Entrepreneur Gulf. Nuhayr Zein, Founder, Leukeather. The Middle East’s diverse and innovative fashion and apparel industry today is redefining fashion with nature and changing global trends by blending new and sustainable fashion and design into traditional craftsmanship. This encourages eco-friendly practices, environmentally conscious material and fabric sourcing, use of traceable resources, and fostering a new wave of creative talent that reverberates at an international scale. Keeping in line with sustainable fashion and apparel manufacturing, a company in Dubai called Leukeather was founded in 2021 by Nuhayr Zein and has been fostering sustainable change ever since. By sourcing plant pods from a locally grown Leucaena Leucocephala tree, they are dried and processed with proprietary technology to produce Leukeather’s emboss-free, soft, and flexible alternative leather. The brand’s vegan, plant-based, ethical, and sustainable alternative leather in fashion and apparel promotes environmental and social practices and impacts in the city, reduces carbon footprint, eliminates pollution through toxic leather tanning chemicals, reduces the use of exotic and animal leather, and helps drive income in farming communities.
This article shall delve into Leukeather’s alternative and sustainable leather manufacturing in the fashion and apparel industry, Nuhayr Zein’s sustainable fashion vision for Lekeather, and its environmental and social impacts.
Nuhayr Zein – Leukeather’s Inspiration and Visionary Leader:
Nuhayr Zein founded Leukeather in Dubai, UAE in 2021 and was launched in 2022. Due to the increase of various environmental, ethical, and economic challenges brought about during the manufacturing and production of exotic and animal leather, Leukeather’s ethical and sustainable fashion choices are most commendable.
Driven by sustainability and ESG practices, the brand produces “breathable, cruelty-free, and non-toxic leather”. A truly significant feature that sets Leukeather apart from other sustainable leather choices in the industry is its naturally formed design and color. “It is the first and only vegetable leather in the market that is naturally patterned and does not rely on embossing fake patterns and textures to resemble animal and exotic skins.”
By combining science and traditional craftsmanship while also retaining the naturally patterned and textured look and feel of the processed material, a Circular Economy practice is established at Leukeather. Before processing the dried plant pods to make them more pliable, tactile, and flexible, the seeds from the pods are collected and planted to grow more trees of the Leucaena Leucocephala. With Nuhayr Zein viewing and positioning nature as a collaborator rather than a resource, Leukeather’s alternative leather is a materials innovation that makes the fashion and apparel world a better place – one that is sustainable, and yet still very appealing.
Leukeather – A Materials Innovation:
Nuhayr Zein is the visionary face and founder behind Leukeather’s conception and success of ethically sustainable, plant, and vegan-based alternative leather. Helping elevate sustainable fashion choices, the existing agricultural by-products are used in a Circular economy practice by the brand.
“We want to be the place where they can source these sustainable materials. It’s not just for fashion brands, it could also be for interior designers, bespoke gifts, spaces, wall coverings, it could be used for anything.” – Nuhayr Zein, Founder of Leukeather.
A proprietary technology is used by Lekeather in the manufacturing process of the dried plant pods, modifying the pod’s fiber properties to achieve a pliable, water-resistant, tactile, soft, elastic, and flexible material. After the processing stage, the produced flattened material is then laid out and cut into modular units which are then joined into sheets to look like a mosaic, designed, and patterned material. Cut out by hand, the end-finished leather produced now looks exclusive and more naturally exotic thus elevating sustainable material for fashion.
Leukeather’s Environmental and Social Practices and Impacts:
The brand works in close collaboration with the local farmers who grow Leucaena Leucocephala trees. Leukeather’s sustainability mission and main objective is to “promote a positive environmental and social impact through commercializing our material” thus helping the smooth adoption and practice of the Circular Economy principle. Leukeather also adopts effective and sustainable business strategies that allow them to generate extra income from selling the seeds collected from plant pods. Growing more trees and the requirement of such pods in the medicinal field encourages other industries, sectors, and farmers to continue growing and farming the Leucaena Leucocephala trees.
With ventures to expand businesses of the eco-friendly leather alternative, Leukeather looks positively forward to including the efficient strategy of carbon credits or carbon offsets in their project aimed at reducing greenhouse gases by generating the monetary value of CO2. The lives of local and regional farmers are also taken care of and improved by Leukeather creating and providing various job opportunities throughout their entire supply chain management. The brand also buys off discarded plant pods from existing farmers to help with the latter’s annual income, which also helps in having access to more quick and natural sources of extra plant pods. The usage of harsh and hazardous chemicals used generally in leather tanning is also completely avoided at Leukeather to promote safe natural leather manufacture and production.
This brand works closely with professional designers, architects, and various fashion and apparel brands during the manufacture and production of its proprietary alternative leather. This is done to ensure that Leukeather contributes to a significant portion of the sustainable and ethical world of fashion, thus keeping in line with its sustainability goals, practices, and initiatives.
“Our world is constantly evolving and so should our materials.” – Leukeather.
Leukeather, a brand that sustainably revolutionizes exotics in leather manufacture for the fashion and apparel industry, seeks to make impressional impacts and sustainable and visible changes to the world. The brand today is constantly working to improve and enhance its leather’s performance, biodegradability, and color range, to deliver more appealing fashion for the masses and to make a fashion statement.