Better Leather: Sourcing Sustainable and Ethical Materials in the Fashion Industry
B Corp MODHER Creates Timeless Products with Positive Impact in Mind
The world of fashion — so focused on creating beautiful, innovative pieces — has been startlingly ugly in its global impact:
- About 10% of global carbon emissions and 20% of wastewater production can be traced back to the fashion industry.
- Consumers are buying more fashion items every year, yet they’re holding onto these pieces for significantly less time. Much of this cultural shift can be attributed to the intensified manufacturing of “fast-fashion” pieces that aren’t made to last.
- Many garment workers in the fashion industry are treated unfairly and face dangerous conditions, as exemplified by the Dhaka garment factory collapse in 2013.
When we founded MODHER, we knew that the world didn’t need more fashion pieces; we have more than enough, many of which are piled into our landfills. What the world did need, in our view, was better options, better leaders, and better examples of how to exist within the fashion industry ethically.
At MODHER, we meticulously craft small-batch leather and alternative-leather products. As a Certified B Corporation, we deeply consider the environmental and social impact of every choice we make and every material we use. We do all of this with the hope that other companies will follow suit, and that we will be part of a sea change in consumerism toward shopping and clothing ourselves with our values in mind.
Designing for the Long Haul
Planned obsolescence is alive and well within fashion, and for good reason. The sooner a customer ditches their current wardrobe, the sooner they will have to purchase replacements — all to the benefit of fast-fashion companies and to the detriment of … well, everybody else. We began our journey at MODHER with an uncompromising eye toward longevity.
Our founder Gianna Caravello grew up in Italy, surrounded by timeless beauty. Everything from the buildings to the textiles was built to last for generations. Italian items were old, and in their age, they carried stories and history that made them truly special and unique. That reverence for timeless beauty stood in stark contrast to the rapid transition to mindless consumerism Gianna saw throughout the world.
Gianna’s Italian, built-to-last sensibilities form the basis of every new MODHER product line. Our products are designed from durable materials, and they’re made to be worn for many seasons and occasions. When we sell a leather handbag, we imagine the purchaser wearing it for life — even passing it from generation to generation.
Longevity is rule №1 for us. Without it, the rest of our decisions matter much less.
Sourcing Without Compromise
Sourcing materials that represent our values has required effort — tons of it. The vast majority of options available to us are harmful to the environment or workers or both. But our willingness to put the time and the work into finding better materials has uncovered beautiful enclaves of brilliant producers and skilled craftspeople who we truly couldn’t function without. These people bring us hope for the future, and they make us believe in ourselves and our work.
MODHER started with dreams of leather because of how luxurious, versatile, and long-lasting it is. But we knew that much of the leather used in mainstream fashion came from resource-intensive livestock farms that were environmentally destructive and responsible for widespread deforestation. Moreover, most leather-tanning practices were energy- and water-intensive, and working conditions in these factories tended to be dangerous.
So we set out to find better leather. We were excited to discover vegetable tanning, an artisan tradition that the Tuscan tanneries in Italy have handed down for centuries, mixing antique recipes and state-of-the-art technology. This traditional process is based on the use of natural tannins: substances that can be found in many species of trees and vegetables. Natural tannin extracts make vegetable-tanned leather unique and easily distinguishable.
Today, more than two-thirds of our products are made from Certified Vegetable-Tanned Leather, which follow a production cycle that is strictly monitored to ensure a low impact on the environment:
- No animal is killed for its skin. The raw hides used by our tanneries are 100% discarded byproducts of the food industry.
- Tanned with natural tannins, a vegetable-tanned leather object can be easily disposed of at the end of its life, thanks to its chemical-biological characteristics.
- Tanneries in the Tuscany leather district have invested in depuration systems and waste recycling that help them work in full respect of people and the environment. Waste water goes into the recycling system so, today, 60% of the water used in the process is constantly reused. Moreover, today the Tuscany consortium is able to produce about 100 cubic meters/day of refined water from the depuration of domestic waters to re-input into the tannery process.
- The Italian tanneries, in accordance with LCA methodology (ISO 14040 and ISO 14044), recover and recycle their waste to produce fertilizers, construction materials, regenerated leathers and re-input chemicals, which are constantly reused in the process.
- By using cowhides from livestock located in Italy and Europe instead of from South America, and by using small-medium trucks to transport the raw materials locally, our CO2 emissions are 86% less than they would be if we used lower-cost raw hides from overseas.
This beautiful, sustainable leather is crafted into MODHER handbags by our partners at a small, family-owned Atelier in Scandicci, Italy’s capital for the production of high-quality leather accessories. Before finalizing our partnership with this Atelier, we were able to visit the workshop. We saw that the owner not only had the proper equipment for crafting beautiful bags, but he was also taking measures to ensure the safety of his workforce.
Each of our vegetable-tanned leather bags is handmade, buttery-soft, and tells a story we know our customers will be proud to pass on.
Innovating and Iterating
Part of our dream to lead the fashion industry into a brighter future requires us to learn, grow, and innovate. While we are so proud of the attention we’ve paid to every detail of our products thus far, there is always more to learn. There will always be opportunities to do better.
We make room for experimentation in our work, which forces us to consider new possibilities and ways to mindfully grow. One of our most recent opportunities for growth has taken place in the form of a vegan leather handbag.
We know that people of all kinds, and from all backgrounds, are looking for fashionable pieces that they can feel good about wearing. Crafting a piece that speaks to folks who would prefer not to purchase hide-based leather was a worthy endeavor for us, but only if we could do it right. Most vegan leather pieces on the market today are made from plastics or contain plastics, and their full lifecycles — from creation to retirement — are harmful to the environment. We weren’t ready to delve into the leather-alternative space until we learned about a new plastic-free, plant-based material creating buzz in the world of sustainable fashion.
MIRUM® is a high-performance plant-based material that mimics leather without relying on plastic. MIRUM® is made from natural rubber, minerals, and other natural fibers, and the material is versatile enough to adapt to different projects. We saw others in our industry — Bellroy, Allbirds, and Woolly, to name a few — testing products with this new U.S.-manufactured material.
Our first vegan-leather handbag, made with MIRUM®, is now available on a made-to-order basis, and we look forward to learning how our customers respond to this new, innovative option.
The Details
Our products (and our business) are only conscientious as their smallest components. We believe fashion companies must be mindful of their impact on a macro as well as a micro level — we must think as thoroughly about the snaps, tags, and packaging as we do about the more substantially used materials.
MODHER has been selective about the materials used in various parts of our bags, such as one of our linings. After assessing the possibility of recycled-plastic materials — which often were only 30% composed of recycled materials — we instead selected suede leather. This material is biodegradable, a leather-production byproduct, and certified by the Leather Working Group, ICEC, UNI, and ISO 14101.
How we package our products is nearly as important to us as how we produce them. Therefore, we’re very careful to avoid redundant, excessive packaging materials.
Our product gift boxes are made with recycled cardboard and 100% recycled, post-consumer, and chlorine-free paper, which is FSC certified and GMO-free, produced with 100% green energy. Our branded dust bags are made with organic cotton and flannel, and they’re handmade at small, family-owned factories in Tuscany.
Even our brand tags have been meticulously considered. They’re made from 100% recycled T-shirt offcuts, which is a tree-free material that would normally be thrown away.
Furthermore, we rely on the Quality Assurance International laboratory to conduct mechanical, physical and chemical tests to guarantee the sustainability, safety and quality of our materials, which are certified against the presence of heavy metals, such as nickel, chrome and lead. We were proudly able to meet the REACH and the California Prop. 65 requirements.
We’ve always known that we could only feel good about producing our products if we had done our very best to source the most incredible, ethical, and sustainable materials available. The research and effort we’ve put into this process means that every part of our handbags is created and included with thought, intention, and an amazing story. We hope to eventually be just one of thousands of fashion brands putting this type of intention and consideration into their processes and products — for a better world, and for a deeper love of the stories behind the fashionable pieces we all purchase.
B The Change gathers and shares the voices from within the movement of people using business as a force for good and the community of Certified B Corporations. The opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the nonprofit B Lab.
