America, it's time to think beyond leather for luxury car seats

February 12, 2026
America, it's time to think beyond leather for luxury car seats

Here’s something that caught my attention — luxury car seats might soon be ditching leather altogether. You see, back in the mid-90s, designer Gordon Murray, best known for Formula 1, suggested that high-end sedans could use textiles like wool instead of leather to cut weight and boost performance. According to Jonathan M. Gitlin in Tech, that idea’s been lingering, especially as electric vehicles push the envelope on sustainability and innovation. Recently, BMW’s i7 debuted with a plush cashmere wool interior, and EV makers like Audi are exploring textile options that aren’t available in the U.S. yet. What’s fascinating is how automakers are now rethinking luxury — moving beyond tradition and embracing eco-friendly, high-quality fabrics. It’s not just about saving weight; it’s about redefining what luxury means in a sustainable future. So, get ready — next time you pick a premium ride, it might come with a fabric that’s as luxurious as leather, but way better for the planet.

A long time ago, in (I believe) an issue of Car Magazine from the mid-1990s, the designer Gordon Murray shared his thoughts about a possible four-door follow-up to the McLaren F1.

Road cars weren't really his thing. Until then, his career had been focused on Formula 1 car design, and he brought that sport's obsession with weight savings with him. Were he to design a sedan, he'd trim the interior with textile, not leather. After all, wool made fine suits and coats, Murray reasoned, and it would save weight.

A four-door McLaren never happened during his tenure, nor has one appeared since. Murray now runs his own boutique hypercar company, which also builds no sedans. But the idea that high-end cars could use something other than leather has stuck with me, especially after driving BMW's i7, which  debuted in 2022 with a premium cashmere wool interior. More recently, new EVs have experimented with interesting textile alternatives to leather. Two good examples are the BMW iX3 and the Audi A6, though neither can be ordered with these textile options in the US.

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Audio Transcript

A long time ago, in (I believe) an issue of Car Magazine from the mid-1990s, the designer Gordon Murray shared his thoughts about a possible four-door follow-up to the McLaren F1.

Road cars weren't really his thing. Until then, his career had been focused on Formula 1 car design, and he brought that sport's obsession with weight savings with him. Were he to design a sedan, he'd trim the interior with textile, not leather. After all, wool made fine suits and coats, Murray reasoned, and it would save weight.

A four-door McLaren never happened during his tenure, nor has one appeared since. Murray now runs his own boutique hypercar company, which also builds no sedans. But the idea that high-end cars could use something other than leather has stuck with me, especially after driving BMW's i7, which  debuted in 2022 with a premium cashmere wool interior. More recently, new EVs have experimented with interesting textile alternatives to leather. Two good examples are the BMW iX3 and the Audi A6, though neither can be ordered with these textile options in the US.

Read full article

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