Our Material Lab

The bigger picture 

The physical beating of materials is to ensure strength and durability. We aim for our pocketwear to have the longest possible lifespan, allowing our customers to develop a lasting connection with our wallets.

However, longevity isn’t just about durability; it also involves timeless design and a tactile experience that makes daily use enjoyable. Put differently, customers often replace products when they become unattractive. This is something we try to prevent as much as possible.

For instance, take leather. As a natural material, it ages over time with use. While many leathers are durable, not all of them age gracefully. Does your wallet still look appealing after years of use?

This example illustrates how discussions about longevity relate to our earlier point about material research not being straightforward. It's often unclear what the best choice is initially. Therefore, we strive to approach material research holistically: we make assessments based on outcomes. We don't rule out options beforehand, which regularly leads to difficult choices.

"The world is full of innovation, with new materials emerging all the time – and we have our eyes on them too! Many seem interesting and promising. But which materials are truly better, more sustainable, and valuable? Our Material Lab is dedicated to answering this question."

Thomas Beekhuis, Sustainability 

Plastic fantastic? 

Plastic is a prime example of such a difficult choice. The growing amount of plastic waste is worrying, and plastics are fossil-based, which makes them inherently problematic. At the same time, it is a dilemma because, if properly applied in products that last a long time, they can actually play an important role in extending the product lifespan. Thus, plastic can also slow down the rate of waste generation.

We carefully weighed the pros and cons and estimated that virgin –non-recycled- plastic had good potential, so we gave it a go. It paid off: after two years of testing various plastics, we discovered that TPU (Thermoplastic Polyurethane) is actually a material well suited for our pocketwear.

TPU is highly durable, strong, and scratch-resistant, making it ideal for tough yet flexible applications. While some recycled plastics, such as PVC, offer durability too, they often rely on additives that release harmful gases. In contrast, TPU production involves fewer toxic chemicals.

Additionally, PVC recycling is complex due to these additives, whereas TPU performs well in mechanical recycling, producing higher-quality recycled items. All things considered, virgin plastic in the form of TPU was the cleanest and most sustainable choice for us.

Dilemmas at the Material Lab 

The largest chunk of our work at the Material Lab focuses on leather alternatives, as our company is committed to animal welfare and vegetarianism. Secrid aims to significantly reduce global consumption of animal-based products. Yet, we still use leather for most of our pocketwear products. 

Why not stop using leather altogether for our pocketwear? Unfortunately, it is not that simple. This question presented us with a dilemma: both leather and leather-alternatives come with benefits and drawbacks. We tackled this dilemma by thinking through their consequences. 

So yes, leather-alternatives generally have no direct negative influence on animal welfare. And leather-alternatives are improving rapidly. However, leather remains unmatched in durability and as mentioned, ages beautifully. What’s more, leather-alternatives often pose their own environmental challenges due to, for example, ecologically unfriendly coatings or plastic fibres.

We acknowledge cowskins as a waste-product of the meat and dairy industry. As long as global demand for meat and dairy products exceeds that for bovine leather, these skins will be available to upcycle into high-quality leather goods. In essence, we can produce leather that is more environmentally friendly and durable than many leather alternatives currently are.

Learn more about our philosophy and design principles

The material future 

We’re excited about the future here at the Material Lab. Globally, there’s a growing awareness about the importance of materials research and its impact on people and the environment. Fascinating developments are underway to reduce waste streams, such as producing a leather-alternative from olive pits.

We ourselves are also reducing waste by upcycling damaged Cardprotectors through powder coating or ‘hammering’. This not only minimises waste but also results in unique surface materials with distinct textures.

We learn about new materials in various ways. One way being through the Secrid Impact Fund: we supported Celium™ by Polybion, one of the winners of the What Design Can Do challenge in 2024. Celium™ is a vegan and organic material produced by bacteria fed with agro-industrial fruit waste. Together with Polybion we are continuously testing and working to bring this material up to industry standards.

 
At Secrid, we’ve been researching and testing materials from the outset. Our Material Lab has been established to approach this in a structured, holistic manner. Ultimately, this work results in the Secrid pocketwear you carry with you. This makes material research even more rewarding now and going forward.