E-Leather by Worn Again
by Warren McLaren, Sydney on 04.19.07
Been a while since we dropped by the Worn Again site, so we missed their foray into leather, or E-leather as they call it. We are told that it’s fabricated from the leather shavings which normally make up 30% of a tannery’s waste. Normally it gets landfilled, but Worn Again found a supplier who interlinks the fibres of these shavings, without reverting to adhesives, to make a shoe grade reconstituted leather that is sold by the roll. Apparently this allows for less cutting wastage (~5%) when compared to traditional hides (18-40%). And what’s more the production process is almost a closed loop, retaining 95% of its process water and even feeding its energy needs with converted waste. E-leather is found in the Womble sneaker, seen above, which also reuses t-shirts and jeans, together with a recycled rubber for the sole. ::Worn Again.
