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Sustainability and design combined. That is Sohotree.
Sohotree is a Swiss company and stands for sustainability, design and responsible action. With Sohotree, we replace real leather with our vegan ApplePeel, a sustainable alternative made from apples.
The beginning
Leather is regarded worldwide as a noble, high-quality material and only a few people doubt this. However, leather is disastrous from an ecological and ethical point of view, not only in terms of its origin, but above all in terms of its production.
The supposedly superior natural product has to be made durable and resistant using chemicals. The origin of the leather can hardly be traced. In most cases, it is just as difficult to tell what kind of animal it is. There is no mandatory declaration. Hides and skins are among the few markets in the world that are not regulated - they are subject solely to the rules of supply and demand. The fact is, one billion animals fall victim to the leather industry worldwide every year. The main producer is China. Local leather? With a seal of approval from a happy animal? It doesn't exist. What's more, artificial leather has just as miserable an ecological footprint as the original. Sustainable products in the fashion and luxury goods industry still have something bourgeois, stuffy and uncool about them.
Our claim
We have always liked the possible uses of leather. However, both genuine leather and conventional artificial leather have a decisive disadvantage: Neither is sustainable. From an ecological and ethical point of view, this is not a solution for us.
Our aim was to create products from leather alternatives that not only look good, but are also better for the environment. However, the search for high-quality and sustainable materials that combine aesthetics with design and represent an alternative to leather proved difficult. The existing products on the market did not meet our expectations in terms of quality and cool design. They always represented compromises.
The solution
We had to look around completely. And came across an innovative material that had all the advantages of leather, but was not derived from animals and did not harm the environment. And best of all, it was practically on our doorstep: The ApplePeel™.
Sohotree has been created: SOHO stands for urban design, TREE for nature and sustainability.
Our products combine design, quality and sustainability. No stale compromises.
Learn more about ApplePeelMission
With Sohotree, we have committed ourselves to running a forward-looking and responsible company.
We want to push the boundaries with our products. We make fine products as an alternative to leather in a way that does justice to the world we live in today and in the future: beautiful, sustainable and animal-free. No compromises. By taking this stance, we prove that it is possible to create beautiful, luxurious products that are better for everyone - animals, people and the environment.
Vision
We have a clear vision: to replace leather with sustainable, non-animal materials.
Our high-quality apple leather products are establishing themselves from a cool niche product to a genuine alternative to leather goods, without compromising on quality and modern design. We want to change society's perception of sustainable products. Sustainability, quality and modern design should no longer be a compromise, but the norm!
The brothers
Lucas and Claudius Knecht, the two brothers from Zurich and founders of Sohotree, combine traditional Swiss values such as quality and reliability with sustainability, individuality and beauty.
