Short answer: MIRUM, a plant-based leather alternative made by the materials company Natural Fiber Welding (NFW), just secured fresh investment in January 2026 from Provest Equity Partners and CTW Venture Partners — the same month trade press confirmed that Piñatex's maker, Ananas Anam, had collapsed. Two companies chasing the same "grown, not grazed" promise, landing in opposite places within months of each other. Coneli uses neither material — our bags are made from Desserto® cactus leather, Viridis® corn leather, and OLEATEX® olive leather — but the contrast says something real about where next-gen leather is heading.
Fast Facts
- What MIRUM is: a plant-based, plastic-free leather alternative made from natural rubber, plant-based oils, and pigments like biochar and rust — no polyurethane or PVC coating, according to its maker.
- Who makes it: Natural Fiber Welding (NFW), founded in 2015 by Dr. Luke Haverhals, based in Peoria, Illinois.
- Biggest fashion moment: Stella McCartney's Falabella and Frayme bags, unveiled at her Winter 2023 show and launched for Fall 2023 — the first luxury handbags made from MIRUM.
- January 2026 news: NFW announced a new joint investment from Provest Equity Partners and CTW Venture Partners, on top of existing backing from BMW i Ventures, Ralph Lauren Corporation, Allbirds, and Asahi Kasei.
- The contrast: Piñatex's maker, Ananas Anam, entered administration in August 2025 and was reported wound down by March 2026 — a very different outcome for a materially similar bet on next-gen, plant-based leather.
- Coneli's position: we don't use MIRUM or Piñatex. Our three materials — Desserto® cactus leather, Viridis® corn leather, OLEATEX® olive leather — are confirmed in active use in our current catalog as of this article's publish date.
What Is MIRUM, Exactly?
MIRUM is a leather alternative developed by Natural Fiber Welding (NFW), a materials science company founded in 2015 by Dr. Luke Haverhals on the belief that the world relies too heavily on petroleum-based plastics. NFW now sells MIRUM into fashion, footwear, automotive, and furniture applications. According to NFW and Stella McCartney's own product pages, MIRUM is built from natural rubber, plant-based oils, and natural pigments — including biochar and rust — joined together through what the company describes as a closed-loop manufacturing process that uses no synthetic glues, no tanning, and no added water. NFW's own marketing states MIRUM contains none of the petroleum-based polyurethane (PU) or PVC coatings that many other "vegan leathers" rely on, and describes the material as fully recyclable.
MIRUM's maker markets its no-PU, no-PVC construction as a specific differentiator from other "vegan leathers" on the market. We can't speak to every competing material's exact composition, including our own three — Desserto® cactus leather, Viridis® corn leather, and OLEATEX® olive leather are plant-based at their core, and we've written honestly about what we do and don't know about each in our own materials comparison. What we can say is that NFW's no-PU claim is one of the things that has made MIRUM a closely watched material in the plant-based leather space.
The Stella McCartney Launch That Put MIRUM on the Map
MIRUM's highest-profile moment to date came in 2023, when Stella McCartney introduced the Falabella and Frayme bags — both made from MIRUM — at her Winter 2023 runway show, with the collection launching that Fall. The bags paired MIRUM with recycled brass and aluminium hardware and a lining made from recycled polyester, and were handcrafted into finished accessories in Italy. Announcing the collection, Stella McCartney said: "There is no compromise on desirability or durability; the future of fashion has arrived." Coverage of the launch did not disclose retail pricing, and we have not independently confirmed whether these exact styles remain available today — treat this as a 2023 launch fact, not a current-availability claim.
January 2026: NFW Raises Fresh Capital
On January 14, 2026, NFW announced a new joint investment from Provest Equity Partners and CTW Venture Partners. The exact amount wasn't disclosed in press coverage, but the announcement confirmed the round builds on previous backing from BMW i Ventures, Ralph Lauren Corporation, Allbirds, and Asahi Kasei. As part of the deal, Suhas Uppalapati — Managing Partner at Provest — became NFW's Chairman. NFW's CEO, Steve Zika, called it "an important inflection point for NFW," while Uppalapati said the firm's role is "to help translate innovation into scalable, profitable growth as the company enters its next phase." The stated use of funds: scaling MIRUM and NFW's other materials (including its PLIANT™ footwear outsole) for global brand partners across fashion, footwear, automotive, and industrial markets.
Two Next-Gen Leathers, Two Very Different 2026 Outcomes
We've already covered the other half of this story: in our piece on Piñatex's 2025–26 collapse, we detailed how Ananas Anam — maker of the pineapple-leaf-fiber material used by Hugo Boss, H&M, and others — entered administration in August 2025 and was reported wound down by March 2026. MIRUM and Piñatex are not the same material, the same company, or even the same underlying agricultural input. But they occupy the same broad category — commercially-scaled, plant-based "next-gen" leather alternatives chasing fashion-industry adoption — and landing in such different places within the same several-month window is a useful data point for anyone deciding how much weight to put on any single next-gen material's long-term prospects.
| Material | Maker | 2025–26 status | Notable brand use |
|---|---|---|---|
| MIRUM | Natural Fiber Welding | New investment announced Jan. 2026 | Stella McCartney (Falabella/Frayme, 2023) |
| Piñatex | Ananas Anam | Administration Aug. 2025; reported wound down by Mar. 2026 | Hugo Boss, H&M (historical capsule collections) |
| Desserto® cactus leather | Adriano Di Marti | Actively supplying Coneli's current catalog | BMW, Mercedes-Benz, H&M, Fossil, Karl Lagerfeld (see our materials-authority series) |
One important caveat, the same one we made in the Piñatex piece: one company's funding round doesn't prove a material's long-term viability any more than one company's collapse indicts an entire category. Plenty of next-gen materials have had real commercial setbacks that had nothing to do with whether the underlying science worked — and plenty of well-funded companies still fail years later. Treat both stories as data points, not verdicts.
Does This Change What Coneli Uses?
No — and we want to be direct about why. Coneli has never used MIRUM or Piñatex in any product. Our bags, belts, and accessories are made from three confirmed, currently-supplied materials: Desserto® cactus leather (Adriano Di Marti, Mexico), Viridis® corn leather (Panama Trimmings, Italy), and OLEATEX® olive leather (Oleago, Turkey). Each has its own supplier relationship, its own sourcing story, and — as we've written about before — its own tradeoffs. We're not in a position to predict any supplier's long-term financial future, ours included, and we won't pretend otherwise. What we can say factually is that all three materials are, as of this article's publish date, in active use across our current product line.
FAQ
Is MIRUM the same as Piñatex?
No. They're different materials from different companies. MIRUM (Natural Fiber Welding) is made primarily from natural rubber, plant oils, and natural pigments. Piñatex (Ananas Anam) was made from pineapple leaf fibers left over from the pineapple harvest. Both are marketed as plant-based, plastic-reduced leather alternatives, but they're not interchangeable products.
Does Coneli use MIRUM?
No. Coneli's bags and accessories are made from Desserto® cactus leather, Viridis® corn leather, and OLEATEX® olive leather. This article is industry reporting on a material we don't use.
How much money did Natural Fiber Welding raise in January 2026?
Press coverage of the Provest Equity Partners / CTW Venture Partners investment did not disclose the exact amount.
Can you still buy a MIRUM bag today?
Stella McCartney launched MIRUM bags (the Falabella and Frayme) for Fall 2023. We have not independently confirmed current availability of those specific styles — check Stella McCartney's own site for up-to-date stock.
Is plant-based leather a reliable long-term material category?
The category includes companies with very different 2025–26 outcomes — this article and our Piñatex piece both show that. The honest answer is that any single material or company's fortunes shouldn't be read as proof about the whole category, in either direction.
Last updated: October 2026.
Methodology & Sources
MIRUM material composition and manufacturing claims: Natural Fiber Welding's own statements as reported by FashionUnited (Aug. 2023) and Stella McCartney's own product page. NFW founding facts: vegconomist (2019 interview) and NFW's investor profile. Stella McCartney Falabella/Frayme launch details and quote: FashionUnited (Aug. 2023). January 2026 investment facts and quotes: cross-verified across three independent outlets — Parsers.vc, Pulse2, and Specialty Fabrics Review — all reporting the Provest Equity Partners/CTW Venture Partners announcement dated January 14, 2026. Piñatex/Ananas Anam facts are drawn from our own previously-published, independently-sourced article linked above. This article makes no claim about any material-naming law or regulation, and no claim about the current financial stability of Desserto, Viridis, or OLEATEX — only that they are factually in active use in Coneli's current catalog as of publish date.