Teijin Cordley Limited, the Teijin Group's manmade leather business, has developed Maestley, a new high-grade natural leather substitute.

Maestley has equivalent texture and richness to natural leather and other superior attributes, according to the manufacturer. The new product will be available for sale this spring.

Leather alternative

Teijin Cordley developed Maestley through innovative developments in fibre selection, nonwoven structures, based material density and lamination methods. The company will expand its series of Maestley products by adopting natural leather processing procedures in collaboration with Japanese tanners.

Prices for high-grade natural leathers like calf and kip are rapidly increasing in line with rising demand, while supplies in developed countries are decreasing. New manmade leather products with superior texture and other attributes are being developed to meet such demand, the company reports.

Line-up expansion

Teijin Cordley will expand the Maestley line-up by leveraging the company’s advanced manmade leather production technologies for high-end shoes and bags to improve comfortability and durability as well as breathability and moisture permeability.

Teijin will also launch a new series of products developed jointly with tanners in Japan, with a texture and feel equivalent to that of natural leather, deploying the same production processes as those used for natural leather.

Teijin Group

Teijin is a technology-driven group offering advanced solutions in the areas of sustainable transportation, information and electronics, safety and protection, environment and energy, and healthcare.

Its main fields of operation are high-performance fibres such as aramid, carbon fibres and composites, healthcare, films, resin and plastic processing, polyester fibres, products converting and IT. The group has some 150 companies and around 16,000 employees spread out over 20 countries worldwide.

www.teijin.com