Moroccan woman turns fish skin into luxury leather

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Moroccan company SeaSkin has found a way to transform waste fish skin into luxury leather, using it to make handbags, shoes or smartphone cases.

Founded by Nawal Allaoui, a student at the Higher School of Textile and Clothing Industries (Esith), SeaSkin produces and markets luxury leather goods based on fish leather.

This young woman knows exactly what species of fish to use and she recovers their skin from the shores of Casablanca.

The leather products by SeaSkin /Photo via wuluj.com

Considered as waste, the skins usually go to the trash to pile up in bins where they decompose and become oily matter - but now Nawal gives them a second life.

"The idea came to me when I was working in social entrepreneurship with the wives of the fishermen who cleaned the fish and took away the spines of sea urchins, in the Casablanca region," said the student.

After several tests in her room at the boarding school of Esith, Nawal was able to concoct a miraculous recipe for the tanning of fish skins, based on Moroccan organic products, such as henna.

The young designer gets raw fish skin - sole, whiting, salmon etc. - from restaurants and a fillet plant, before entrusting them to six local women who peel the skin by removing the remaining flesh residue and then rinse it clean.

The next day is devoted to vegetable tanning. Nawal bathes the skins by gradually incorporating a preparation made from natural products. Finally, the skin is ready to go into a dye bath and be customized according to the product.

At the end of the chain, the final touch is to flatten and dry the leather to create a luxury leather product.

Nawal Allaoui, founder of SeaSkin /Photo via energienvironnement.com

Thus, from the meeting of marine skin and the designer's hands, are born luxury accessories in fish leather that will satisfy people who love original products with exotic textures.

But, do the items smell like fish? "No, because the oils naturally present in the skins are replaced by natural tanning or protective oils, so the object simply smells of leather."

For the marketing of its products, Nawal exclusively sells online and it has so far been a success. First, SeaSkin has invested in a hitherto unexplored niche - that of fashion from recycling - then, the brand takes advantage of the ecological trends that affect the whole of society and offer fashion items made of fish skin.

After several tests in her room at the boarding school of Esith, Nawal was able to concoct a miraculous recipe for the tanning of fish skins. /Photo via wuluj.com

Ecological, aesthetic and resistant, this fish leather could soon become popular in our stores, and, according to Nawal, it would encourage young entrepreneurs to think green.

Source(s): Xinhua News Agency