Would You Wear A Leather Jacket Grown In A Lab?

It’s hard to place a finger on what makes leather so alluring. Perhaps it’s the unique supple strength, the timeless chic, or the primal intimacy of donning animal skin. The highly-coveted material is used across the fashion, automotive, and interior design industries, and it tops the charts as one of the world’s most widely traded commodities. Measured in economic terms, its desirability is staggering: In 2010, the United National Industrial Development Organization valued the global economy for leather products at roughly $100 billion per year. But such a far-reaching market doesn’t come without equally far-reaching costs. Traditional leather production leaves behind a vast carbon footprint, a destructive trail of environmental pollution, brutal animal suffering, and, often, disturbing human-rights violations. Leather tanners, for example, suffer higher rates of cancer, respiratory diseases, and other life-shortening health issues from long-term toxic chemical exposure than the average office worker. Over the years, several ventures have sought to tap into the boom of the trade while also attempting to find the panacea to these ills. Countless fashion brands have advertised faux alternatives; other companies have sworn by sourcing only from discarded leather cut-offs. But the most compelling approach is being taken by biotech companies such as Brooklyn-based startup Modern Meadow. Read more at Quartz.