Palm leather rugs are vegan alternative to cow hide
Dutch designer Tjeerd Veenhoven's rugs made from a palm leaf material, called palm leather, are a sustainable and vegan alternative to traditional leather made from animal skin.
For the range of rugs, thin strips of the material are laid end to end by hand and attached to a woven base, before being cut to size. Any inconsistencies or folds in the strips are left to give a patterned appearance to the finished rug.
Dutch designer Veenhoven first started experimenting with leather made from palm leaves eight years ago after he became interested in the natural fibres of the tree's leaves, and asked someone he knew in India to send him some so that he could research them.
"In my material research I found out that the material was super brittle and not very useful, but if you soften it with a special material of glycerin and water, and some other materials you can make it nice and soft," explained Veenhoven.
The designer and his studio then developed and refined the "leather" further, testing it out by making products with various companies. Initially he experimented with making the rugs in Holland, before testing out production at a factory in India.
The rugs are now made at a factory in the Dominican Republic where "they're experienced with green initiatives, so they have the necessary quality controls in place," and shipped directly to consumers.
As well as the rugs, the studio is hoping to sell the palm leather material as a product in its own...
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