Vegan Leather - what you need to know

Not going to lie, first time I heard about such invention as vegan leather, I was pretty skeptical. I thought such creation will not be long-lasting and probably contain lots of chemicals that at the end will do more harm than good. Boy, was I wrong! In my defense, I did not had my facts together. 

Let me share all the information I gathered, so such stereotypes would disappear fast.

What Vegan Leather is made of?

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The most common way to create vegan leather is by using polyurethane. Lately more innovative and sustainable methods hit the market: leather made out of cork, pineapple leaves and other fruit waste, recycled plastic. More and more both high fashion and mass fashion designers choose to include vegan leather. Unfortunately, real leather is still quite popular and is a symbol of great quality to many so not as many designers are ready to completely get rid of real leather. 

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Some of the brave designers and brands that are not scared to feature vegan leather in their collections are Stella McCartney, Hugo Boss, H&M, Deadwood, Viridis and many more.

What could it be used for?

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Vegan leather is very versatile. It could be used to make many different clothing items, such as dresses, coats, shoes, backpacks, purses and much more. And if you are not impressed as yet - BMW, Tesla, Lexus, Ferrari and other famous automakers are offering newest luxury cars with vegan leather seating. 

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It only proves that the real leather is not a necessity and we could survive without it.

Is vegan leather good for the environment?

Well first of all, wearing vegan leather will feel so much better than wearing a real one simply because the vegan one is cruelty-free. When you wear vegan clothes, your heart can be at peace knowing that no animal had to suffer just to fulfill your outfit. What a great feeling!

Secondly, every year more than a billion of pigs, cows, kangaroos, sheep, alligators and many other animals are cruelly slaughtered for their skins. The whole process until one can enjoy a real leather handbag is more than devastating. Many of mentioned animals suffer excruciating pain while their tails and horns are being cut off and some are even skinned while still conscious! And all of it just to please consumers...

Finally, vegan leather is much more sustainable rather than the real thing. In order to turn animal skin into leather, factories have to use lots of energy and toxic chemicals, such as: formaldehyde, oils, dyes, mineral salts and many more. It all pollutes Mother Earth.

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Quality war: Vegan leather vs Real leather

Even though it might sound crazy that vegan leather - made out of recycled plastic, fruit waste and etc. - with nowadays technologies reached almost the same quality as real leather, that is the truth. The well-made vegan leather products can even be mistaken for the real leather ones. So the reasoning, that real thing is more durable and has better quality than vegan version, should be forgotten. 

Conclusion

Could not have summed it all up better than Peta website did -  vegan leather offers a killer look without any killing! 

                                            The Vegan Society is ready to welcome you! 💚