Cultivated Biomaterials announced its Kickstarter campaign for Angelry jewelry, the world’s first cruelty-free luxury jewelry made from lab-grown leather. From jewelry and purses to belts and boots, Cultivated Biomaterials envisions creating it all without harming a single animal.
“Our cultivated leather jewelry, Angelry, is in essence a biological gemstone,” said Cultivated Biomaterials founder and biomedical engineer George Engelmayr. “This is more than just a fashion statement. This is a symbol of progress. Progress for animal welfare, progress for sustainability and progress for our planet. Through this Kickstarter campaign, we are creating a future where fashion doesn’t cost an animal its life.”
Angelry jewelry is a one-of-a-kind scientific breakthrough, made from lab-grown leather that is rarer than diamonds. The leather is grown from the skin cells of Angel, a rescued Black Angus cow who lives peacefully at the picturesque Sweet Farm animal sanctuary in upstate New York. A one-time skin sample, smaller than the size of a pea, collected during a routine health checkup at Cornell University enabled Engelmayr to grow the cells needed to produce pieces of cultivated leather using an entirely plant-based process of scaffolding and vegetable tanning. The hand-cut leather is inlaid in bezels and topped off with a glass cabochon to create the luxury jewelry pieces. The glass covering offers a subtle magnifying effect, revealing the cultivated leather’s natural texture and color.
The First Cow to See Her Own Leather
While a handful of companies around the world are working feverishly to produce and optimize cultivated leather, Engelmayr is the only one who has figured out how to create it from a living, breathing cow. In an extraordinary moment, Engelmayr took a pouch made from Angel’s cultivated leather with him on a recent visit to Sweet Farm for the bovine to inspect, marking the first time in history that a cow has produced leather and lived to see it.
“We’re proving that cruelty-free luxury goods don’t require animal suffering,” said Engelmayr. “Angel’s cells create luxury cultivated leather while she continues living and being cared for at a beautiful animal sanctuary.”
How It Works
The process starts with a small sample of Angel’s harmlessly collected skin cells, which Engelmayr grows on plant-based scaffolds made from materials like kapok tree fibers. The cells multiply in bioreactors using animal-free nutrients developed with U.K. company Multus Biotechnology.
The resulting leather sheets are tanned using natural vegetable processes—no toxic chemicals or synthetic plastics. Some studies estimate that cultivated leather processes are generally expected to use 80% less water, generate 90% fewer emissions and produce 95% less waste than conventional leather production.
Traditional leather production is facing increased scrutiny over environmental and ethical issues. A square meter of conventional leather generates 110 kilograms of CO2 and involves toxic tanning chemicals, deforestation and significant water use.
Plant-based leather alternatives often use petroleum-based plastics that take centuries to decompose. In comparison, Engelmayr’s lab-grown cultivated leather offers authentic animal leather without sacrificing the animal—what the company calls innovation born of compassion.
Engelmayr brings 25 years of tissue engineering experience, including work growing heart valves and cardiac muscle for medical applications. “The same principles that help us grow tissues for heart surgery apply to growing leather,” he explained.
The World’s Rarest Cruelty-Free Luxury Goods: The Angelry Collection
The jewelry line includes earrings, necklaces and luxury accessories designed to showcase the cultivated leather’s unique properties. Each piece serves as both fashion accessory and proof that cruelty-free luxury accessories are possible.
Cultivated Biomaterials chose jewelry as its first market because it requires smaller quantities of material than bags or shoes, allowing the company to perfect the luxury cultivated leather technology before scaling up.
Next Steps
Cultivated Biomaterials currently produces leather by hand at laboratory scale, sufficient for jewelry production. The company plans to explore fashion partnerships and expand into other luxury goods categories after the Kickstarter campaign.
