Faux or artificial leather, or vegan leather, is a synthetic form of leather designed to resemble natural animal skin, usually from cattle.
A common way to make faux leather is to start with cotton or polyester as a base material. On top of this is a coating, a layer of polymer or plastic. Polyurethane (PU) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) are common materials in faux leather. The next step is to emboss, where we emboss the surface of the coating with a pattern similar to genuine leather. The faux leather is coloured, along with surface treatment with chemicals to achieve, for example, better durability and better resistance to water, stains and UV radiation. The material is dried and fixed to ensure that all the chemicals have adequately bonded and to give the faux leather its final structure and stability. We then cut and sew the faux leather to create products such as shoes, furniture, bags, clothes, etc.
The exact steps and materials can vary depending on the manufacturing process and the quality of the synthetic leather desired. Various techniques and innovations continue to be developed in the field to improve the performance and durability of faux leather.
Developing and innovating more sustainable materials is in progress. New raw materials include pineapple leaves, cork and cactus.
Source
Good On You – Mushrooms, Cactus, Cork: Innovative Leather Alternatives to Watch 
December 2023, TÄNKOM | Revised May 2024 RETHINK
