The fashion and shoe industry are progressively changing and investing in innovation and sustainability. It is in this sense that brands like Verney are always looking for new solutions and alternatives to traditional leather.

As you can imagine, reinventing the footwear industry, an industry so marked by the use of leather, by presenting sustainable and vegan shoes is a real challenge. Find out in this article how cactus can be an excellent alternative and discover some products made from cactus.

Cactus as an alternative to leather

In recent years many sustainable materials have emerged that have proven to be viable alternatives for the production of sustainable footwear, such as apple.

Recently, Verney found a Mexican supplier at an international trade show that demonstrated how cactus can be used to replace leather.

You're probably wondering how this is possible, right? Very briefly, the leaves of the cactus are extracted, cleaned, and dried in the sun. Once the leaves are dry, the plant protein is extracted and turned into a bio-resin. In a final stage, the resin is mixed with other ingredients, such as cotton, and a fabric is obtained that can be used in the production of footwear.

This alternative turns out to be sustainable and vegan on the one hand since it is a plant-based material. In addition, since the cactus does not need much maintenance in terms of watering, there is no waste of water.

Although it is still a little-known raw material, our brand decided to test the cactus for the production of our sustainable footwear.

What was the result? The end result was a collection of boots made essentially of cactus!

The truth is that the tests exceeded expectations, as surprising characteristics were discovered. In this sense, our brand surrendered to this new raw material.

Advantages of cactus for producing sustainable footwear:

• Plant-based material
• Sustainable and vegan material
• The plant requires low maintenance
• The plant does not require much water
• Material as strong as leather
• Material with a soft finish
• Provides greater comfort
• Breathable material

Our footwear made from cactus

Among the boots made from cactus you can find the Vienne boots a model characterized by its metallic applications; the Vogel and Volmar boots that follow the military boot style, very trendy nowadays; or the Veron shoes that join the moccasin trend, perfect for spring.

Public reaction

Just as you may have been intrigued by this new raw material, the vast majority are as well. Moreover, the vast majority of people are impressed, as the resemblance to leather on a visual level is very close.