The Ultimate Guide to Vegan Fabrics
Are you tired of wondering whether your fashion choices are ethically and environmentally responsible? Look no further than our ‘Ultimate Guide to Vegan Fabrics’, your comprehensive resource for understanding and embracing the world of sustainable and compassionate fashion. From plant-based textiles to innovative materials, this guide will introduce you to a wide range of vegan fabrics that are both stylish and cruelty-free.
Leather
The Problem
Many people think leather only exists as a byproduct of the meat and dairy industries, a way to reduce waste and use the whole animal. This is not the reality. Leather is, in and of itself, a fully mechanized independent industry and every year over a billion animals are killed for their skins. Millions of exotic animals in particular, such as snakes, crocodiles, alligators, kangaroos, lizards and even elephants are killed just for their skin and nothing else.
Leather produced in the United States usually comes from cows and calves killed in the meat and dairy industries, however, the vast majority of “typical” leather sold in the United States and around the world is produced in India and China where cows and other animals including dogs, cats and camels are sometimes skinned alive before they are killed. The international industry makes it nearly impossible to determine the true source of leather so many American consumers may be unknowingly purchasing leather from dogs and other animals that were brutally killed overseas.
The process of producing leather is also incredibly hazardous for the people who work in tanneries around the world, often in near slavery conditions. Leather production involves harsh chemicals including formaldehyde and coal tar derivatives that lead to terrible health issues for these workers and sometimes premature death. Even in the United States just living around tanneries has led to serious and sometimes fatal health problems for local communities who are forced to deal with factory runoff seeping into their soil and spreading into their air.
The Solution
Pinatex harvest
The most important thing to know about leather alternatives is that although they all have different environmental impacts from less sustainable to fully biodegradable, ALL leather alternatives are far better for the environment than animal skin leather which is the least sustainable material commonly used in the fashion industry. Even though pleather (imitation leather made from PVC, polyvinyl chloride, that is attached to a fabric backing) is still the most common type of mass-produced faux leather readily and cheaply available there are now other synthetic vegan leather alternatives becoming increasingly common that are much more environmentally friendly.
PU, or polyurethane based vegan leather, sometimes referred to as “future-leather” or simply “vegan leather” is also a plastic based material but it requires far fewer toxic chemicals to produce and as it undergoes further developments it is becoming increasingly eco-friendly. Vegetable based PU is made using plant oil by-products and recycled PU is also now being used more frequently in vegan leather-like products.
For those who prefer to stick with natural materials there are also numerous fully plant-based leather alternatives available as well. Pinatex®, or pinapple leather, is an organic and environmentally friendly synthetic leather that is growing in popularity in the fashion industry, it is just as sturdy and durable as animal skin leather and Pinatex®, products are now readily available at affordable prices for ethical consumers. Cork is another great plant-based alternative to leather that has been used for years to create bags, shoes and wallets and is particularly popular in Portugal where half the world’s cork is produced. Other alternative materials currently in use to create leather-like textiles include recycled rubber, apples, Muskin which is made from mushroom caps, coffee, tree bark, coconut waste, paper and agave leaves.
Looking to the future …
Stella McCartney’s Milo leather bag
As plant based and sustainable leather alternatives move further into the mainstream we should expect to see a rise in lab grown leather in the near future. Modern Meadow is a biotech company based in New Jersey that has already created lab grown leather by fermenting yeast to create collagen, the primary protein found in skin. Mylo™, a mycelium, or mushroom root, based leather alternative that is produced by Bolt Threads has the support of a consortium of major brands including Stella McCartney. Bolt Threads has plans to work with a grower in the Netherlands to start producing Mylo™ on a mass scale and hopefully bring mushroom leather to a wider audience in the near future.
Another promising alternative leather product is called Coolstone leather, a leather-like material made from thin pieces of slate stone. Coolstone leather, although derived from rocks, is actually soft and malleable like animal skin leather. With all of the innovative, cruelty-free and environmentally friendly alternative leather options currently being tested in the fashion world there is no question that affordable, beautiful and sustainable leather-like products will become increasingly available for consumers around the world.
Learn more about the incredible cruelty-free materials being used to create leather alternatives with our ultimate plant-based leather guide.
FUR
The Problem
A fox in the fur industry. Photo by Andrew Skowron
There is no ethical way to wear fur. Do not be fooled by the greenwashing efforts of major clothing brands that refuse to get with the times and stop supporting this barbaric industry. Over 100 million animals including foxes, rabbits, minks, raccoons, wolves, coyotes, beavers, chinchillas and dogs are killed each year for their fur alone. These animals are typically intensively raised in tiny cramped cages with wire floors for their very short miserable lives and are usually killed either by being gassed or by anal electrocution when they are still only months old.
Other fur is taken from wild animals that are caught using brutal traps that clamp onto their legs and leave them writhing in agony until they are eventually stomped to death or shot. Some animals caught in traps chew their own legs off in order to escape, others are attacked by predators and unable to defend themselves as they are left stuck and helpless sometimes for days on end with no food or water.
We do not need to wear their fur. This year revealed just one small glimpse into the repugnant reality of fur farming when Denmark recently called for the mass slaughter of millions of minks that were being raised for fur over Covid concerns. The bodies of these killed animals, who are viewed as nothing but a commodity, were carelessly dumped into barely covered pits and now the country is being forced to deal with the grotesque specter of the corpses of their victims rising back up to the surface of their shallow graves.
The Solution
ECOPEL's artisan faux fur
The most common material used to make faux fur is polyester. Polyester is a synthetic polymer and is typically petroleum based, fur apologists and those who benefit financially from the fur industry spread misinformation about the environmental impact of synthetic materials when in reality faux fur is still far more sustainable than animal-based fibers.
The shift in the fashion industry towards environmental awareness has also led brands to use more recycled polyester and poly-blend fabrics. Ecopel developed a new vegan fur alternative called KOBA Fur-Free-Fur, or simply “vegan fur” which is 37 percent plant-based fiber combined with recycled polyester and has the backing of designer Stella McCartney.
There have been notable cases of companies selling real fur from animals such as dogs, rabbits and foxes, and passing it off as vegan fur to unsuspecting consumers. If you are looking for faux fur one way to identify that you are not inadvertently paying for cruelty is to separate the fur at the base, faux fur will have a fabric webbing or backing of some kind whereas animal fur will still be attached to the animal’s skin. Animal fur will also have more variation in the length of the hairs and may have denser curlier hairs closer to the base which longer hairs stick out from, faux fur should be more uniform in hair length and individual hairs should be one color.
Looking to the Future…
Stella McCartney uses plant-based KOBA instead of fur
Over 300 fashion brands have made the ethical decision to stop using fur in their clothing so it is now easier than ever to find high quality, affordable faux fur. Thanks to public education campaigns about the horrors involved in the fur industry and the desire for sustainable fabrics more and more companies are sure to follow suit and ditch fur in favor of alternatives. KOBA fur-free-fur is expected to become the standard choice for faux fur fashion in the years ahead thanks to its lower carbon footprint and use of natural plant-based materials.
WOOL
The Problem
When you think of where wool comes from you may imagine a charming bucolic scene of fluffy frolicking baby lambs and happy mother sheep getting a haircut once in a while. In reality the sheep that are used in the commercial wool industry often live in horrific conditions like all other factory farmed animals.
Sheep do not naturally require sheering as wild sheep only grow enough wool to keep themselves warm in the winter, the sheep used in commercial wool production have been bred to continuously grow their wool and the process of removing it is often extremely violent. In most commercial wool operations workers are paid based on the number of sheep they sheer instead of an hourly wage which leads to workers trying to sheer as many sheep as possible as quickly as possible. Many sheep are severely cut or have large sections of their skin removed while others have their tails, ears and teats accidentally cut off and some are simply killed outright in the process of sheering. The shorn sheep and lambs are left with open bleeding wounds which are typically left untreated but may be roughly stitched up without any form of anesthesia if the animal is “lucky”. Millions of sheep die each year as the result of wool collection injuries.
The sheep who do survive having their wool violently removed eventually wind up being sent to slaughter, this can include being sent by ship for weeks long journeys particularly between Australia, the world’s leading wool producer, and the middle east where these intelligent and sensitive animals are packed into filthy cramped cargo holds and a great many die of stress and disease before they reach the slaughter houses.
The Solution
Avoiding wool and staying cozy all winter long is easier than you may think! Organic cotton is a great, easy-to-find option for cruelty-free, sustainable knitted clothing. Hemp is another material that works very well to replace wool in both knitwear and in spools of yarn for knitting enthusiasts. Recycled polyester which is used to make alternative fur can also be used to make stunning wool free knitted clothing.
Looking to the Future…
TENCEL Modal fibers
There are many up and coming materials that will hopefully replace wool in the mainstream in the years to come. One new textile called Weganool is made from a combination of organic cotton and calotropis pod fibers and stem fibers. Calotropis is a wild desert plant that grows easily without any water, care or pesticides. Wegnaool is available in Europe. Another wool alternative that is gaining traction in the home goods and fashion worlds is lyocell, notably the brand Tencel™, which is made from wood pulp and is the most eco-friendly type of rayon.
SeaCell® is a fabric made using a similar process to lyocell but it uses cellulose derived from seaweed rather than wood pulp. Vegetable Cashmere™ is an innovative soy-based cashmere alternative created by KD New York that mimics the soft silky feel of animal cashmere and will hopefully be a game changer in terms of sustainable fashion in the years to come.
SILK
The Problem
Silk worms being boiled alive in their cocoons. Photo by Amy Jones/Moving Animals
Silk is a textile that is made by taking the painstakingly spun cocoon of a silk worm and boiling it in water until it is soft enough to unravel into a single long silk thread that can then be woven into cloth. Unfortunately in the commercial silk industry the silk worms are boiled alive inside their cocoons before they have the chance to emerge as delicate, fluffy, white, silk moths.
Around 3,000 silk worms are killed to make a pound of silk cloth and every year billions are killed in this industry. It is possible to make silk without killing the silkworms by allowing them to break out of their cocoons as nature intended, however this mercy damages the silk thread and makes it more difficult to process and also requires more time to “harvest” and is therefore uncommon and more expensive.
Although some brands are making an effort to use this type of kill-free silk known as ahimsa silk, silk is still not a good choice in terms of environmental impact. The Higg Index ranks silk as the worst textile for the environment due to the amount of fresh water and energy required to process the material.
The Solution
Thankfully there is no reason that going vegan and avoiding animal products means giving up the luxurious look and feel of silk. Poly microfiber and brushed poly silk are both synthetic polyester-based silk options that have a lower carbon footprint than silkworm silk and are widely used to make imitation silk clothing and accessories.
Cupro, a natural silk alternative, is made from a part of the cotton plant.
In terms of natural fiber silk alternatives cupro is a promising option made from a part of the cotton plant also known as cotton linter that was once considered waste but is now being embraced by the fashion industry for its similarity to silk. Cupro is soft and drapable but is also tougher than silkworm cocoon silk and therefore much easier to care for as it is washer/dryer friendly. There are many brands and designers already making beautiful and affordable silk-like clothing using cupro. Bamboo fiber is a great silk alternative that is used in everything from luxury sheets to pjs to dressing gowns.
Ramie, also known as China grass or grass cloth, is another silk-like textile that is fully plant-based. Ramie is made from a flowering plant in the nettle family and is somewhat of a mix in texture between silk and linen. Ramie is growing in popularity and is used by major brands like Banana Republic. Lyocell which can be found in vegan knitwear is also used to make silk-like textiles demonstrating the versatility of plant fiber fabrics. Another type of wood-pulp fiber that is used to make silky-smooth fabric is called Modal which is made from beech trees.
Looking to the Future…
Photo by Orange Fiber
Orange Silk is an Italian invention that transforms the discarded peels of citrus fruits into a beautiful silk-like material through a process of extracting cellulose from the waste peels and then spinning the fiber in cloth. Orange Silk was featured in H&M’s 2019 Conscious Collection and will hopefully become more commonplace in the future.
Another innovation in ethical fashion from Bolt Threads is Microsilk™ a bioengineered silk that mimics spider silk and is made by fermenting yeast, sugar, water and spider DNA. Microsilk™ is still not a readily available product but with the support of designer Stella McCartney and the growing demand for environmentally friendly materials it is just a matter of time before these cruelty-free and sustainable options replace cocoon silk for good.
DOWN
The Problem
Down is the name for the fine fluffy feather that are found on the underside of waterfowl such as ducks, geese and swans. Although down is used as a liner for winter jackets and as a filler for pillows and comforters no one who knows the reality of the down industry should feel warm and cozy or rest easy supporting the unimaginable cruelty involved in down production.
The unfortunate birds who are raised for feathers live short miserable lives where their feathers are brutally ripped out of them while they are alive and suffering horrible agony, these birds are then left with open wounds, cuts, bruises and naked backsides to grow their soft feathers over and over again to be repeatedly ripped out for human pillow fillers before they are eventually slaughtered.
Some down is also a byproduct of the abhorrent foie gras industry, geese raised for foie gras are force fed through metal tubes that are shoved down their throats and pump their stomachs so full that their livers expand to ten times the normal size, this torturous process sometimes destroys the birds esophagus and kills them before they even make it to slaughter.
The Solution
Save the Duck is an Italian outerwear brand known for its jackets filled with a down alternative
Thanks to a growing awareness of the cruelty involved in the down industry many well-known brands including Patagonia and The North Face are now offering down alternative jackets, sleeping bags, comforters and more. A few of the many alternative insulating materials that can be found on the market today include Primaloft, Plumafill and Thinsulate. Many of the common down alternative options are made of microfibers taken from recycled consumer materials such as recycled plastic bottles. Down alternative insulation is breathable, hypoallergenic and retains heat when wet better then down from birds.
Looking to the future…
Milkweed floss
The more consumers put pressure on companies to stop using down and to offer down alternatives the more innovation there will be in the search for new and advanced insulating technology. Synthetic options are getting easier and easier to find but the hunt for natural fiber replacements is also ongoing.
One potential plant-based alternative for down is milkweed floss. Milkweed floss is a silky material that is attached to milkweed seeds and aids in seed dispersal when milkweed pods open. Milkweed is a common garden weed that is also the primary food source of monarch butterflies. Milkweed floss is actually an incredible and undervalued material that some people believe could play a role in the future of sustainable fabric as it is soft, silky, six times warmer than wool and unbelievably buoyant. Milkweed floss was used during World War Two as a filler for life vests but has generally fallen out of use since. With the shift in consumer desire for more natural and plant-based materials milkweed floss may eventually make a comeback as a vegan down alternative.
Discover more about the latest trends and innovations in the animal-free material world with the Species Unite podcast. Our founder, Elizabeth Novogratz, has curated a series of fashion-focused episodes that feature interviews with leading experts, designers, entrepreneurs, and thought leaders who are at the forefront of the movement towards a cruelty-free, sustainable fashion industry. By spotlighting the individuals and ideas that are driving the industry forward, we hope to inspire our listeners to make informed choices about the clothes they wear and the companies they support. Listen here.
Written by Santina Polky
Santina Polky (she/her) is the Director of Development at Species Unite. Prior to this, she spent several years managing a volunteer placement NGO in Rio de Janeiro before completing a Master of Science in Public Policy from King’s College London.
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