Thanks to Alocasia Macrorrhiza leaves, subjected to a fully organic tanning process, Nova Kaeru gives life to one of the most innovative, sustainable materials currently available on the market.
It’s a vegan material, a unique product boasting leather-like features. It’s called beLEAF™ and it is the latest sustainable innovation provided by Nova Kaeru, the Brazilian company specialized in the design and manufacturing of eco-friendly hides by using the planet’s renewable resources. Ranging from fish skin scraps to the luxuriant Brazilian vegetation, all the components that give life to the articles developed by the company based in Três Rios – a town approximately 100Km away from Rio de Janeiro – are taken from the biosphere and processed, while their waste is used as soil nutrients Acknowledged as one of the most innovative, eco-friendly solutions ever created, beLEAF™ was awarded as the best natural material 2019 at the exhibition Première Vision Paris. This “hide” uses Alocasia Macrorrhiza, a plant also known as “Elephant ears”, that grows freely on river banks and at the edges of tropical forests.
beLEAFTM is the latest vegan innovation developed by Nova Kaeru. Thanks to its leather-like features,
it is a suitable material for the fashion sector
Beauty, availability all year round and leaf surface: the combination of these three elements lies at the core of this specific choice. The size of each leaf ranges from 20 to 50 square decimeters, while its height can reach three meters. These plants are grown in sustainable areas owned by the Brazilian company and in partnership with neighbouring independent farmers, involved in reforestation projects (“zero kilometer” philosophy). The transformation process is wholly eco-friendly, as it employs organic oils. beLEAF™ is an exclusive, entirely sustainable tanning technology that can be potentially applied to other plant species, devoid of any heavy metal, that succeeds in guaranteeing the complete recovery of solid waste and of wastewaters, later used for fertilization and irrigation. The resulting product is incredibly comfortable and resistant, in spite of the fact that it features fibres that are more delicate compared to animal hides.
Such as peculiar solution that manages to preserve the leaves’ shapes and nuances in their natural state, as good as the finest eco-friendly hides and fabrics currently available on the market. In terms of end sectors, it can be employed for the making of shoes, bags, accessories and much more, giving free rein to the designers’ creativity. The beLEAF™ technology keeps evolving day after day. The next step will entail the manufacturing of seamless panels, either by combining the single Alocasia Macrorrhiza leaves or by matching them with animal hides. www.novakaeru.com.br