There are so many fashion brands on the market making gorgeous vegan leather goods that are totally animal-free — but most of those brands use plastic-derived materials to achieve the look. However, a new brand out of Mexico, called Desserto, is shaking things up by turning nopal cactus leaves into organic, all-natural, cruelty-free leather.
Desserto is the first cactus-based leather on the market, and the material has the potential to make the vegan leather industry much more sustainable. As explained by Fashion United, the two innovators behind the brand were intrigued by the nopal cactus, because it grows in abundance throughout Mexico and does not require any water to grow.
They spent the past two years doing research and development and finally figured out how to turn nopal cactus leaves into the perfect cactus-based leather. Purses and wallets have been made out of the material thus far, but the brand doesn’t plan to make products with the leather. Rather, it is selling the cactus-based fabric to designers and fashion brands, so it becomes more mainstream.
