LOUÉ began with one non-negotiable: to create luxury handbags using the best next-generation plant-based materials, not animal leather or plastic. These materials are rare, costly to develop, and slow to craft with, but they reflect our values and what our customers care about.
Below is a Q&A with our founder, Elena, on how we source and select them.
Q: How do you choose the materials for LOUÉ?
A: I always come back to three questions.
- Does it look and feel luxurious?
- Is it genuinely low-impact?
- And is it constructed in a way that will last?
If the answer isn’t “yes” to all three, I don’t use it.
Q: People often compare plant-based materials to PU. Are they similar?
A: Not at all. PU has been the most common leather alternative for decades, but it's built and behaves very differently. PU is made from multiple layers of plastic film glued together, then glued onto a synthetic backing, and finally coated with a coloured topcoat.
Because it’s a stack of glued layers, PU tends to peel, crack, delaminate, or lose colour as the topcoat wears off. Our materials don’t have that layered structure, so they don’t peel.
Q: So what makes MIRUM and Elevate different?
A: Both our vegan leathers, MIRUM and ELEVATE, are composite materials, not laminated layers. They have natural structural integrity, and their colour is intrinsic, not painted on. They won’t peel, crack, or flake like layered synthetics. MIRUM is based on natural rubber, while Elevate is made from plant protein. Both are designed to perform well and age beautifully.
Q: How durable are they, really?
A: Extremely. We look for performance benchmarks used in high-end leather goods manufacturing. For example:
- >10,000 cycles on the Martindale abrasion test
- Grade 5 colour crocking (the highest rating, colour does not rub off)
- 100,000 cycles in the Bally flex test (resisting cracking during repeated bending)
- 16 hours of water-resistance testing
Most next-generation vegan leathers I test meet or exceed these standards.
Q: Are there any challenges to working with these materials?
A: One of the hardest challenges is actually sourcing new colours and finishes. These materials are still rare, and there simply aren’t many material innovators working at a luxury level. Even introducing a new colour effectively means sourcing a new material. Because the pigment is built into the material itself, not painted on top, each shade requires its own formulation, followed by full performance testing.
Q: Are these next-gen vegan leathers cheaper than leather?
A: Quite the opposite. The materials we use cost as much as the highest-grade luxury leathers, such as Togo. And they take longer to prototype, test, and craft. Both the materials and the handbag production process are significantly more expensive than those of a traditional leather or PU bag.
Q: So why choose them?
A: Because they’re beautiful, durable, cruelty-free, and genuinely innovative.
My mission is to create pieces you fall in love with, without cutting corners on craftsmanship, materials, or labour standards.
When you choose a LOUÉ piece, you’re not just buying a handbag. You’re supporting a different direction for fashion, one that pairs luxury with responsibility.
LEARN MORE ABOUT MIRUM
LEARN MORE ABOUT ELEVATE