Pangaia and Natural Fiber Welding Launch First Ready-to-Wear Plant-Based Leather Vest
On Thursday, Pangaia and Natural Fiber Welding (NFW) launched the Air Gilet, an innovative and sustainable leather-like puffer vest made from organic cotton fleece and FLWRDWN filling. The exterior of the vest is made from a newly formulated, thin version of Mirum, NFW’s plant-based leather alternative, which is scalable and can be produced in millions of square feet per week.
The Air Gilet is the first ready-to-wear garment featuring plant-based leather that can be made at scale. As Pangaia is a material innovation company that operates as a fashion brand, it was essential to launch a sustainable alternative to traditional leather that is flexible, lightweight, durable, and plastic-free.
Dr. Amanda Parkes, Chief Innovation Officer at Pangaia, said, “Ready-to-wear is one of those areas that has not yet been touched by plant-based leather because it is necessary that the material is lightweight and flexible, but also durable enough. And, of course, you want to do something that’s plastic-free.”
The Air Gilet is priced at $800 and represents a significant step forward for sustainable fashion. Pangaia and NFW are both members of the Plastic Free Collective, which is made up of companies dedicated to finding alternatives to wide-scale plastic use. The collective was started by NFW this year, and Pangaia has focused on material innovations since its launch in 2018.
Pangaia’s success is built on material innovations, with new advancements typically driving product collaborations and launches. The company experienced a difficult 2021 as it moved from profits of $16.6 million in 2020 to a loss of $41.5 million. This was due to slowing sales and rising investments, according to details released by UK business register Companies House in February.
However, the company raised $50 million in financing through a convertible loan note in October. Concessions in major European department stores Selfridges, Galeries Lafayette, and La Rinascente helped the consumer-facing arm of the business return to profitability in December. Meanwhile, its B2B arm, built on selling sustainable materials to brands, has remained a small fraction of its business.
“A collection launch like this is what I call innovation aggregation, and its high initial cost to us is meant to be spread out over time as the product or material scales up,” said Parkes.
Sustainable Alternatives to Leather
Leather has typically come with a high margin for brands, but as its environmental impact comes under fire, scalable, plant-based leathers have the potential to catch on. The Air Gilet in Mirum offers large fashion brands proof of a viable alternative to traditional leather.
NFW will make the millionth pair of Mirum-based shoes this year. The company has over 100 brand clients, including footwear and major automotive brands. The company’s Mirum differs from other alternative leathers on the market in its scalability; the factories built after the company’s $85 million funding round in April are each able to produce millions of square feet of the material per year.
Material innovation company Bolt Threads, which pioneered mushroom leather Mylo, has come out with 5,000 iterations of the material. It has been used to make accessories by Stella McCartney and Ganni.
“We’ve been making a lot of Mirum for footwear,” said NFW’s CEO Luke Haverhals. “Footwear designers say they want structure so that the shoe can hold its shape, so then you usually have a little bit thicker material. For Pangaia, we made adjustments to the Mirum to create a very thin version that can appropriately drape and flow for a ready-to-wear piece.”
Mixing Innovations for a Better Tomorrow
“One of the things we want for all of our products is to combine innovations,” said Parkes. “There are a lot of innovative technologies being used in fashion items out there where the brand uses one new material, but everything in the product stays the same.”
Pangaia is mixing two innovations in the new vest – its FLRWDWN and the Mirum. Developed in 2018, FLRWDWN is a down-like filling made of wildflowers, biopolymer, and an aerogel. Through collaboration, Pangaia and NFW can become synergistically better leaders in their respective fields.
“If you think about ready-to-wear, the difference between what Pangaia’s designers need a material to do versus your favorite large fashion brand is almost nothing,” adds Haverhals.
Conclusion
The launch of the Air Gilet marks a significant step forward for sustainable fashion. Pangaia and NFW’s creation of a scalable, plant-based leather alternative represents a viable solution to traditional leather, which comes with a high margin for brands and significant environmental impact. Through the innovation aggregation that is the Air Gilet, Pangaia and NFW are forging a new path towards a better, more sustainable future.
