Vegan fashion brand creates faux leather handbags made from apple peels

Samara is a cruelty-free fashion brand in Toronto that has created faux leather bags from wasted apple peels.

Even though it's known that vegan leather doesn't contain animal skin, it does contain plastic which is damaging to the environment. 

With that in mind, the fashion brand has developed products manufactured using plant-based materials instead of plastic.

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Did you know, most vegan leather is still currently made from PVC (polyvinylchloride) which is extremely detrimental to the environment? We’ve never used PVC. Then, there’s PU (polyurethane) which is a little better. Then, there’s microfiber which is much better. We used microfiber wherever we could, and PU if necessary. But that’s not enough. We tried creating our own plant based leathers (in our kitchen sometimes) and experimented with coconut and pineapple too. Then we found that Apple leather could look exactly like real leather, and if you mixed it with a little bit of PU, it was durable too. We’ve taken apple skins that are wasted by the juicing industry, to create bags, and we’re going to keep trying to create better vegan leather for you, because it’s high time that the fashion industry becomes more natural, and plant based too 🍎 We can’t wait to show you what’s next!

A post shared by SAMARA(@be.samara) on Sep 19, 2019 at 8:21am PDT

“Our goal is to ensure that our products are made out of the finest quality materials and that they are sustainable," says Samara co-founder Salima Visram.

Samara co-founder Salima Visram. Picture: Instagram

They recently launched the ‘Mini’ purse made out of wasted apple peels which are by-products of the juicing industry.

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Introducing: The Mini 2.0 🍎 Made from apples, feels like leather

A post shared by SAMARA(@be.samara) on Jul 17, 2019 at 10:07am PDT

A statement released by the fashion brand reads: “As the vegan leather industry is growing, we decided that it was time to raise the bar and start experimenting with other plant-based materials.

“We’ve been hard at work over the last year, aiming to create our best seller - the Mini - out of apple-based leather.

“After many iterations and quality checks, it’s finally here. Made from apple skins that are by-products of the juicing industry, and some PU that acts as a binding agent, we’ve designed our newest addition to the Mini Collection: our Apple Leather Mini.”