You've Never Seen Vegan Suede Like This Before

If there is someone you can trust to truly innovate in the plant-derived fashion space, it's Melina Bucher. One of the first brands to champion fully bio-based vegan leathers, this brand also launched its own vegan leather atelier. It doesn't come as a surprise that the German vegan brand is among the first to showcase INNOVERA™, a new vegan suede made from biopolymers and recycled tires. 

By Sascha Camilli writer, speaker, activist, and vegan fashion expert. 

Partnering with US-based material innovators Modern Meadow, Melina Bucher brings to market a new, plant-derived material that reimagines suede for a new generation of conscious luxury. INNOVERA™ is crafted from plant proteins, biopolymers and recycled tire rubber, with over 80% renewable or recycled carbon content. This material expertly mimics the feel of suede but is lighter, more durable and resistant to water and abrasion. Translated: these are the perfect everyday bags - but ones you can't wait to show off.

The collection includes three silhouettes. The Loulou comes in an architectural half-moon form with supple side panels in INNOVERA™ suede. The structured Bailey features sharp lines and gold-tone hardware. Reinforced at the handles and edges with Uncaged's ELEVATE material, it's the ideal daytime bag. Completing the trio is the Tessa, with its elongated design and architectural elements. Each style is handmade in Melina Bucher's aforementioned vegan leather atelier in Germany, where traditional craftsmanship meets cutting-edge material innovation.

“This launch continues our mission to redefine luxury through innovation,” said Melina Bucher, founder and creative director of the eponymous label. “With INNOVERA™ suede, we bring together beauty, performance and responsibility – demonstrating that handbags can be luxurious not despite sustainability, but because of it.”

Picking up on one of this season's biggest trends, the bags come in a warm, comforting shade of coffee brown. Each bag is made to order, ensuring quality and attention to detail.

“Our collaboration with Melina Bucher aligns with our ethos of creating products that are good for the planet,” said CEO of Modern Meadow David Williamson, PhD. “Our innovative bio-design technology offers them the look, feel and smell of suede and gives them the creative freedom to customize their designs for any need. INNOVERA™ proves that aesthetics, responsibility and performance can co-exist in one versatile, forward-facing material.”

As any Melina Bucher design, these bags are part of a wave of ethical fashion that eschews animal-derived leathers in favour of consciously made plant materials with nature at its core. Elevated, elegant and long-lasting, these are accessories for a new era of fashion.

By Sascha Camilli

About Sascha

Sascha Camilli is a vegan fashion writer, speaker and activist. Her book Vegan Style is out now on Murdoch Books. For more about Sascha, you can read our interview with her or read her newsletter Kind Of Wild. You can also follow her on Instagram.

Images via Melina Bucher.

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