THE ECO-FRIENDLY ALTERNATIVE

0 3 0 4 Forget leather - the future of textiles and fashion is all about fish skin.

Fish leather finds its origin with the Icelandic people, which used the skin of fish as a material for durable shoes and accessories until the 19th century.

Nowadays, it is considered an eco-luxury leather alternative due to the fact that it is sourced as a pure by-product of the food industry. Speaking specifically of fish, one tonne of fish fillets leads to some 40 kilograms of skin, which would have been discarded. Fish leather is not a completely cruelty-free product, but fish are not raised and harmed to get killed for their skin.

Furthermore, fish leather is known for its luxuriousness, versatility and strength of the material. Fish leather is incredibly strong, yet light in weight. Although it’s quite thin, the alignment of fish skin’s fibers runs in a crisscross pattern as opposed to the parallel pattern in mammals, making fish leather much more durable than traditional leather.

FISH LEATHER

ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES The tanning and dyeing processes used for fish are far less aggressive to the skin and environment than that used for traditional leathers, which require strong chemical products to strip the hairs from the hide. Since fish have no hair, this step is unnecessary. The scales may be removed, but this is never through chemical processing.

Furthermore, fish skin can be tanned, as well as dyed in a natural way. The fish leather reacts well on natural tanning processes and absorbs natural based color easily. Therefore, a ecofriendly leather alternative with great properties in a beautiful and diverse color range can be created.

Curious? Then continue reading to find out more about natural tanning and dyeing techniques for fish leather.