With all this talk about leather and vegan and all this stuff, I had an absolutely crazy brainstorm (or someone might say "brainfart"!). Would it be possible to make a non-leather Brooks-type saddle? In other words, a saddle constructed like a Brooks that can be tensioned, but instead of leather it would be made out of a very thick waxed cotton duck or canvas?
Henry Ford, I heard, had a car body made out of soybeans in 1938. He took a sledgehammer to it and it didn't break! So a non-leather Brooks could certainly be possible.