brands that are taking note have flourished as a result.
Earlier this week, shoe brand Dr Martens announced its profits had surged by 70 per cent in the year to
the end of March thanks to the success of its vegan range of boots.
The British label follows in the cruelty-free footsteps of Topshop and Adidas, both of whom have added
vegan shoes to its collections in the last year.
Meanwhile, labels that have always championed vegan leather, such as Veja, continue to be prosper among
the street style set.
Ethically, it makes sense to choose faux leather over the real thing, with animal rights campaigners pointing
to the treatment of cattle that are farmed for beef and milk, of which leather is a byproduct. It’s
environmentally dubious too, given that no animal is reared purely for its leather and therefore producing it
leads to greenhouse gas emissions and deforestation just like beef and milk production. And that’s before
you’ve considered the consequences of tanning leather. While methods have improved, there are still some
tanneries around the world, such as in Bangladesh, that use noxious chemicals such as chromium to tan
their leather, which are filled in giant vats and often dumped into rivers once the process is complete.
But vegan leather is also problematic, least of all because the term itself is an oxymoron. “There is no such
thing as vegan leather,” says Dr Kerry Senior, director at the UK’s leather trade federation, Leather UK.
“The term leather is defined by British, European and International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO)
standards and refers only to the skins or hides of animals, tanned to be imputrescible,” Senior tells The
Independent, describing the phrase as an “abuse of the term leather” that continues to be a bugbear for those
working in the leather trade.
Amy Powney, creative director of sustainable luxury label Mother of Pearl, explains that most leather
alternatives are made using synthetic materials, hence why she prefers to use real leather instead. “If you
are buying faux leather then you need to consider you are buying plastic,” she tells The Independent, adding
how she prefers to use “best practice leather” that is long-lasting and has been made using natural tanning
agents.
In October, Patrick Grant, creative director of Saville Row tailors Norton & Sons made a similar remark
when he criticised eco-conscious brands such as Stella McCartney for “encouraging us to use plastic
instead of leather”.
If you are buying faux leather then you need to consider you are buying plastic
Plastic polymers polyurethane (PU) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) are the most commonly used to produce
faux leather fabrics thanks to their supple, vinyl and sometimes wrinkled texture. But both pose serious
environmental threats given that they are usually manufactured from fossil fuels and are not biodegradable.
Equally, these garments tend to have a short lifespan, meaning consumers may dispose of their faux leather
items faster than a long-lasting hand-me-down, resulting in them being sent to landfill.
Stella McCartney has admitted to using polyurethane and polyester as an alternative to leather in its
products, which it says on its website are “not without concern”. But by using recycled polyester and
producing garments that are not machine washable (meaning it avoids the issue of microfibre shedding), the
brand claims to have a lower environmental impact than labels who choose to use real leather, citing a
calculation from its Environmental Profit and Loss account.
That said, like many others, the luxury British label is looking into new ways of producing faux leather