Cactus Leather: Why you need to know about it

Desserto's Cactus Leather, the latest innovation in sustainable fashion, is a vegan leather made from the leaves of nopal cactus.

It's a plant that grows abundantly in Mexico, without even needing any water (seems like a great option for those of us constantly killing our plants).

In 2019, Mexican innovators Adrián López Velarde and Marte Cázarez debuted the material at Milan's leather fair Lineapelle – after two years of research to elevate the quality of their cactus leather to rival traditional leather.

The idea for harnessing the properties of the nopal cactus plant into a vegan leather came when the inventors observed the results of the plastic pollution crisis. The result is an organic and partially biodegradable material that is versatile enough to be used for fashion, furniture, and car interiors.

Choosing planet-friendly cactus leather is a viable alternative to both animal-derived leather and traditional vegan leathers, which can be made either from highly toxic PVC or slightly less harmful but still problematic polyurethane.

Despite the issues that both these materials present, they are still less harmful to the environment than animal leather, due not only to the toxic chemicals emitted by the leather trade every year, but also to the devastating effects of raise animals on a large scale for human consumption.

Desserto's material, which is made from an organic cactus formula, with a backing crafted from recycled polyester and recycled cotton, is kinder to both animals and the environment than animal skins and petroleum-derived plastics.

Browse our Cactus Leather collection