As the popularity of his rice vegan leather has grown, there are several fashions shows that are upcoming in the next season, which will include the material in their designs. Material manufacturers are often the unsung contributors in the fashion world, responsible for textures, movement, and comfort. Each aspect of a piece of clothing is affected by the material that is chosen.

We talked with Asif Ali Gohar about his stance on fashion.

How many designers do you know are going to use your vegan leather in their shows?

Do you get invitations to all of those shows?

There are some who use the material a lot and they have invited me to the show. Especially if they are launching a new line that is all vegan leather. If they use just a little as accents, or if they have only one or two pieces, I do not usually get to go. This year I am going to many of the shows and will watch clothes from dozens of designers walk the runway.

How do you feel it will affect your business being seen in such a celebrated occasion?

It is exciting to see my work has had an effect on other industries and that people enjoy using it. When I started this project, I couldn’t know that it would become in demand so much and used in so many different ways. It was such a small project, to get a good mark in school, and now it’s being used in many places and by so many people.

When you started your vegan leather, was this part of your goals or did you see a whole other use for the product?

This whole product began as a school project. I wanted to make something that would be a good replacement for leather but that was made from safe materials and wasn’t as bad for the environment.

Once I had developed it fully, it seemed to grow all on its own. I knew it was a good product that it went better than I had expected, but when I got the first call from someone about using it in clothing I was surprised. I thought that it would be mostly for tools, for halters or harnesses for horses and other animals, but I didn’t intend for it to also be beautiful and add to the clothing that people wear. Now to see it on purses and for shoes is an experience that I had never considered.

What’s next for your brand?

As it is moving in a new direction, we are working on adding new colours and variations, maybe we can make different textures by adjusting the formula. I’m talking to some people who are in this industry and around all the fashion shows I am hearing more things they would like to do with it so we are focused on getting them the variations they need to do more.