The Hottest Label in Fashion Is ‘Vegan’

Scott Miller
·3 min read
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Faux fur. Fake snake. Mock croc. We’ve entered a golden age of cruelty-free fabrics that take animal welfare and environmental concerns into account. More and more clothing and accessories are now made from organic materials such as temple flowers, mulberry leaves or apple cores—and the list goes on.

Hugo Boss and Chanel have worked with leather made from pineapples. Stella McCartney is making bags using mushroom leather. Eco-conscious designers are discovering more and more sources, from coconuts to hemp to beech tree fiber, for making natural, breathable materials.

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When Kylie Jenner recently launched her new apparel brand, she celebrated with a star-studded party featuring a cruelty-free dress code. The runway has found a new way. Vegan fashion is here to stay—and it’s moving beyond the catwalk.

Last year, vegan brand von Holzhausen launched the world’s first 100 percent plant-based high-performance topcoat to replace the plastic topcoating on car interiors, canvas tote bags and even cereal boxes. Its products also feature sustainable animal-free leathers made from bamboo or agricultural waste. German sneaker company nat-2 transforms recycled coffee grounds and plastic bottles into a luxe material that looks like suede.

Cutting-edge creators are leaving fur, leather and other animal skins behind. Brands like Burberry, Diane von Furstenberg, Victoria Beckham, Vivienne Westwood and PVH Corp. (the parent company of Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein) have made the compassionate, progressive decision to ban exotic skins and fur from their collections. Mall staples like The Gap and Abercrombie & Fitch have embraced vegan cashmere and cruelty-free down.

Likewise, Gucci, Versace and Prada have rightfully rejected fur. In the fur industry, minks, foxes, chinchillas and other animals are forced to spend their entire lives confined to cramped, filthy wire cages. Fur farmers often use the cheapest killing methods available, which are also the cruelest, including suffocation, electrocution, gassing and poisoning.

The wool industry is no better. If the thought of shearing sheep conjures up images of Little Bo Peep, think again. For millions of sheep worldwide, shearing is a painful, frightening ordeal conducted in a hasty and careless way that inflicts trauma and frequent injuries on the terrified animals. Fortunately, wool is often being replaced with seaweed. Yes, seaweed. The structure of seaweed textile fibers soothes itchiness and promotes humidity intake and release, which keeps the wearer warm in the winter and cool in the summer.

Silk is also now being replaced with cruelty-free alternatives. Instead of boiling worms in order to kill them and take the cocoons, wood pulp is transformed into a soft fabric that’s also biodegradable, recyclable and naturally wrinkle-free. And when it comes to cashmere, rather than tying goats down and pulling their hair out with sharp metal combs, soybeans are being used to produce eco-friendly vegan cashmere that’s warm and comfortable.

Whenever animals’ bodies are used in the name of “style”—or for anything else—there’s sure to be suffering behind the scenes. The millions of cows and other animals who are killed to make leather endure extreme crowding, and they’re subjected to castration, branding and tail-docking—all without any painkillers. Feathers for accessories come from birds who were killed for their flesh. Reptiles exploited for shoes, handbags and belts endure lives of horror and violent deaths.

In addition to inflicting pain on sensitive, complex individuals, producing animal-derived materials requires toxic chemicals and contributes to the climate catastrophe, land devastation and water contamination on a far greater scale than producing vegan materials does. Cows and sheep are the leading global producers of methane, a potent greenhouse gas.

By abandoning its bloody past and welcoming simulated skin, imitation feathers and other innovative vegan options, the fashion industry is maintaining its relevance and staying, well, fashionable.

Scott Miller is a staff writer for the PETA Foundation.