Alcantara (material)

Pink Alcantara in the Lancia Y
Grey Alcantara in the interior of a McLaren 720S
Alcantara
Product typeMaterial
Produced byAlcantara S.p.A.
Country Japan
 Italy
Introduced1970s
Related brandsUltrasuede
Websitewww.alcantara.com
Alcantara
Material69% polyester and 31% polyurethane
Production processspinning process, chemical
Introduced1970s
ManufacturerAlcantara S.p.A.

Alcantara is the brand name of a synthetic textile with a soft, suede-like microfibre pile, noted for its durability. Alcantara was developed in the 1970s by Miyoshi Okamoto and initially manufactured by the Italian company Alcantara. The term has an Arabic root (Arabic: القنطرة, romanizedal-qantara) and means "the bridge".

Alcantara is produced by combining an advanced spinning process (producing very low denier bicomponent "islands-in-the-sea" fiber) and chemical and textile production processes (needle punching, buffing, impregnation, extraction, finishing, dyeing, etc.) which interact with each other.

Alcantara is commonly seen in automotive applications,[1] as a substitute for leather and vinyl in vehicle interior trim. It is also used in the design, fashion, consumer electronics and marine industries.[2]

  1. ^ "Automotive applications", Alcantara S.p.A. https://www.alcantara.com/applications/automotive/ Archived 2023-08-31 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ ""Applications and collaborations", Alcantara S.p.A." Archived from the original on 2023-08-31. Retrieved 2023-08-31.