Chances are, you’ve heard of vegan leather. You’ve probably even heard of mushroom leather, but what about apple leather?
A byproduct of the apple juice industry, apple leather is made from repurposing the cores and skins that aren’t needed to make juice. The remnants are transformed into a pulp, which is then mixed with organic solvents and polyurethane to create a leather-like piece of fabric.
Leather alternatives have been growing in popularity, as an increasing number of brands—and consumers—want to avoid animal byproducts. But vegan, synthetic leather comes with its own set of problems, as it’s made from 100% polyurethane, requires fossil fuels, and is harmful for the planet. Apple leather, on the other hand, only requires 40-50% plastic, and can even help reduce greenhouse gas emissions from food waste.
Apple leather is particularly well suited for bags and shoes because the material is naturally thick. Meanwhile, mushroom leather, which has seen a surge in recent years, can vary in weight depending on how it’s grown. Mushrooms are quickly regenerative, which makes the raw material more immediately available than apple byproducts, but it provides a slightly different texture that not all designers prefer.
Sourcing the apple byproducts is major a challenge for designers working in this space, particularly since much of it has to come from Europe, where the recycling infrastructure is better equipped to handle food waste. “Right now, if we have a large order in production for 4,000 bags, it’s almost impossible to get the raw materials,” says Visram. “That’s the largest roadblock, and something the fashion industry will have to figure out in the next five years, because we should be able to mass produce things when needed.” Manufacturing is also a challenge, as factories can only handle a certain number of production runs and there are less dye options readily available.
These limitations mean that, for now at least, products made from apple leather are often more expensive than those without. Visram says Samara’s apple leather bags are 20-30% more expensive to produce than its vegan bags. (From a consumer price point, the apple leather bags cost twice as much.)
And even then, it can be difficult to get customers on board. “The real test of true scalability is whether the product feels familiar to the customer. If the apple leather doesn’t feel real, then most of consumers are going to have a hard time adopting that material and embracing it,” says Kubley.
Visram says customers have connected with Samara bags because of their unique backstory. The bags were previously sold in a San Francisco boutique, where people would often ask questions about the apple leather products. “People would come in just to ask, ‘Can we bite it? How is it made of apples?’ It’s a cool talking point,” says Visram.
Dworkin, meanwhile, says her shoes continue to sell out, and they’ve outperformed any other vegan materials she’s used. She credits the material’s success to its ability to mimic real leather.
“The shoes need to look visually identical to leather shoes,” says Dworkin. “How do we get the vegan curious or non-vegan mainstream interested? It has to be about an emotional connection to the design. If you want to change how people shop, you have to offer them things they love.”