At a time when sustainable is a big buzzword, and designers are exploring stuff like banana fibre and so on, a Kerala-based Slovakian material researcher and fashion designer Zuzana Gombosoava, has developed a product that could be used as an alternative to animalleather. Her raw material called Malai has been made from fermenting unutilised water from mature coconuts and other plant materials.

Zuzana, who settled down in Kerala five years ago, has been working with coconut processing units in South India through her startup Malai Biomaterials Design Pvt. Ltd. to collect waste coconut water and repurpose it for cellulose production. Around 4,000 litres of water per day is used to grow 150-170 kg of (dry weight) cellulose, which is refined to make the finished material. Malai is available in a range of colours using mordant-free natural dyes and produced in the form of sheets, she told businessline.

Nata De Coco, a fermented product made from waste coconut water, banana stem fibres, hemp and sisal are used to produce Malai, a flexible, durable and water resistant material that is entirely organic and sustainable in the long run.

She started production of Malai as a research project with Susmith Suseelan- a product designer and maker from Kerala. “We met in Mumbai in 2015 where I had already been working for over three years on bacterial cellulose as a material. I was keen to explore the potential of coconut in India for employing a traditional bacterial-cellulose growth process used in the Philippines, where ‘Nata de Coco’ is an important part of the food industry”.

 “Initially, we started working with a coconut processing unit in Karnataka and moved to Kerala in 2018, thanks to its favourable climatic conditions and ideal temperature for fermentation process”, she said.

Now with the product in hand, her company is targeting the sustainable fashion market. Around 200 sq metre of raw materials are produced per month that costs between Rs2,000 and Rs4,000 per sq metre.

 “Currently we are working with a handful of brands and companies that are within the space of alternative materials, vegan products in sustainable fashion both within the country and overseas. We have also supplied materials to a couple of fashion startups which focus on sustainable brands and leather accessories manufacturers”, she said.

 “We have also made some accessory materials like small bags, wallets for gifting, but the main focus is mainly to supply raw materials to companies”, she added.

India produces 3 billion square metres of leather and unfortunately its production often pollutes soil, water and air. “I think the industry is noticing, which is the reason for more startups coming up in the area of leather alternatives”, she said.

On the funding for her startup, Zuzana said, “We have so far conducted two crowd-funding campaigns – one in Europe and in India and also received some grants, winning few competitions.”

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