Faux Fashion Now Fabulous
Camila Bonilla
The rise of vegan materials with higher concern for ethicality has become omnipresent in the modern fashion industry. Once considered an extremist value, veganism has now been adopted by the likes of luxury fashion companies to a more sustainable code.
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What makes a clothing item vegan? A vegan clothing article abstains from any materials derived from animal bodies, such as wool or leather. Many people choose to wear vegan in alliance with their moral code or in solidarity with the environmental impact.
Leather comes from agricultural practices involving cattle, which largely preside in the Amazon rainforest. According to the World Wildlife Fund, this practice leads to 80% of the deforestation in the rainforest. Alternative biodegradable faux leathers can be made from cork, apples and cactus. Unfortunately, the non-biodegradable vegan leathers made from petroleum and plastic can add to the current environmental strain.
Source: Stella McCartney
One of the first luxury brands to champion a fully vegan enterprise is Stella McCartney. Since the start of the brand in 2001, Stella McCartney has never sourced their products from real leather or fur materials.
McCartney, however, has never made this the forefront of their philosophy, wanting for their products to be used for the designs themselves and not their vegan attribute. “I think one of the biggest compliments is when I know people go in and buy a Falabella bag or a pair of shoes, or a faux leather skirt, and they have no idea they’re not real leather. I think that’s really where it becomes sexy. Where you’re not just providing an alternative… you’re creating a great product.” McCartney says in a Vogue interview in 2017.
Source: Hypebeast
Although not all brands have fully made the switch to a vegan-based production, many companies have options to provide for all types of customers. The brand UGG, popular for their cozy winter shoes that are
lined with animal products such as wool, have come out with a collaboration with Collina Strada. In this line, all of these products are vegan—and effervescent.
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The flower-printed vegan boots made from plant-based microfibers have now sold out everywhere. This fact may be disappointing to those who are looking for an alternative option, but can also be of some reassurance of our world moving forwards in a more sustainable effort even when it comes to what we consume. ​
Source: Gucci
Vegan celebrities have also made it to the forefront of this movement with luxury brands at their side. In collaboration with Gucci, the first vegan-leather handbag of the brand has been modeled by singer and songwriter Billie Eilish in their new Winter/Fall 2024 campaign. The bag is an edition added to the Gucci Horsebit 1955 bag collection, made from materials such as viscose, wood pulp and bio-based polyurethane, according to Haus von Eden.
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The world has a long way to go when it comes to sustainability, considering all of the unethical practices made in order to keep up with the ever increasing demand for more clothing. However, this change when it comes to the materials of these products and the investigation into the origins has definitely made the outlook of sustainable fashion more hopeful.