If you are vegan, or contemplating a vegan lifestyle, chances are that you don’t want to own or wear any animal products, which includes leather. Unfortunately, "vegan leather” does not always tick the eco-friendly box, but the fashion industry is driving innovations that promise sustainable, plant-based alternatives to leather. Some of these could even provide opportunities for tropical fruit producing farming communities. Could the increasing popularity of plant-based leather prove to be a win-win investment for Rwanda?
There can be more than one reason to explore alternatives to animal leather besides animal cruelty.
Most types of animal leather traditionally go through a chemical process of tanning that is hazardous to the environment and to the health of factory workers. Faux- leather (or pleather) has been around since the 1960s. It is made of polyvinylchloride (PVC) and is still used widely today, but the quality of the material just never lived up to the real thing. Remember, your bare legs sticking to your auntie’s faux-leather couch? Furthermore, there are concerns about toxins associated with PVC when it heats up.
A more modern way to make faux-leather is with polyurethane (PU), which is currently very popular on the "vegan fashion” scene. Both types of faux-leather are completely animal-free. But that doesn’t automatically mean it’s an environmental or sustainable solution. As they are both plastic-based, they may not be the eco-friendliest choice.
The term "vegan leather” is prone to considerable greenwashing by brands.
When Tesla advertises its "vegan leather” upholstery as an ethical choice, and it is plastic-based, aren’t they misleading their customers, who turn to Tesla for environment purposes, not because they are vegan?
Given the fact, that many fashion brands are tooting their horn regarding "vegan leather” while more often than not using PVC or PU leather, maybe we should cast aside the term "vegan” and introduce the term sustainable, bio-fabricated or plant-based -alternative leather instead.
Grow your own clothes
Awareness of impact on people, animals and the planet are currently driving innovation in the textile sector. Start-ups are experimenting with fabrics that resemble leather but are made of plant-based materials or created from scratch in a laboratory using bio-material. We now see "leather” experiments made of sources like pineapple fiber (Piñatex), fermented coconut water (Malai), apple peel (The Apple Girl), leftover fruits (Fruitleather), mushrooms (Muskin, Mylo and Mycoworks) and bio-material (Modern Meadow).
People are even creating sustainable vegan leather from a scoby, that slimy bacteria blob that ferments kombucha. When dried, it will take on a leather-like texture that can be used to make clothing or shoes, as Suzanna Lee, the Chief Creative Officer of Modern Meadows explains in her Ted-talk, "How to grow your own clothes” .