Fashionalesanal, ancestral and sustainable, this is the plant leather developed by Mozh Mozh in the Amazon.Its creator, Mozhdeh Matin, tells us what it is.

By Pia Rey

Vegetable leather is more than a fashion, it is the certainty that it is possible to find sustainable alternatives that are attractive, they look good, and at the same time have a positive impact on the environment.Because if there is something that cannot ignore sustainable fashion, it is to offer garments that are ecological and take care of the planet (and its inhabitants) without neglecting personal style and good design.And the Peruvian brand Mozh Mozh knows very well how to carry it forward.

By Pia Rey

We know that sustainability and animal conservation go hand ina luxury.Taking into account all these points, the Peruvian firm Mozh Mozh has developed a vegetable leather, created by hand by communities in the Amazonas, which is presented as a great replacement of animal leather and which was already approved by celebrities such as Bella Hadid.

Faithful to its ‘native-fouturist’ aesthetics, according to Mozhdeh Matin, creator of the brand, Mozh Mozh is a brand known for preserving ancestral knowledge by developing avant-garde garments.Thus, within the autumn/winter 2021 collection, called Floating in Space, inspired by the awareThe designer has been working for some seasons.The novelty in this season, were the color variants that were introduced, in Anoraks, Jackets, Dresses and Pants, who seek to dress' a cultured and wild woman who feels comfortable with herself, "according to Mozhdeh Matin, who also told usof the processes to reach this material.

Why do you prefer to work vegetable leather as an alternative to animal leather?

It is difficult not to admire animal leather, however, today using it is a symbol of lack of awareness with what happens on our planet.For many years as a designer I was fighting with the idea of how to represent leather in a more friendly way with the environment and animals, and that was how I reached the rubber.

This is how I visited the Shiringueros community for the first time, the workers who extract the rubber from the Shiringa tree, who are also a kind of guardians of the Selvatic mountain.There I met Jorge and Maria who taught me their processes, and together we began to experiment on different textile materials until we find the one that most resemble leather.This is how I felt that in Mozh Mozh we could create an alternative to animal leather using this plant material.

How do you get the vegetable leather you use in Mozh Mozh?

Our vegetable leather is born from the extraction process of the hevea brasiliensis or rubber tree in the Peruvian Amazon jungle.It is important to emphasize that the rubber industry is in our history a long time ago, but it is the first time it is used in clothing.Once the rubber is extracted, we apply it on a cotton fabric and then this is dried.

How do you get the color palette?

While we would like to work, ideally, with natural dyes, its duration in time that one is very short and we have not yet achieved the opposite, so at the moment we are using as a base fabrics.and its processes on top.

What are you based on the choice to work the vegetable leather in sports silhouette?

We basically think about the life we are taking now with the pandemic and the importance of wearing comfortable clothes above all.I also intend to introduce male motifs in Mozh Mozh's clothes.I think of garments that men can also use, as well as I think of nature, that we can enjoy when we leave (and I am preparing designs for it).Our reality is constantly changing and I like the idea of being able to foster recreations in contact with nature.

By Athena Morales de la Cruz

Where can we get your clothes?

We currently have a small online store, where we work under the Made-to-Or or Pre-Order, so as not to create more waste on the planet, and which has a world-shopping free-shopping.Anyway we have created ties in stores in Asia, Europe and America.Among the main stores are Liberty London, Ron Herman, City Shop Japan, 100% Silk Shop, MR.Larkin and Maimoun.