Bio-Tex, the vegan and more sustainable alter-leather from the biofabrication company Modern Meadow is now used in bags from two American brands, Senreve and Everlane.

By Ludmilla Intravaia

Growing fashion materials in the laboratory is now possible by biofabrication, from living cells (more info in this Boudoir Numérique article). And this is the mission chosen by Modern Meadow, an American company founded in 2011 to design alternatives to petro-sourced and animal-based materials. In 2017, Modern Meadow produced the liquid leather Zoa, by fermentation of collagen, a fibrous protein responsible for the cohesion of tissues, their resistance to stretching which is found in the body of humans and non-human animals, in particular their skin, from which leather is made. A cruelty-free leather with characteristics similar, therefore, to those of traditional leather, resulting from the exploitation of animals by fashion.

This Zoa leather, which could be 3D-printed, was the subject of a prototype T-shirt exhibited at MoMA, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the same year. This T-shirt had no seams, as the cotton panels were joined by the Zoa technology liquid leather. From these experiments on Zoa was born the patented Bio-Alloy technology allowing the development of innovative materials based on a combination of proteins and bio-based polymers, “for those looking to go animal-free and reduce the usage of virgin plastic“, can one read on Modern Meadow’s website.

In order to accelerate the adoption of its more sustainable and cruelty-free biofabricated materials in the leather goods, footwear, interiors, transport and apparel markets, Modern Meadow joined forces, in October 2021, with to the Italian textile company Limonta. BioFabbrica is the name of this partnership, the fruit of which is the Bio-Tex range of vegan and plant-based materials. Modern Meadow was counting on putting Bio-Tex on the market at the beginning of this year 2022. It is now done with two American brands.

The first one is Senreve, a leather goods brand using animal-based leather but also vegan leather alternatives such as the cactus material Desserto by Adriano Di Marti. On March 8, Senreve released, in pre-order, bags made of Vegan Terra material, in collaboration with Modern Meadow's Bio-Tex project.

And on March 30, Modern Meadow announced its collaboration with the fashion brand Everlane to revisit its classic Day Market tote bag in a vegan Bio-Tex version. The prototype of this New Day Market Tote bag, in chocolate color, is available, on waiting list, for September 17th. An initiative that complements Everlane's innovative, vegan and more sustainable leather goods offer, as the brand also offers Desserto cactus alter-leather bags.

* Learn more about innovative vegan and cruelty-free fashion and beauty, by exploring the Boudoir Numérique special file there.