Coconut Water as Alternative to Leather

A Cherthala-based couple has created a new vegan ‘leather’ from coconut water for fashion and furnishings, a report in The Hindu has said on December 17, 2018. This makes coconut water as the latest addition to vegan alternatives to leather that included mushroom caps, pineapple, seaweed.  Zuzana Gombosova from Slovakia and her Malayali partner, Susmith Suseelan, have been working on the liquid from mature coconuts to create a sustainable material, christened Malai (after the tender flesh of the coconut). Flexible, durable, biodegradable and water resistant, it has naturally sparked interest at design festivals across the world.

Gombosova, a material researcher and designer who graduated from Central Saint Martin’s College of Arts and Design and Suseelan, a product designer set up their manufacturing studio in Cherthala, the Kerala town known for its coir villages.  They worked on bacterial cellulose using coconut water.  Inspiration came from Nata De Coco, a jelly-like substance used in the food industry in the Philippines. Seemingly a cross between leather and handmade paper, Malai can be cut, glued, stitched and embossed, and has since been used to create footwear, upholstery and small leather accessories. It is not as supple as leather “nor do we want to imitate animal skin” says Gombosova, 30, who hails from a winemaking family back in Slovakia. 

“We did not begin by thinking of an alternative to leather,” she confesses, adding that her thesis on bacterial cellulose in 2013 saw her  initially working with different media, from teas to juices. Then came the water from brown coconuts, a waste product in the desiccated coconut industry, sourced from oil mills and, recently, a few South Indian restaurants.  Over 4,000 litres of coconut water goes to create 25 kilos of cellulose. The sheets, about 120x80 cm in dimension (€36), are naturally beige and later dyed madder, indigo and other earthy colours. Sometimes moulded in 3D shapes to eliminate seams, they are finding takers in Europe. 

“Coconut water acidifies the soil,” says Gombosova, admitting that their sustainable efforts will need to be patented soon. There are no commercially available products under their brand at the moment, but last year the partners have begun liaising with independent Czech designers to create small leather accessories like belts and book marks, as well as shoes, using Malai. There has been a collaboration with Kazeto, traditionally known for paperboard products, especially suitcases. A biodegradable shoe, using Malai and bioplastics, was designed by Berlin-based footwear designer Sophia Guggenberger. It was presented at Designblok Prague (a design show in the Czech Republic).