Cultivation

Bovine leather features in more than 90% of the products we make. But it’s no secret that intensive cattle farming is associated with a number of environmental issues, including deforestation and the production of methane, a greenhouse gas more than 25 times as potent as carbon dioxide.

Whilst many of our peers are exploring leather alternatives as a response to these issues, we are going back to basics, cultivating a new approach to sourcing leather by building direct relationships with farmers committed to regenerative agriculture. These farmers work with nature to restore soil and livestock health, and mitigate climate change. We are investing in system innovation, because ultimately we believe the problem is not the “cow”, it’s the “how”.

Our approach to leather is reflected in our sourcing across all categories and collections; we seek out partners and suppliers who share our vision for a regenerative and circular luxury industry.

Progress

We are partnering with British Pasture Leather to build relationships with regenerative farmers and establish an end-to-end UK supply chain.

All our leather is sourced from environmentally-accredited tanneries (we accept accreditation from Leather Working Group, Sustainable Leather Foundation, and ISO:14001).

We are founding partners of the Sustainable Leather Foundation, and are working with them to conduct social audits of all our tanneries.

We continue to introduce new, innovative lower impact materials into our collections to replace conventional materials, such as our redeveloped BioVeg Scotchgrain, as well as increasing the percentage of certified materials within each range, such as GOTS and Better Cotton.

Mulberry’s iconic green carrier bags are created from CupCycling, an innovative recycling process that transforms disposable coffee cups into beautiful paper. Since we started using CupCycled paper, our partners at the James Cropper paper mill have repurposed over 4 million coffee cups for Mulberry Green paper that would otherwise have been sent to landfill.

All our customer packaging is recyclable or reusable, and we are working with our partners and suppliers to eliminate all disposable plastic from Mulberry’s business-to-business operations.

Lexicon

Bovine leather - leather derived from cattle

Regenerative Agriculture – any form of farming that is beneficial to soil health, biodiversity, and actively improves the environment.