleather Rotterdam founders Koen Meerkerk & Hugo de Boon

.

So just how do you make material from mangoes? Well, a picture is worth 1000 words, so here is short explainer video (in Dutch, of course!):

And a video from the company themselves... 

...

 

And here is the end result:

 

 

.