“Cruelty is one fashion statement we can all do without”.
Well, I would support this statement. It’s true that we can live and have a fashion statement without animal cruelty. Still, so many big fashion brands are designing their clothing line and accessories with leather and fur. In fact, usage of silk is also considered as animal cruelty. Silk comes from insects and they go through lot of pain while they contribute in creating beautiful soft and shinning silk.
What is vegan leather?
So what’s the alternative for the animal leather. Well, vegan leather is the option here, which is amazing, less costly and can be easily made. Vegan leather is also known as artificial leather and synthetic leather too. It is a great alternate to design clothes, bags, shoes and belts. Some brands also uses vegan leather to design modern upholstery. Some brands also call it imitation leather or faux pas leather too. Nowadays, some experts also call it man made leather as its not coming from animal skin and humans are creating leather with the help of innovative techniques.
History of vegan leather?
Vegan leather came into being in the late 19th century in Germany. During the world wars, finding the best quality animal skin for creating leather was tough. That’s why Germans tried finding an alternative and came up with a mixture material of paper pulp known as, Prestoff. It was easy to made and can be used in making bags, shoes, belts and clothes. As the durability was a matter of concern for Prestoff, that’s why it went out of market.
But it gained popularity all over again as Naugahyde, created and designed by the US Rubber Company in 1920. It instantly gave the leather like look and texture with long durability. Celebrity designer, Stella McCartney made it a worldwide popular fashion trick by using high quality vegan leather in her 2010 collection. In the modern times, vegan or imitation leather is made from the following materials:
- Mushroom waste
- Leaves wastes
- PU leather
- Pleather
- Faux leather
- Leatherette
Other natural materials like, apples, banana leaves, tree leaves and its waste, pineapple skin, paper and cork can be seen using to create smooth and durable leather. Fashion designers like Jill Milan and Melie Bianco are proud to include artificial leather in their designs.
Fashion brands using vegan leather
From the popular brands like Hermes to Balenciaga, all are including artificial leather in their designs. Even few brands also used red wine in the artificial leather materials to bring a beautiful colour. Brands like, H&M, Marks & Spencer, Zara, Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger, etc. also switched their products to vegan leather.
Benefits of vegan leather
- Vegan leather is easy and fast to produce. Its not very expensive as well.
- Animal leather gets faded pretty easily, but artificial leather don’t get faded so easily.
- The artificial leather is also stain-resistant. The animal leather also get stains and cracks pretty easily. That’s why the products made from animal leather doesn’t stay for longer.
- Vegan leather is also water and UV light resistant. If you are scanning bags made from artificial leather in the malls or airports, your stuffs will be intact and protected inside the bag.
- As it is produced ethically, its sustainable and environment friendly. Its mainly made from the trees and plant wastes.
- Its highly versatile and also available in various textures which can easily be included in the fashion line and goods.
It won’t consume a lot out of you, if you are planning to switch from animal leather to vegan leather today. It’s still not so late to switch your fashion statement from an animal blood stained fashion to green leather which is more sustainable and environment friendly. You can keep the ecological balance intact and be fashionable exactly the way you want to be.