Natalie Portman backs Vegan Leather, Live Commerce Growth, Mango's Textile Recycling
UNCAGED targets alternatives to hides and plastics; live commerce continues its impressive growth; and Mango treats circularity as supply-chain strategy.
Natalie Portman Backs Plastic-Free Vegan Leather Startup UNCAGED Innovations
Natalie Portman has joined US biomaterials company UNCAGED Innovations as a strategic partner and investor, backing its push to scale a plastic-free, plant-based leather alternative into fashion. Founded in 2020, UNCAGED has developed Elevate, a vegan leather made from grain byproducts, natural rubber and plant oils, using a proprietary BioFuze process that mimics the collagen structure of animal leather. The company claims the material produces 95% fewer greenhouse gases, uses 89% less water and is fully biodegradable. Already adopted by Jaguar Land Rover and Hyundai, Portman’s involvement signals a move toward high-end fashion applications.
Why it matters: Vegan leather has historically had a credibility problem - with some exceptions, most alternatives swap animal hide for petrochemical plastics. UNCAGED’s approach tackles that head-on, positioning bio-based materials as a viable replacement rather than a compromise. Portman’s backing might add some cultural weight and exposure, but the real test will be whether fashion brands can scale performance, cost and consistency beyond pilots.
And, as meat consumption plateaus or declines (if forecasts are accurate), fashion can’t necessarily rely on livestock systems to supply materials by default. Plastic-free bio-leathers like UNCAGED’s aren’t just about ethics, they’re also about decoupling fashion materials from industrial animal agriculture.
Rachel Smith
Live Commerce Market Set to Triple by 2030
The global live commerce market is projected to grow from $1.2 billion in 2024 to $3.93 billion by 2030, driven by the rise of interactive, experience-led shopping. Smartphone and 5G adoption are making real-time video shopping frictionless, while platforms like Taobao Live, TikTok Shop, Amazon Live and Bambuser are blending livestreaming, influencers and instant checkout. AR and VR are accelerating the shift, with virtual try-on tools boosting confidence and pushing conversion rates far beyond traditional e-commerce benchmarks.
Why it matters: Live commerce signals a fundamental unbundling of “the shop.” Instead of a handful of owned channels, brands now face a near-infinite number of micro-storefronts, each creator, stream and community becoming a temporary point of sale. The advantage in live commerce isn’t reach, it’s timing. Authentic, creator-led moments convert faster than polished campaigns - the brands that can systemise what works are the ones who will turn the fleeting hype of live commerce into durable growth.
Wishma Yasir
Mango Invests in Post-Consumer Textile Recycling With The Post Fiber
Mango has become the first major fashion brand to invest in Spanish start-up The Post Fiber, backing its push to bring post-consumer recycled fibres into mainstream apparel. The retailer has already launched a limited-edition Mango Teen capsule using the start-up’s fibres, with around 80% recycled content per garment, sourced from a mix of post-consumer waste and post-industrial scrap. The move forms part of Mango’s broader strategy to scale circular materials beyond pilot projects, as regulatory and commercial pressure mounts across Europe.
Why it matters: Textile-to-textile recycling has long struggled to move past proof-of-concept, largely due to quality constraints and fragmented collection systems. By investing upstream and committing recycled fibres to real products, Mango is showing that circularity is shifting from experimentation to supply-chain strategy. If brands want to hit looming recycled-content targets, ownership, not just partnerships, may be the fastest way to build capacity.
Kirstin Linnenkoper
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