Vegans don’t support animal suffering
whether you have just become vegan or you have been vegan for some time now, you put a lot of effort into eliminating all animal-based foods from your diet. If you are new to this, you probably went vegan for one of the most common reasons why people ultimately decide to become vegans.
One of the reasons may be animal rights and ethical reasons. By buying animal products people indirectly support animals’ suffering, the cruel and disgusting way the animals in slaughterhouses are treated and shocking conditions in which these animals are born, raised and kept all their lives. Vegans are very well aware of it and don’t buy any animal materials and products.
The same goes for fashion. Vegans don’t use any materials which are made of animals, such as animal skin, fur, feathers, shells, silk, wood, leather etc. Have a look at your wardrobe and make sure you don’t own any of these. You would be very surprised where else you can find animal materials!
Faux leather looks amazing!
The nasty business called non-vegan fashion
Bloody leather
Probably one of the most common animal materials in a fashion industry is leather or its roughly buffed variation, suede. As you most likely don’t know, the leather used for fashion doesn’t always come from cattle. In some parts of the world, all sorts of animals are used. Cats, dogs, pigs, horses, sheep, goat, snakes, alligators, deer and some kinds of exotic species are killed for their skin.
A significant number of exotic animals and animals considered to be pets are slaughtered in China and their skin is exported to the other parts of the world. Also in India, the slaughter of all kind of different animals is nothing unusual. Why? In developing countries, there are no laws which protect animals from killing them for their skin. Anytime you buy a leather product, such as shoes, purse or belt, you could easily get these skins.
The leather products are almost never labeled. It is very sad, but there are no laws which would make labeling of leather products compulsory. Usually, you can only guess where the leather comes from and what animal had to be killed for it.
It doesn’t just end with killing animals for their skin. It is more overwhelming than you could imagine. The leather manufacturing has an immense impact on our environment, too. Especially the tanning industry is deadly for the environment and significantly contributes to its pollution. Tanning is the process of turning animal hide into finished leather. The leather is soaked in a liquid which contains acid and other very strong toxic chemicals.
The tanning industry uses several substances such as mineral salts, coal tars, arsenic, leads, chromium, formaldehyde. These together with water waste goes to the environment (to the soil and water) and contaminate it.
Wool and other ‘hairy’ stuff
Talking about leather as the main animal product in a fashioned industry, many people forget about wool. The animal suffering is obvious for obtaining their skin. Animals are usually not directly killed for the production of wool or other animal hair. Even if they survive the shearing process, they still have to go through the terrible and painful experience.
What is the idea behind it? Vegans don’t want any animal on this planet to suffer or be harmed for a human’s satisfaction. If you think that sheep don’t suffer during the shearing process, you are so wrong. The soft commercial shearing when no animal is harmed is a myth.
The farmers usually cut a lamb’s tail off when animals are only a few weeks old and castrate males. Many lambs die before they reach 8 weeks of their lives due to extreme living conditions like starvation, heat or cold weather.
Sheep mutilation
Even more terrible is a procedure which sheep have to go through in Australia. Local farmers use a process called mulesing. It means that huge chunks of skin from lambs’ backsides using very sharp instruments such as scissors until their skin dies and falls off. This is all because farmers want sheep and lamb to prevent their wool from flystrike (flies laying eggs in sheep’s skin). This procedure is extremely painful and not even effective.
It is not correct to think about sheep as an animal only used for wool. There are other, some quite unexpected animals, which are used for their wool. Goats, llamas, camels, rabbits, kangaroos or angora rabbits are just an example. Angora rabbits are kept in very tiny cages in between shearings where they easily cut their soft pads on feet and get infected. Male rabbits are often killed at birth as they produce significantly less wool than females.
Cotton is a great plant-based material for vegan fashion!
Options for vegan fashion
Man-made fabrics
We are very lucky to live in an age where we can find many natural and man-made materials and fabrics. You can get all different fabrics, such as hemp, cotton, bamboo, linen and other light, soft blends. You can purchase shoes, shirts, socks, pants, and underwear free from animal products. Jackets and coats can be made of man-made polyester, nylon, rubber, microfiber, polar fleece and others.
Man-made fabrics are excellent for keeping you warm in winter. These fabrics keep out the air and accumulate warmth. You can find the whole lot of coats, scarves, sweaters or mittens! The made-man fabrics are great for warm weather, too, because they breathe well and keep your body cooler!
How to veganize your wardrobe
Second-hand clothes
First of all, have a look at your wardrobe and get rid off all animal-based materials. You might have at least one pair of leather shoes, leather jacket, wool sweater and so on. Then you go shopping for clothes made of man-made fabrics.
You can find cruelty-free products elsewhere. Go to your local thrift store, a market with second-hand clothes, garage sales or discount retails. Small retail stores usually tend to have more man-made products than larger stores. If you put a little bit of effort in your searching, you might be amazed at what you can find in a cruelty-free world!
Fairtrade clothing
You can also try a fair trade clothing. These are more ethical alternatives which were not made by a cheap mass labour in developing countries. Fairtrade clothing items are usually more expensive but it is absolutely worthy to buy them! Here is a list of 35 Fairtrade and ethical clothing brands you should definitely check out!
Brand new stuff
If you don’t want to buy only used and second-hand items, you can buy cruelty-free clothes for high-quality vegan apparel! Luckily for us, more and more talented and favourite fashion designers care about animal welfare and our environment and use animal-free materials. These designers are, for instance, Stella McCartney, Calvin Klein, Anne Klein, Genevieve Gaelyn, John Bartlett, Dalia Macphee and many others. Check this list of 10 vegan-friendly designers who we just love!
Some fashion companies have taken the whole thing even further and decided to go absolutely fur-free. Fashion brands such as Gucci, Michael Kors, Jimmy Choo, Versace, Donna Karan, and DKNY now have fur-free fashion items available. The big fashion magazine Instyle also announced to go fur-free!
Faux furs and leather on the rise
There were many reasons for creating faux furs. One of the predominant reasons was probably to come up with a cheaper and more affordable alternative to animal furs. Many fashioned companies have been doing politically important campaigns against an animal cruelty. They spread an awareness about more humane and ethical options and promote vegan fashion.
The variety of faux fur and leather clothing items is outstanding. Almost every retail or a fashion store has a few items made of faux fur or leather. It has been becoming very affordable but still very fashionable at the same time. There are imitations of many sorts of furs. They imitate different colours, patterns or spots in that point that they look very real.
Faux furs and leathers have been on the striking rise in the last and this year. More and more consumers realize that the fashion industry can be cruel to animals and that it’s not necessary to make animals suffer or even die for fashion. One of the recent surveys says that the faux leather industry will be worthy of about $85.05 billion by 2025!
In spite of the significant success and higher demand for faux fur and leather, some vegans refuse to buy and wear anything that even remains or look-alike animal products. The idea is that when you wear clothes made of faux animal products which looks very realistic, you actually feel like wearing a real animal product. Therefore, some people might assume that you want to wear an animal product and can take it as a promotion of the animal cruelty.
Kat Von D cosmetics is 100% cruelty-free
Popular vegan beauty products
Taking care of your vegan wardrobe, don’t forget about your fashion accessories and beauty products. Accessories such as necklaces, bracelets, earrings, watches, and others can contain some of the animal products – pearls, shells, feathers, pieces of bones etc. So be aware of it!
Some of the popular faces have become vegans recently or spread an awareness about cruelty-free fashion and beauty products. Now you can buy so many incredible beauty, absolutely cruelty-free products! Celebrities such as Kat Von D or Lucy Watson have their own all cruelty-free cosmetics brands. Check them out and you will love them!
Vegan fashion is worthy to invest in!
As a vegan, you understand the importance of buying cruelty-free and no animal products. Make sure you understand what products are vegan and animal-free and where you can get them. Follow vegan celebrities who promote veganism publicly and take your own action! Share this article with your friends and let me know in comments what fashion vegan brands are your favourite!
Klara Walterova
Klara is a professional freelance writer for hire. She offers web content, blog posting, ghostwriting and copywriting. She writes for a healthy lifestyle, wellness and travel websites. She focuses on veganism and the vegan diet. When she's not writing, she develops new tasty vegan recipes, travels the world or plays with her cats. Please contact her for her online writing services on her website writtenbyvegan.com or visit her Instagram profile @writtenbyvegan.