What Is Alcantara Fabric In A Car And How Its Different From Suede?
For die-hard car enthusiasts, Alcantara represents the height of interior luxury. This high-end fabric can be found adorning seats and dashboards in everything from Bentley’s and Lamborghini’s, to Ford’s and Toyota’s. The iconic name, taken from the Arabic word “al qantara” (meaning “the bridge”), just drips with swagger. But what is it exactly, where does it come from, and how did it become so renowned?
Let’s start by painting a picture of a region in Italy, called Umbria. This postcard-perfect setting consists of rolling picturesque hillsides, olive groves, cypress trees, vineyards, and lakes. Millennia’s old Etruscan, Roman, and medieval towns dot the lush green countryside. And, “just a stone’s throw” away is the ancient town of Terni, where this legendary Alcantara fabric comes from.
Don’t let the exotic name or the romantic ages-old setting fool you, because the true origin of Alcantara is far less romantic and far more scientific. In 1970, chemist Miyoshi Okamoto was working for Toray Industries when he invented a synthetic microscopic ultra-fiber polymer so small that someone could theoretically stretch one pound of the stuff to the moon and back.
What Is Alcantara Fabric In A Car And How Its Different From Suede?
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