Uyen Tran is a Vietnamese who had developed a flexible biomaterial called TomTex, which is a leather alternative produced from food waste. This can be embossed with a variety of different pattern to replicate the look of animal leathers. The material is known to be durable while remaining soft enough to be stitched on.
Uyen Tran’s vision for this material was to create something that could benefit the issues surrounding pollution and the manufacturing of leather, and the issues including a large amount of food waste. The material is a suitable substitute for leather and uses a natural source.
To produce the leather alternative, the designer works with a supplier to gather shrimp, crab, and lobster shells to extract a biopolymer named Chitin. The biopolymer combined with coffee waste create the sustainable fabric. The mixture is dyed using natural pigments such as charcoal, coffee and ochre to create a variety of colour options. To create a water-resistant fabric, a layer of beeswax can be added on top.
To produce the texture of animal leather the fabric is not left in a completely smooth mold, and is left in a unique clay mold designed by Uyen Tran. This allows her to create any texture and finish, and create a replication of snake and crocidile skin. These leaves endless possibilities for the fabirc, by adjusting the fomrlua it can appear plastic-like, leather-like or rubber-like. This means that the apllication can vary from fashion to packing to Interior Design.
