Bentley to introduce leather-free cars for vegans

Bentley is known to feature plenty of the richest leathers in its interiors, using up to 20 animal hides in their upholstery and trimmings per car. But according to Bentley’s Director of Design Stefan Sielaff that can be changed if a customer doesn’t want any animal hides in their car, Road and Track reports.

“You can’t sell an animal-containing product like a Bentley, with 20 leather hides, to someone with a vegan lifestyle. We’ve been talking to these customers, in California especially, and they’re asking us what can we give them.

We do a lot of custom-made and coach-built solutions, and therefore we want to satisfy these customers because they are the peak of a trend. We will shortly present a Bentley with a vegan interior; it’ll give you a luxury sensation but with a different way–protein leather, mushroom leather, jelly-fish material,” Sielaff was quoted as saying by Auto Express.

Protein leather, also known as “pleather,” is made from oil in the form of plastic, either PVC or polyurethane. Essentially, the plastic is bonded to a fabric backing. Mushroom leather, also known as “muskin” is a biodegradable vegetal leather, extracted from mushroom caps and tanned using chemical-free methods. Jelly-fish material is another biosynthetic compound, Road and Track reported.