Earlier this year, Rheom Material’s Founder & CEO, Zimri T. Hinshaw, was featured on the plant-based sustainability podcast PLANT CEO. In the episode, Hinshaw sits down with the host Anant Joshi to tell the story of Rheom Materials, from its beginnings in Japan to its now Texas roots.
How a Biobased Material Platform Company Was Born
Hinshaw shares how growing up in Okinawa and attending a Japanese high school sparked the inspiration behind Rheom Materials. There, he became captivated by the bōsōzuku-style leather jackets worn by the local “badboys”, or “yankii’s (ヤンマー)”, embroidered with classic Japanese design. Upon returning to the U.S., he wanted to recreate those jackets, but Hinshaw found himself stuck when it came to the material.
“I don't want to use animal leather. It's not part of my values. I don't want to use plastic leather, there's got to be something else I can make these jackets out of…I realized that they didn't exist and got in the business of creating them.” – Zimri T. Hinshaw
That gap in the market led to Rheom Materials and its biobased products: Shorai™, a biobased leather alternative, and Benree™, a biopolymer resin. Both materials are designed to drop-into existing plastic extrusion manufacturing, making them scalable and competitively priced.
Recent Rheom Collaborations: Wuxly, LuckyNelly, & More
It only took five years, but Hinshaw’s dream became a reality when Wuxly, a Canadian sustainable outerwear brand, used Shorai for their motorcycle-style “BAD Next-Gen Leather Jacket”. The jacket was part of Wuxly’s BAD collection by Canadian rock icon Bryan Adams. The XL size, made from Shorai, sold out almost immediately, marking a full-circle moment for the company’s origin.
Rheom is also partnered with LUCKYNELLY–BERLIN, a luxury vegan handbag brand. The Founder, Christine Rochlitz, creates one-of-a-kind handbags made with biobased leather alternatives, like Shorai. During Houston Climate Week, Rochlitz donated “The Black Orchid Bag” to be auctioned off, raising $1805 for the Kerr County Flood Relief Fund in response to the devastating floods that impacted Texas last year.
Rheom's collaborations don't stop there. The company recently announced a new manufacturing partnership with Econock, with something exciting on the horizon just in time for Earth Day and Fashion Revolution Week.
Putting Shorai to the Test: Rheom’s Houston Rodeo Campaign
Beyond brand partnerships, Rheom has been putting its materials to the test. One of the most compelling segments of the episode is Zimri's breakdown of Rheom's Houston Rodeo campaign. Last rodeo season, Rheom created two western-inspired outfits, including a top, skirt, and jacket worn by a model two-stepping with cowboys, playing carnival games, and living the full rodeo experience.
“The point behind [the campaign] was you don’t have to change your life to wear biomaterials…you can just start introducing these things into your wardrobe little by little. If [Shorai] can work at the Houston rodeo, it can work anywhere” – Zimri T. Hinshaw
The message was simple: you don't need to overhaul your life to wear biobased materials. The campaign's tagline, "Change your impact, not your life", is Rheom's core consumer philosophy.
Scale, Supply Chain, and a $2.6 Trillion Market Opportunity
Behind the campaigns and collaborations, Rheom has been focusing on building a scalable materials platform. The company doesn't grow raw materials or run extrusion lines itself; they own the formulations, the processing, and the patents, and work with their partner manufacturers in the US to bring materials to scale. That asset-light model has allowed the company to move fast, at a fraction of the cost. Rheom's current supply chain partners for Shorai, Bixby International, have a capacity of approximately 1,640,000 kg per year, representing millions of dollars in potential revenue.
The markets they're targeting are enormous. The global leather market alone approaches $500 billion. Add plastic alternatives and adjacent material categories, and Zimri estimates a total addressable market of around $2.6 trillion across all the industries Rheom is pursuing.
What Next for Rheom: Future Biobased Materials and an Open Investment Round
Looking ahead, Hinshaw commented on future development tracks for the biobased materials platform: new Shorai™ iterations for a variety of applications and their future in biofibers that could open an entirely new sustainable textile platform.
He also confirms that Rheom currently has a fundraising round open with a lead investor already in place. Brands, manufacturers, and investors interested in bringing scalable, plant-based material alternatives into their supply chains or portfolios can reach out here.
A big thank you to Anant Joshi and the PLANT CEO Podcast for a fantastic conversation and for creating a platform to share plant-based stories like ours. Want to explore Shorai™ or Benree™ for your brand or supply chain? Contact us or learn more at rheom.com.
