Why Luxury Brands Are Quietly Testing Plant-Based Materials

A SYSTEM BUILT FOR THE PAST

For more than a century, luxury leather followed the same formula:

Animal hides
Chemical tanning
Massive water use
Heavy environmental cost

Most legacy luxury houses still rely on this process today.

What changed isn't the material — it's the buyer.

A new generation of luxury consumers now expects:

• Premium craftsmanship
• Long-lasting materials
• Lower environmental impact
• Transparency instead of tradition-for-tradition's sake

That shift has forced the industry into a quiet evolution — one happening behind workshops, not on runways.

Plant-based materials are leading that change.

One material, in particular, accelerated it faster than anyone expected.

🌵 Cactus leather.

WHY THE INDUSTRY COULDN'T IGNORE THIS ANY LONGER

Traditional leather carries costs most consumers never see:

• Up to 20,000 liters of water per hide
• Chromium-based tanning
• High carbon emissions
• Chemical wastewater
• Heavy land and resource use

It remains a beautiful material — but one increasingly misaligned with modern values.

By contrast, cactus leather is produced using:

• Rainwater only
• Zero irrigation
• No toxic tanning chemicals
• Minimal CO₂ emissions
• Regenerative agricultural practices

For the first time, a plant-based material delivered both:
luxury-grade feel
and
dramatically lower environmental impact.

That combination forced attention.

Forward-looking brands — from global innovators to small European makers — began testing it seriously.

Among them, a newer Spanish-rooted label quietly entered the conversation: Berlo.

Not loudly.
Not as a disruptor.
Simply as a brand built around materials and process rather than trend cycles.

THE MATERIAL THAT RESET EXPECTATIONS

For years, "vegan leather" was synonymous with PU plastic:
Glossy
Artificial
Short-lived

Cactus leather broke that association.

It offered:

• Soft, calfskin-like hand feel
• Matte, natural grain
• High scratch resistance
• Structural stability
• Up to 90% biobased composition
• Independent certification

This is why luxury innovators like Mercedes-Benz and Hublot began experimenting with it in interiors and accessories.

And why emerging ethical luxury brands — including Berlo — adopted it as a foundation rather than an add-on.

Not vegan leather pretending to be luxury.

Luxury evolving.

WHERE MODERN MATERIALS BECOME LUXURY GOODS

Even the best material fails without craftsmanship.

That's why this shift is accelerating in Ubrique, Spain — the town trusted for generations by houses such as:

Dior
Chanel
Loewe
Louis Vuitton
Carolina Herrera

Ubrique's artisans apply:

• Hand-painted edges
• Micro-precision stitching
• Heritage construction methods
• Generational expertise

Brands working there aren't chasing trends.

They're preserving craftsmanship — while updating the materials behind it.

Berlo operates inside this ecosystem:
pairing cactus leather with traditional Spanish methods to build durable, responsible luxury pieces.

Not mass-produced.
Not synthetic-coated.
Not trend-driven.

Just thoughtfully made.

WHY THIS SHIFT IS ACCELERATING

Luxury today is being redefined by values:
Sustainability over excess
Transparency over secrecy
Craft over logos
Durability over replacement cycles

This movement isn't loud.

But it's reshaping how luxury goods are designed, sourced, and judged.

Plant-based luxury is rising.
Spanish craftsmanship is evolving.
Brands built around materials and process — rather than marketing first — are gaining ground.

Berlo is one of several younger labels reflecting that shift — not by abandoning luxury tradition, but by updating it for what comes next.