In recent years, fashion houses and carmakers alike have started moving away from traditional leather, swapping it for mushroom-based fabrics, pineapple fibres, or recycled plastic composites. By One4Leather.

Stella McCartney, the poster child for luxury sustainability, has built her entire empire on avoiding animal hides. Gucci, under Kering’s wider eco-mandate, pledged to scale back leather use and push “vegan” alternatives in handbags. Even Hermès, the house most synonymous with exotic skins, is experimenting with mushroom-based materials.

On the automotive side, Tesla was one of the first carmakers to drop real leather in favour of synthetic interiors. BMW and Mercedes now offer “vegan leather” seats across large parts of their line-ups, while Volvo has promised to phase out animal hides completely in new models. To the consumer, it all sounds planet-positive.

The marketing spin is clear: ditching animal hides equals progress. But there’s the uncomfortable truth that leather’s decline doesn’t fix the problem.

Leather has never been the primary product of the beef or dairy industries. It’s a by-product.

Every steak or glass of milk still comes with a cowhide attached, and for over a century those hides have been tanned and turned into shoes, handbags, jackets, sofas, and car seats.

Audi’s sumptuous nappa leather seats are the real deal.