New Vegan Kaktus Team | Meet Rui & Co.

We’ve got a new Vegan Kaktus team!

Say hello to Rui and the rest of our new partners in the charming city of Porto, Portugal. Here you’ll find a small workshop buzzing with community, support, trust, and plenty of laughter. For the five artisans who work here every day, it feels like a second home. A place where there’s always room for both creativity and individuality.

What makes this team truly special is their approach to craft and to life. Several of them live with physical challenges, but instead of seeing these as limitations, they use them as strengths. For them, it’s not about what you can’t do, it’s about everything you can do.

The project was started back in 2011 by Rui Silva, who gathered the team and created the workshop. Today, it has grown into a creative sanctuary where diversity is a gift, and everyone contributes something unique.

And the result? Beautiful, handcrafted quality products filled with passion and dedication.

Kaktus Leather – what does it mean?

Our Vegan Kaktus material has been developed as an eco-friendly alternative to other vegan leather materials, such as PU leather, pleather, and faux leather.

Many vegan leather materials are actually worse for the environment than they claim to be, mainly because they are made mostly of plastic. Plastic is not particularly eco-friendly and ultimately harms wildlife as well.

Vegan Kaktus is made from the fibers found in the leaves of the nopal cactus. These fibers are extracted from the cactus leaves, then processed and spun into a strong and durable material that can be used to produce a wide range of products, including our straps, sleeves, and wallets.

The entire production process, from harvest to finished product, is sustainable and even CO2-negative. Learn more about our Kaktus Leather here.