Compared to our other materials, we actually had very little trouble finding the leather we wanted to use for our cases, as we've been using it from the very beginning.
OUR MATERIALS: LEATHER
LEATHER: A VERY EASY DECISION
OUR MATERIALS
There was one fundamental decision to be made — whether we should use vegetable tanned leather or vegan leather. Vegetable came out on top on every single metric.
We are on the hunt for the perfect vegan case, however most that we have come across are made with plastic. We want to produce the most environmentally friendly products we can, so we will continue to do our research on a vegan alternative and keep you updated on our progress.
A NATURAL PROCESS
The process of vegetable tanning leather has no negative effects on the environment because it uses natural tannins derived from plants, which don't create any toxic by-products. Pretty good, right?
Now compare that to chrome tanned leather, which produces a huge amount of toxic wastewater that can be seriously damaging to the environment. Or vegan leather, which requires a number of complicated steps and chemicals, often including the use of fossil fuels.
RESPONSIBLE QUALITY
VEGETABLE TANNED
Vegetable tanned leather is of a higher quality than chrome tanned and vegan leather. It requires real expertise to make and it gets better and better with age, unlike its alternatives. Chrome tanned later can deteriorate to the point of being unusable in a matter of months, while vegan leather still general has a shorter lifespan than vegetable tanned leather.
Because vegetable tanned leather takes longer than chrome to produce, over 90% of leather comes from the chrome tanning process, but we really didn’t think that was a good enough reason to jump on board.
A BY-PRODUCT INDUSTRY
We work with an Italian tannery that responsibly and sustainably sources the materials it uses, with all of the hides it tans being by-products of the food industry. By using those hides for leather, rather than allowing them to be binned, we are taking another industry's waste and transforming it into something beautiful.
USING OUR OFF-CUTS
OUR GOAL FOR ZERO WASTE
Inevitably, there is always a little waste left over from the leather production process. Instead of wasting these small pieces, we use them as tags for our frame tool - which comes with every pair of MONC frames purchased.
QUALITY, NOT FOSSIL FUELS
We're really proud of the fact that by making our cases out of vegetable tanned leather. We have created a high-quality case that is going to last, without the use of fossil fuels.
Learn more about the other materials that we used to make our Conscious Collection here.
For more information, to share feedback, or collaborate with us., please call us on 02035321121 or email us at info@monclondon.com.