4 ms·

Searching for 'vescin' all I seem to get is marketing results from BMW and Mini. So what exactly is it beyond 'a proprietary vegan material'? What is it made of

Searching for 'vescin' all I seem to get is marketing results from BMW and Mini. So what exactly is it beyond 'a proprietary vegan material'? What is it made of?

fredoralive 2y ago
Probably just vinyl or some other plastic. Don't worry, it's 100% recyclable, honest.
- fph 2y ago
  They do claim in TFA that the new material "happens to be much more environmentally friendly to make and is 100 (sic) recyclable to boot". I hope that's not just marketing.
  - rsynnott 2y ago
    > happens to be much more environmentally friendly to make This would not be difficult; leather production is an extremely dirty process.
    - aziaziazi 2y ago
      Perhaps I misunderstood your message but as I read it thats true for the real/animal based leather. What they call "vegan leather" here is a synthetic material that try to mimic the desired properties of real leather. They claim it being more environmental friendly. edit : I did missread your message by missing "This would not be difficult" :)
      - rsynnott 2y ago
        Yup, that's what I meant; I'd definitely believe their claim here.
carom 2y ago
My assumption would be that it is some form of plastic.
Klonoar 2y ago
It might just be their term (like how BMW and Toyota have house names for their synthetic leathers). It might be based on MIRUM, since I recall BMW (who own Mini) working with them awhile back. MIRUM is one of the few plant based leather “replacements” that uses no plastic - although I obviously don’t know if the material used in Minis is this and is 100% plastic free, just throwing some possible leads out. I had a leather worker make me a wallet out of a batch of MIRUM I got a few years ago and they were surprised at how close it gets to working with leather. It’s certainly not perfect - or at least wasn’t back then - but it was apparently far more usable than the plastic backed alternatives. Still holds up today and aged decently well. If BMW/Mini are indeed using it finally, IMO it’s a win over their earlier alternative leathers.

Searching for 'vescin' all I seem to get is marketing results from BMW and Mini. So what exactly is it beyond 'a proprietary vegan material'? What is it made of?

fredoralive 2y ago

Probably just vinyl or some other plastic. Don't worry, it's 100% recyclable, honest.

fph 2y ago
They do claim in TFA that the new material "happens to be much more environmentally friendly to make and is 100 (sic) recyclable to boot". I hope that's not just marketing.
- rsynnott 2y ago
  > happens to be much more environmentally friendly to make This would not be difficult; leather production is an extremely dirty process.
  - aziaziazi 2y ago
    Perhaps I misunderstood your message but as I read it thats true for the real/animal based leather. What they call "vegan leather" here is a synthetic material that try to mimic the desired properties of real leather. They claim it being more environmental friendly. edit : I did missread your message by missing "This would not be difficult" :)
    - rsynnott 2y ago
      Yup, that's what I meant; I'd definitely believe their claim here.

carom 2y ago

My assumption would be that it is some form of plastic.

Klonoar 2y ago

It might just be their term (like how BMW and Toyota have house names for their synthetic leathers). It might be based on MIRUM, since I recall BMW (who own Mini) working with them awhile back. MIRUM is one of the few plant based leather “replacements” that uses no plastic - although I obviously don’t know if the material used in Minis is this and is 100% plastic free, just throwing some possible leads out. I had a leather worker make me a wallet out of a batch of MIRUM I got a few years ago and they were surprised at how close it gets to working with leather. It’s certainly not perfect - or at least wasn’t back then - but it was apparently far more usable than the plastic backed alternatives. Still holds up today and aged decently well. If BMW/Mini are indeed using it finally, IMO it’s a win over their earlier alternative leathers.