Redefining "environmentalism" with technology.
Technology itself is a living organism, and it has become an invisible force that penetrates into our lives.
Counting those thrilling technological moments, there are both the ever-changing technology feasts and the wonderful experiences brought by connected communications, but what is even more exciting is the sensory quality improvement brought about by the innovation of basic science. It can be a subjective feeling brought by shape and color, or it may be a kind of pioneering concept conveyed behind the material.
While enjoying the charm of science and technology, we also look forward to an idyllic life, if we have to combine the two organically, then it is to carry out the concept of environmental protection to the end.
More and more brands are beginning to make friends with "environmental protection"
Compared with the past few hundred years, we are in an era of material abundance, whether it is daily necessities or transportation, to meet the basic functional design is no longer the first priority, the future should consider the needs of users more spiritual level, environmental protection and sustainable development is also becoming the primary goal of many companies.
For this, many industries have their own unique interpretations, and have chosen to be friends with "environmental protection".
For example, in the fashion industry, Stella McCartney as an environmentally friendly British high-end lifestyle brand, from the beginning of its establishment, the brand concept has resolutely not used animal furs, established the belief of "zero fur, zero leather, zero feathers", and has been committed to scientific innovation and environmental protection of raw material planting.
Founder of the Stella McCartney brand
It's also true that since 2012, all of Stella McCartney's handbags have been lined with polyester from plastic bottles recycled from the ocean, including its best-selling Falabella handbag. To date, the Stella McCartney brand has single-handedly prevented more than 10 tons of discarded fabrics and fishing nets from entering landfills.
Similar brands also have Freitag from Switzerland, the brand makes bags made of truck roofs, the materials used are recycled, with a unique second-hand feel, each bag has an old wind and frost mark, and more importantly, the entire production process is completely free of environmental pollution.
The same is true of the luxury goods industry, where global luxury companies including Gucci, Hermès, LV and Burberry are rethinking their value chains to improve production methods in an environmentally friendly way.
Gucci Off The Grid series
Gucci, for example, launched its new Gucci Off The Grid series, which revolves around the theme of "sustainability". The new collection consists of items made from recycled nylon "ECONYL", which are made from recycled, recycled, organic, biologically and sustainably sourced materials.
Also adhering to this philosophy is Hermès, which, developed in collaboration with California startup Mycoworks, has found a leather alternative derived from "mushroom hyphae", also known as Sylvania, a new material that is the product of a combination of nature and biotechnology, which minimizes material waste and not only has the potential to replace traditional animal leather in terms of performance, but also offers more possibilities for fashion design.
Hermes Sylvania
Whether it's fashion brands Stella McCartney and Freitag, or Gucci and Hermès in the luxury industry, they all seem to be redefining the future of environmental protection – it is no longer a pile of rare materials, but a pioneering concept of environmental protection integrated into the product, and it turns out that we are more willing to identify with this sense of value.
The concept of "environmental protection" permeates the design of automobiles
After the awareness of environmental protection has gradually penetrated the hearts of the people, more and more companies in the industry have begun to take "sustainable development" as their business goal, and use their own practical actions to interpret the environmental protection concept they understand, especially luxury car brands.
According to relevant data, 23% of the world's carbon emissions come from the automobile and automotive industries, and electrification can reduce this number to 14%, and now the automotive industry is trying to reduce it to 9%, and the most important way to achieve this goal is through the large-scale use of renewable resources.
Take Bentley, for example, in the traditional Bentley interior, a car needs at least five cows as raw materials to make leather, so Bentley has specially developed artificial proteins that can replace cowhide. Another top luxury brand, Rolls-Royce, is also ready to provide interiors made of "artificial leather", and once a customer places such an order, production delivery can be arranged at any time.
During this year's CES Consumer Electronics Show, Mercedes-Benz also launched a new electric concept car VISION EQXX, for mature car companies, concept cars often represent the planning and direction of the entire brand for the future, a series of the latest scientific and technological achievements will be applied in the concept car, EQXX is naturally full of black technology blessing.
It is worth noting that the seats of the concept vision EQXX use a "mushroom leather" material called Mylo developed by Bolt Threads, so how did Mercedes-Benz get along with a small material like Mylo?
Before answering this question, we may be able to understand the story that Mylo was created.
Video credited to DeepTech
Bolt Threads is an American company focused on the development of new materials, the two founders are David Breslauer, a doctor of bioengineering from the University of California, San Francisco, and Dan Widmaier, a doctor of chemical biology, so that they began to try to use bioengineering to tap the value of "mushroom hyphae".
Mushroom hyphae is a large number of substances in nature, because of its super adhesion properties, so it is used by scientists to develop new materials, and its natural degradable properties, but also by the attention of environmental protection and sustainable development of the group favored, and finally they used this material to create a new type of leather - Mylo material.
Mylo material looks and feels like animal leather material, which means that the leather products used in the past can be replaced by Mylo material materials, footwear, handbags, wallets, etc. and luxury leather products.
Of course, the uniqueness of Mylo material lies in its production process, which is completely different from the traditional artificial leather production process, mylo production process will not consume a lot of water, will not produce a lot of carbon dioxide, will not discharge a large number of wastewater waste and toxic substances, called a whole process of the ultimate environmental protection.
Generally speaking, the innovation of industry and technology will inevitably promote social progress, so looking at the entire industry, if brands with high market share in other fields can also put environmental protection on the agenda, will it create some new demand?
Dr. David Breslauer, inventor of the Mylo material
In the view of Dr. David Breslauer, the inventor of Mylo materials, the answer is yes, he gave an example of the combination of car consumers and environmental awareness, consumers want car manufacturers to send a strong signal to have a positive sustainable impact, so there is a great demand in the automotive sector to drive the development and production of alternatives.
Thanks to the perfect fit of the concept, Mercedes-Benz has also become a staunch advocate of the "mushroom leather" Mylo material.
"Luxury and sustainability" complement each other
In the traditional car interior design, the leather package is considered to be a symbol of honor, even if many car companies now began to try to use artificial leather, but the alternative is still based on petroleum resources production, it is difficult to achieve real environmental protection.
In contrast, the interior of the Mercedes-Benz EQXX is inspired by nature, using a large number of new, lightweight, sustainable and environmentally friendly biomaterial combinations, which do not make any compromises on the luxury experience, but on the contrary reveal a unique high-end temperament everywhere, with a new style of luxury.
In addition to the "mushroom leather" Mylo material mentioned above, there are many details that highlight the design concept of Mercedes-Benz.
The door handle of the Mercedes-Benz EQXX is made of Biosteel fiber, a fibrous material that is characterized by being lighter and stronger, and is 100% biodegradable, very environmentally friendly, and was previously used on Adidas sneakers.
Animal leather alternatives are a material called Deserttex, which is derived from cactus-based biomaterials and is made from cactus fibers with a sustainable bio-based polyurethane matrix with a soft finish and delicate touch.
As a global car company that has long written "sustainable development" into its strategy, Mercedes-Benz's application and accumulation of environmentally friendly materials is not a day's work, and previously, the sustainable materials in some Of Mercedes-Benz models have been mass-produced.
Including seat decoration fabrics made from recycled PET plastic bottles, automotive carpets made from recycled fishnet yarns and waste carpets, and even the cable conduit materials of EQS and EQE are made from recycled domestic waste, and more than 80 kilograms of parts in the EQS are effectively reused from recycled materials and renewable raw materials.
Such as the above design is the first in the automotive industry, and it has to be said that the Mercedes-Benz concept car EQXX seems to be expressing to us that the future luxury has long been separated from the low-level fun brought by the material.
If you have to define the luxury label advocated by Mercedes-Benz, it must be a change of concept, which is environmental protection and sustainable development, which is integrated into the genes of brands and products like blood.
Because "luxury and sustainable development" are never opposing each other, but should complement each other.
Just a few days ago, Mercedes-Benz announced specific measures to reduce carbon emissions at the first ESG forum, announcing that by 2030, the carbon emissions of each passenger car will be reduced by an average of 50% compared with 2020.
In order to achieve this goal, Mercedes-Benz will also take a series of key initiatives, including electrification of the product lineup, greening of charging energy, upgrading of battery technology, and the use of recycled materials and renewable energy.
Mercedes-Benz's active exploration of sustainable development is like an innovative process of "mushroom" made into leather, and this pioneering concept represented by environmental protection is itself enough to lead the entire industry.
Create sustainable products in a sustainable way to put you on a more sustainable path to the future.