Things have been tough lately. Everything is getting more expensive - like rent, insurance, and staff costs. But at the same time, everyone is struggling and people aren't coming to the shop as much, and sales are going down. We just can't afford to keep it open anymore.
But don't worry, our online shop is still going strong, and we will keep it going - at least for the time being.
We don't know the exact day we'll close yet, but the latest will be May 31st.
Honestly, though, unless something changes, we might not make it that far.
If you like coming into the shop, please come by soon because we won't be able to keep it open much longer.
Thanks for all your support.
💚
Vegan Style
We are open online and will continue to be! Your support will keep us going strong.
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It all started during our travels abroad in the mid 2000s, where my partner and I were blown away by the stylish vegan shoes we found – quite a contrast to the struggle of finding similar options back home.
Then in 2010, thanks to an introduction to a Brazilian vegan brand from my sister who was living there at the time, Vegan Style came to life!
We kicked things off in a small way, storing shoes in our spare room and hosting shoe parties at home – those were some fun times. Then as news of these new vegan shoes got around we opened a small shop upstairs (and later moved downstairs as we got more popular) at Las Vegan Bakery on Smith Street. Who remembers them? Oh, how I miss that food!
*Picture from the front of the Las Vegan bakery with our first Vegan Style store inside. Shoes and yummy food :)
As our little venture grew, so did our dreams. We set up shop on Brunswick Street, discovering even more cruelty-free brands that fit our desire to sell truly 'vegan shoes.' Making sure every brand we stocked was thoroughly checked for vegan credentials, even down to their factories, became our top priority. You can read about the brands we stock in our Journal section.
*Picture of the front window from our first store in Brunswick Street.
For us, veganism isn't just about what we eat, it's about making sure animals aren't harmed in any part of life, including fashion. Our mission - To provide beautiful vegan fashion to the ethical consumer. To demonstrate that cruelty-free fashion can be stylish and attractive.
In addition to curating international vegan brands, we took the plunge into creating our own in-house brand, Zette Shoes, named after our beloved feline companion Zette. She's the true CEO of Vegan Style!
*Picture of Zette, the real CEO of Vegan Style with her first line of Zette Shoes. Dreamed up in Melbourne, Made Fairly in Europe and Brazil.
Our vision for Zette Shoes was clear: to offer bold, sophisticated styles crafted from high-quality vegan leathers by small, family-run factories, where artisans receive fair wages and safe working conditions.
Our passion for animal welfare extends to our furry friends, as we've become proud foster parents to several cats, each lending their name to a shoe in our collection.
*Picture of our foster cats
As Vegan Style continued to flourish, we expanded our presence with a bigger store on Brunswick Street. Responding to customer demand, we introduced Vegan Style clothes and Vegan Style School Shoes, our ethical school shoe collection, offering kinder options for kids or adults as those styles have been very popular with all ages.
*Picture of one of the styles from our Vegan Style school shoe collection.
We dedicated considerable effort into researching and testing various plant-based leathers, beginning with apple and pineapple and then corn leather. We really wanted to provide our community with a diverse range of vegan leather alternatives. We designed our own range of Corn Leather shoes through our in-house vegan designer brand Zette., and after that a luxury line of Zette bags, belts and wallets, and we were finally getting ahead.
*Picture of our Zette range of luxury vegan bags and accessories
Then the pandemic hit, it was like a sudden curveball that caught us off guard. We faced some tough times, no doubt about it, but we refused to throw in the towel. Alongside running Vegan Style, we work full-time to keep the bills covered and always have.
Our dream was always to transition away from the 9-to-5 grind and focus solely on running the business alongside Zette. However, despite our best efforts, we never quite reached that goal. Now, with the added strain of the Cost of Living Crisis and dwindling foot traffic, we had to make the difficult decision to close our Fitzroy store and transition to online.
*Picture inside our third shop at 345 Brunswick Street, Fitzroy.
*Picture out the front of of our Vegan Style store at 345 Brunswick Street, Fitzroy
We will still be doing some events/markets and we will have appointments at our warehouse for those that like to try on shoes before buying them.
We want to take this opportunity to express our deepest gratitude to each and every one of you. You've been the heartbeat of our store, and we're excited to continue this journey with you in a new and exciting way.
Thanks a million for being part of our journey. The cost-of-living crunch might've pushed us out of our shop, but we want to still stand strong. Thank you for your continued support and loyalty.
Note: We are dedicated to enhancing your online shopping experience. With the closure of our Fitzroy shop, we're redirecting all our resources to ensure your journey with us online is seamless and enjoyable at every step.
Much love and thank you for all the support
❤️
Vegan leather is a synthetic material that imitates the look and feel of animal leather. It is also known as "pleather" (a combination of "plastic" and "leather"), "synthetic leather", "faux leather", or "artificial leather". Vegan leather is often made from a variety of materials, such as polyurethane (PU) or polyvinyl chloride (PVC), and can be designed to look like a variety of leather types.
Not all vegan leather shoes are vegan, so it is important to check the shoe to see that it’s free from animal-derived materials, it’s sustainable, and ethically made.
Here at Vegan Style, we use European-made (Italian and Spanish) microfibre, which performs like traditional leather and suede. It is breathable, durable, soft, water resistant, and molds to the shape of your feet over time. We also use pinatex, appleskin, corn leather, cork, organic cotton, rubber and recycled materials to bring you shoes and accessories made out of the latest innovations.
We also take pride that our in-house labels Zette and Vegan Style School Shoes, as well as the other brands we stock, are OEKO-TEX certified and Eco Label certified. Meaning that our products are tested and verified to be free from harmful substances or chemicals.
These materials are being used by fashion designers and our shoe manufacturers to create stylish and high-quality shoes that are both fashionable and eco-friendly. With the rise of non-animal shoes and leather-free alternatives, consumers have more choices than ever before when it comes to making ethical and sustainable fashion choices.
Corn leather is made in part from, you guessed it, corn. Well over half of the total material content is plant-based, made up of both corn husks and vegetable oils. The rest of the material is made of synthetic substances, which are blended with the plant-based ingredients.
It takes about 120 days for corn to grow from a seed to the point of harvest (while cows are killed after up to two years of grazing and growing). This far shorter time period makes corn production more efficient and sustainable. Once corn is harvested, it is fermented and chemically transformed so that dextrose – a type of natural sugar – can be extracted from it. This sugar is transformed into a polymer fibre, which is then melted and made into pellets which are able to be blended together with synthetic materials to create a leather-like material.
Corn leather is both supple and sturdy, making it perfect for shoes, and the particular corn leather we use is made transparently in Brazil.
Leather alternative materials like this one are critical to efforts to create a more genuinely sustainable and ethical fashion industry. Cow skin leather, the most common animal-derived leather, has one of the largest greenhouse gas footprints of all materials, and is tied to environmental harms like deforestation, excessive water use, and intensive chemical use during tanning, which renders skins non-biodegradable.
What’s more, all animal-derived leather is created in supply chains which treat thinking, feeling animals as though they are objects: mutilating and ultimately slaughtering them, prioritising profit before life. Leather is a highly valuable co-product of the meat and dairy industries, and when we buy alternatives to leather, we help to shift profit away from slaughterhouses and destructive, cruel cattle ranches. Who wouldn’t want that?
While creating leather from the skins of animals is neither ethical or sustainable, that doesn’t make all leather alternatives inherently environmentally friendly, either. PVC, for example, is a synthetic material used in some faux leather, which is highly toxic. We never use PVC as a leather alternative, and since Greenpeace began advocating for a move beyond the material, much of the fashion industry has too – though it’s still a problem, particularly in fast fashion. Today, the most common leather alternative is polyurethane synthetic leather – and polyurethane is what is blended into our corn leather.
While polyurethane has a far smaller climate, land and water footprint compared to animal-derived leather, and it’s less toxic than PVC, it’s still not perfect. It’s not biodegradable, and in most cases is made of fossil fuels – however more and more, we’re seeing largely water-based polyurethane (or PU) becoming available. The benefit of partly bio-based materials like corn leather is that the amount of synthetic material is significantly reduced, replaced with renewable plant matter. The more plants the better, and as material innovation continues, the amount of plant matter in leather alternatives is only increasing!
If you’re keen to get some corn that looks like leather on your feet, we can help with that. Here are some of our favourite corn leather shoes:
We’ve made our classic Quinn boots in a number of colourways and textures now, but corn leather is undoubtedly our favourite. These Brazilian made boots are made ethically with a thick and chunky platform sole, lifting you up while our soft and breathable corn leather is laced up over your feet.
These two-tone sneakers feature both black and pure white corn leather, propped up on a sleek white Vibram sole that will keep you comfortable. The texture of the corn leather is smooth, featuring very light and small pebbling which mimics animal-derived leather. The laces on these sneakers are gently waxed, looking equally smooth.
Another cult classic from our in-house label, Zette, Jacqui has been created in floral prints, reptilian textures, bold colours, glittering sparkles and all kinds of finishes – but never white, until now. Channel your inner go-go dancer while keeping your style modern in this all white, high ankle-cropped boot perfect for night and day.
View all our corn leather products | About Zette Shoes
Author bio: Emma Hakansson is the founding director of Collective Fashion Justice, and the author of How Veganism Can Save Us.
]]>If you know anything about Vegan Style, you know that we love animals – it’s why we don’t make or sell any shoes made from animals. Leather is a profitable co-product of the meat and dairy industry and without skins, slaughterhouses lose profits. This is reason enough to avoid leather and opt for more ethical alternatives, but there are other justice issues related to leather production, too. Leather supply chains are full of human harms, too.
Collective Fashion Justice’s new report series, ‘Under their skin’, just released its first chapter, on ‘leather’s impact on people’. Exploring issues facing farm, slaughterhouse, tannery and other manufacturing workers, as well as Indigenous and low-income communities impacted by these supply chains, the report reveals hard truths about the human cost of leather. Here are just a few of the many reasons that leather production is bad for people, not only animals:
Did you know that 80% of deforestation in the Amazon is tied to cattle ranching for leather and beef? Did you know that deforestation for leather is not only an issue in the Amazon, but also in the Gran Chaco forest which spans across Paraguay, Bolivia and Argentina, as well as in the United States, and in Australia? In fact, did you know that 73% of all deforestation in Australia is tied to cattle ranching?
Deforestation is a huge risk in leather supply chains, and not only does it cause major environmental harms – like biodiversity loss, wildlife endangerment and emissions – but in many cases, this is a human rights violation, too. Indigenous people around the world are supposed to have rights which protect their sacred lands from destruction, as well as their right to live on this land. Profit-driven business like leather production violates these rights.
Both farm and slaughterhouse workers in leather supply chains are more connected to the reality of leather as an animals’ skin than most consumers are. In many cases, farm workers routinely mutilate animals like cows, branding them, dehorning them, even castrating them without pain relief. Eventually, these workers send these animals to slaughter, too.
Jay Wilde, a cattle farmer featured in the short film ‘73 Cows’, said that sending the cows he had come to know to their slaughter was ‘soul destroying’, while an anonymous farm worker from a Sentient investigation said ‘I have to switch my love for animals a bit off, you have to if you work here. I mean normally I couldn’t send an animal to death but here you have to do it’.
Slaughterhouse workers who did this job themselves are more likely to experience perpetration-induced traumatic stress, which is similar to PTSD in its symptoms, but caused by inflicting trauma and suffering on someone else. The mental harm caused by such inherently violent work is immense, and leaves many people in leather supply chains in pain. If these are not jobs we would be comfortable to do ourselves, why would we pay someone else to do them?
Once cows have been slaughtered and skinned, their skins must be processed. The tanning process exists to make something organic become inorganic, unable to effectively biodegrade. In order to process leather in this way, carcinogenic and toxic chemicals like chromium, formaldehyde and arsenic are used. As a result of exposure to these chemicals, tannery workers around the globe face increased cancer risks, in some cases this risk increases by as much as 50%.
While certifications like Leather Working Group claim to ensure ‘ethical leather’ (of course ignoring the animal rights issues associated with leather), their tannery certification does not ensure fair living wages for tannery workers, or proper health and safety auditing. Even in places like Italy, where leather tanneries are considered to be luxurious and of high quality, migrant workers face discrimination, injuries from using dangereous machinery, and illness caused by working with harmful chemicals, without proper safety equipment.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the toxic waste from tanneries are as harmful to surrounding communities as they are to workers in tanneries themselves. In India, a top leather tanning country, agricultural fields are poisoned by tannery waste, as are waterways relied on for drinking and bathing. In China, which produces more leather than any other country, some villages surrounding industrial areas where tanneries are based have been referred to as ‘cancer villages’, because of the high disease rates caused by pollution.
These kinds of abhorrent environmental and human health harms are also seen surrounding slaughterhouses in leather supply chains. Both water and air pollution nearby slaughterhouses have been found to have negative health impacts, and even increase pollution-related deaths.
Of course, as with any fashion supply chain, leather is sewn into clothing, bags, shoes and accessories by people. Across the fashion industry, it’s estimated that just just 2% of these people are paid a fair, living wage. A living wage is not a luxury, but a wage which allows people to stay out of poverty, and pay for their most basic needs.
While we often hear about fast fashion brands exploiting garment workers, this kind of violation can occur in luxury leather goods supply chains, too. Brands like Burberry and Chloé have both made headlines when police found that the people making their leather bags in Italy were being paid next to nothing to do so, for example.
It’s so important that the individuals – whether people or other animals – involved in making shoes, bags, accessories and clothes are considered and treated fairly.
For us, we make sure to use animal-free materials which are more transparently made by suppliers doing the right thing. No animal harm, no deforestation risks, no tanning, no farm or slaughterhouse workers, and material producers treated well. We stitch these materials into shoes with production partners that pay fairly and do not accept exploitation for the sake of profit. Unfortunately, this is rare, but it should be the norm.
Author bio: Emma Hakansson is the founding director of Collective Fashion Justice, and the author of How Veganism Can Save Us.
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The second edition design of our Tanya heel comes in a new, patent brown crocodile texture, and in a warm, inviting floral textile featuring soft black detailing and a taupe, velvety base. Fairly handmade in Spain, Tanya is as elegant as she is practical.
A staple style in the Zette collection, Tanya has been created in a wide range of textures and tones, and these two new offerings are some of our absolute favourites. The rich, chocolatey reptilian leather alternative is transseasonal, and brings a subtle hint of life and colour to an outfit. Tanya’s new floral textile on the other hand, is sure to be noticed, the delicate design not often seen on this style of block heel.
If Menos is a little too high for you, or you prefer a lower cut of boot, the Jacqui is for you. This ankle boot features a small and practical 5cm block heel, and a short shaft length of 15cm. Play with fishnet, sheer or patterned tights and socks, or leave your legs bare.
The Jacqui boots, like Tanya, are a core part of the Zette collection, now also available in a slightly patient, brown or crocodile texture. These materials are free from cruelty, and have a lower environmental impact than their animal skin counterparts when considering the climate, biodiversity, water and land. A new, dark silver glitter-coated Jacqui boot is now available, too.
Wear Jacqui to a picnic, a dinner date, the cinema, the library or your work – they’ll fit any occasion, keeping you comfortable and elegant.
The Billie boot is for those who want no heel, and plenty of fun. In a classic combat style featuring a thick, lugged rubber sole, 10 lace eyelets and a pull tab back, Billie transforms a timeless shoe with statement-making materials.
A light, velvety corduroy of dark blue with dark fuschia, olive green and muted pastel floral designs is paired with black velvet laces in one new Zette style. Another features an intricate geometric-patterned fabric in contrasting white and black, sure to turn heads.
Versatile, a little quirky and good for both cool and warm weather, Shona features cut out sides and lace-up detailing. These shoes can be dressed for a feminine look, or styled androgynously. Tailored pants, thick winter stockings, distressed denim or a dress all pair perfectly with Shona.
By choosing Shona over a pair of conventional cow skin leather shoes, not only do you help to protect animals from the fashion industry, you save carbon emissions, water and precious biodiversity. Cute for you and the planet.
How can you go wrong with a ballet flat? This never-out-of-trend classic is particularly popular again at the moment, as people appreciate the delicate and dainty side of fashion. With sweet vegan leather bows and trimming, Colince comes in a dark silver glitter, a white and black textile, and a mesh coloured like an iridescent oil slick.
Ballet flats are the perfect slip on and off shoe that go with literally everything – and these ones will bring some extra excitement to your look.
Author bio: Emma Hakansson is the founding director of Collective Fashion Justice, and the author of How Veganism Can Save Us.
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When we refer to ‘ethical fashion’, we really mean ‘total ethics fashion’, which is fashion that protects people, animals and the planet alike. This term, from Collective Fashion Justice, is important, as too often ‘ethical fashion’ is considered to only be about humans, while some other brands use the ‘vegan’ label, without considering humans. It’s important that we all are treated ethically and have a healthy planet to live on, so these films explore the ways in which the fashion industry impacts us all, regardless of species.
SLAY is a new feature-length documentary which poses the question; “is it acceptable to kill animals for fashion?”. Exploring the often hidden realities behind fur, leather and wool production, this film is a global investigation into green-washing, environmental, human and of course, animal harms.
This film is not graphic, but informative, factual and thought-provoking. It features a wide range of people from the fashion industry, including Joshua Katcher, the designer behind Brave Gentleman, Collective Fashion Justice’s founding director Emma Hakansson, famous fashion photographer Alexi Lubomirski, and experts from Vogue, the London College of Fashion, and many others.
Considered a canonical film in the ethical fashion space, The True Cost was released in 2015, and explores the global impact of the fashion industry on the people who make our clothes, as well as the environment, when clothes are mass produced.
This film is about greed, fear, power, poverty and the link between fashion, consumerism and capitalism, according to Lucy Siegle, a Guardian fashion journalist who is a part of the film. With just 2% of garment workers estimated to be paid a fair living wage, and with the vast majority of these people being women of colour, fashion has some serious racial and feminist issues to unpack and transform.
This Pulitzer Center supported short film is just over 9 minutes long, and it packs a punch. Documenting the leather tanning industry of Kanpur, India, filmmaker Sean Gallagher uncovers the often unseen human harms of leather production. Pollution, poisoned agricultural fields, child labour, blindness, disability, cancer and permanent body scarring due to the toxic substances used in the tanning industry all run rife in Kanpur, a major leather producer for the west.
The Toxic Price of Leather hears directly from tannery workers and community leaders, which is important in a time where first person perspectives are too often missing, and others speak to the lived experiences of those who are less often afforded a platform to share from.
The Toxic Price of Leather from Sean Gallagher on Vimeo.
A 20 minute short film from not-for-profit Collective Fashion Justice, Willow and Claude is named after two sheep rescued from the wool industry. This film explores what it means to create total ethics knitwear which aims to protect people, animals and the planet.
First uncovering the cruelty behind wool, followed by the environmental problems associated with synthetic knitwear, this multi-award winning film traces the creation of a supply chain from farm to finished product, showing the importance of transparency and careful production. A solutions-focussed film, this one isn’t graphic, and spends more time on how we can move forward, rather than on what’s wrong with fashion today.
Another short film recorded in India, Unravel sheds light on what happens to the clothes we discard or in some cases, send to op-shops, in the western world. In Northern India, these clothes – often brand new – are shredded. The women working in these facilities, who are unsure of why the clothes are being discarded – speak amongst themselves about the wastefulness of the west. Their observations are sure to pause you in your tracks.
This film helps us to understand the global impacts of more local decisions, and decisions that may seem like ‘individual choices’ – but which have broad reaching implications.
While this film doesn’t present itself as a ‘fashion film’, the short is relevant to the leather industry which transforms the skins of cows into materials. Created by Lockwood Film, 73 Cows follows the story of Jay Wilde, who inherited his cattle farm from his father, but who no longer feels comfortable sending cows to slaughter.
In just 15 minutes, 73 Cows paints a touching, emotional story of what happens when we listen to our conscience and decide to make a new start. In the film, Jay moves to veganic, animal-free farming.
73 Cows from Alex Lockwood on Vimeo.
A fiction film rather than a documentary, this Bangladeshi woman directed film is based on the true stories of women working creating clothes in a country producing many for the wider world. The 23 year old protagonist is inspired to start a union at the garment factory where she works, and faces union busting and threats.
A number of scenes are reminiscent of real events, like the collapse of Rana Plaza, and the very real dangers women face working in the global fashion industry for a poverty wage.
Following a conservationist across many of the world’s rivers, this 2016 film explores the issue of water pollution, and how fashion contributes to it. While we don’t often think about how the materials making up our clothes, shoes and bags are dyed, these dyes can have harmful impacts on the environment. Many dyes include heavy metals, are non-biodegradable and even toxic.
This film highlights a part of the fashion industry that’s often forgotten to exist.
RiverBlue - Available Now Teaser from RiverBlue on Vimeo.
Author bio: Emma Hakansson is the founding director of Collective Fashion Justice, and the author of How Veganism Can Save Us.
]]>‘Natural materials’ are defined as any materials which come from plants, animals or the ground; anything from the ‘natural world’. Sometimes these materials are more specifically referred to as ‘biotic materials’, or materials which are biologically derived from a living organism; cotton or hemp coming from a plant, wool from a sheep, and so on.
Importantly, we should be aware that sometimes materials that are ‘natural’ may come from systems which are not. For example, wool is a natural material, but it’s unnatural for Australia, the largest wool producing country in the world, to have nearly 70 million non-native, domesticated sheep on often cleared native land. What’s more, many natural materials are processed in a way which is unnatural; like cotton dyed with non-biodegradable dyes, or ‘superwash’ wool, which is coated in plastic.
Some materials that are labelled and marketed as natural are even processed in a way which is specifically designed to make an organic material inorganic. The term ‘organic’ here is not used in quite the same way as we might refer to ‘organic fruit’, but to refer to something derived from living matter; organisms. Take leather for example. Leather is the term used to describe processed animal skins – usually through a carcinogenic chemical process, and usually the skins of cows. If skins were not processed through tanning, they would rot on our feet. Rotting is a natural process for organic matter like skins – when any animal dies, humans included, they decompose.
Leather is processed with heavy metals and substances including chromium, formaldehyde, arsenic, salts and more. At this point, even according to leather tannery industry studies, leather is no longer effectively biodegradable. This is not a natural process, and so while animal skins are natural (particularly when they remain on the backs of animals), leather should not be considered as such.
Too, as with wool, the leather industry is responsible for massive land degradation, as well as deforestation. The destruction of environments for production is of no benefit to nature.
There can be a danger of focussing too much on whether or not a material is ‘natural’, as compared to whether or not a material is sustainable. It’s important that the materials brands use are sustainable, even if they are not natural.
The naturalistic fallacy, or the ‘appeal to nature’ argument is based on the idea that anything ‘good’ is ‘natural’, and that anything ‘bad’ is ‘unnatural’. These arguments are commonly heard in sustainable fashion spaces. However, not everything ‘good’ is natural, and not everything ‘bad’ is unnatural: many diseases are technically natural, meanwhile vaccines which protect people against them are not. Similarly, some heavy metals used to tan leather are ‘natural’ and cancer causing, meanwhile the recycling of synthetic leather to make new recycled materials is ‘unnatural’ – but is a great way to reduce waste.
In order to consider the environmental impact of materials best, we should consider the greenhouse gas emissions associated with producing them, how much land is required to make them, their impact on biodiversity, the amount of water use, chemistry, energy and fossil fuels involved, and how polluting their production is. There are other considerations too, such as how long-lasting materials are, whether they are biodegradable or recyclable, and so on.
If we continue with our exploration of leather, it may surprise you to know that even synthetic leather has a lesser environmental impact when we consider the climate, water, land, biodiversity and even pollution in many instances.
A pair of shoes made from cow skin leather can have an average carbon equivalent footprint of over 40kg, while the same synthetic leather shoes have a footprint equal to just under 6kg of CO2e. The same pair of shoes made from cow skin leather could require as much as over 7,600 litres of water to produce, which is an estimated 14 times more than for synthetic leather.
Synthetic leather like polyurethane is not the most sustainable leather-like material; there are partly bio-based alternatives with an even lower impact on the planet, as well as plastic-free leather alternatives, too. All of these come with both pros and cons, yet all have a far reduced environmental impact compared to cow skin leather – no matter what ‘natural’ label is plastered onto it.
When we talk about sustainable fashion, we always need to talk about over-consumption. The materials we choose to make shoes, bags and clothes out of are extremely important, but no fashion is sustainable if it ends up thrown out or sent to landfill.
When we buy new garments, shoes and accessories, we need to consider the materials they’re made of, if they’re made ethically, and if we will wear what we’re looking to buy for years to come. Sometimes we can be fooled into buying trendy items that don’t actually match our personal style, and that won’t be loved for very long. The longer we wear, the better for the planet.
Author bio: Emma Hakansson is the founding director of Collective Fashion Justice, and the author of How Veganism Can Save Us.
]]>* A faux fur jacket made from recycled synthetics, from PETA certified brand Jakke
While most people no longer wear floor-length mink coats or fox fur shawls, to assume fur no longer slips into people’s wardrobes – even without our noticing – is unfortunately inaccurate.
Fur-trimmed, hooded coats, fur-wool blended knitwear, and fluffy bobbles on the tops of beanies are just some examples of how fur can come into our wardrobes, sometimes, without our awareness.
Often, especially in the case of blended knitwear, it’s all about checking the material composition label – sometimes surprising things are found there! For example, possum and rabbit fur is increasingly being seen blended into knitted beanies, gloves and accessories.
While it’s important to check that you’re wearing faux fur rather than animal fur, unfortunately, looking at a label isn’t always enough. Investigations have found products labelled as ‘faux fur’ to in fact be real animal fur, with mislabelled products even being made of domestic cat fur.
If you want to wear faux fur, make sure you know how to check what faux really looks like, and always choose to support mission driven, certified vegan brands which have a transparent supply chain and offer plenty of information about the materials they’re using.
Many people assume that because wool can be shorn from sheep without slaughtering them, that wool garments can be cruelty-free. Unfortunately, this is far from the truth.
The wool industry is in fact a slaughter industry. Many lambs are shorn before they are slaughtered in the meat industry, and others are kept for wool-growing until they are killed, due to a natural decline in the ‘quality’ of their wool. Too, lambs are often painfully mulesed, and even in certified ‘non-mulesed wool’ farms, lambs regularly have their tails cut off without pain relief.
As with sheep’s wool, cashmere and alpaca wool all come from slaughter industries.
If you’re looking to protect sheep, alpacas and goats – and the planet, as wool production releases significant greenhouse gas emissions and impacts biodiversity – opt for total ethics alternatives like hemp, sustainability sourced and recycled cotton, Tencel, bamboo lyocell and other recycled materials. Tencel is a particularly great material, with the same thermo-regulating and moisture wicking qualities as wool – without the cruelty, and derived from wood.
The Ugg boot, shearling slippers, jackets and other sheep skin products are considered a staple for many during winter. Of course, sheep are killed for these products – did you know that ‘shearling’ actually means ‘sheep yearling’, otherwise known as a sheep who is about a year old, who has only been shorn after being skinned.
There’s no need to harm young sheep when there are kinder alternatives available, like Zette’s ethically made faux sheep skin boots.
Down feather coats and jackets sometimes come from ducks and geese who have been plucked alive. The rest of the time, feathers are plucked from birds who have been slaughtered – not the ‘ethical’ or ‘responsible’ alternative we’re promised by many brands.
Ducks and geese exist in their own right, not simply to be turned into coat and jacket filling. The best way to protect these animals through our wardrobe choices is to avoid all down feathers, and check labels to ensure that. Warm alternatives to down exist, including even more sustainable options.
Of course, no winter look is complete without the perfect pair of boots. With cow skin leather remaining perhaps the most common material for boots to be made of, this often means cruelty in fashion.
Cows are sensitive, playful and inquisitive creatures with unique personalities, thoughts and feelings. Leather is not a worthless ‘by-product’, but a profitable ‘co-product’ of the meat and dairy industries.
When it comes to leather alternatives, there are more sustainable options available each season, as innovation continues to develop. From materials made partly from bio-based waste like apple skins and pineapple plant leaves, to recycled materials, and lower-impact synthetics which are more accessible, there’s plenty to choose from!
Traditionally, chelsea boots are snugly fitting, ankle-high boots that feature elasticated side panels. The shoes often have a loop tap on the back, making them easy to get on.
Chelsea boots were first designed by one of Queen Victoria’s bootmakers, with the goal of making boots that were more functional – easy to pull off and on, unlike laced boots. Originally, these shoes were called ‘paddock boots’, and they’ve since been welcomed as staples into the wardrobes of rockstars, artists, politicians and all sorts.
The Sterling boot is traditionally a men’s boot, featuring all of the classic requirements of a chelsea boot – pull-tabs and elasticised ankles, a suave, pointed toe, and a close-fitting cut.
Sterling is available in a timeless black vegan leather, as well as in a more earthy cognac, and subtly unique olive and burgundy tones.
Made lovingly in Brazil from Spanish materials, Sterling is a staple in the Zette collection.
This is a perfectly formed boot from Ahimsa, who make their shoes in their own in-house, ethical factory.
Dylan comes in the tones you’d expect – black, a dark espresso brown, and a warmer cognac tone of vegan leather. Too, Dylan comes in a scrumptious, supple vegan suede – also available in espresso, as well as an eye-catching navy, which pops off a light timber-toned sole.
Designer Joshua Katcher of Brave GentleMan knows how to design a sturdy, discerning and handsome shoe – and his take on the chelsea boot is no exception.
Brave GentleMan offers both the original ‘Lover’ shape, and the ‘New Lover’, a chelsea boot with an extra long shaft up the ankle.
On the more luxurious side, these superbly durable boots are crafted to last, with stitched soles that can be replaced if need be after years of wear. Wear them with a suit, or ripped jeans and a band tee.
While the classic chelsea boot is flat (except for a very short heel), ankle length and normally either black or brown, keeping to tradition isn’t always a good thing! Not only are all of our chelsea boots made from animal-free materials (like OEKO-TEX certified PU leather, with a far reduced environmental impact than cow skin), they’re made in a number of shapes, textures and looks that offer a twist on tradition.
The Rachel boot is a flirty heeled boot that only just extends to the ankle. With the classic elasticated gussets intact, and an extra pointed toe, these Spanish made boots are ready to go out with you.
Forgoing vegan leather for some bolder patterns and textures, Rachel comes in a satin red, covered in black fishnet, a chocolatey, floral brocade, a sparkly, silver square glitter textile, a velvet printed to kindly replicate cow print, and in two tones of faux snake skin.
Want to go bolder on the shape? Meet Electra, a newer edition of chelsea from Zette, which features a chunky, rugged sole, shiny patent vegan leather, with elasticated sides that extend higher up the calf, ending with a pull tab on both front and back.
This shoe of the moment may be trendy, but it’s got a timeless quality to it, too. Think cult films like Bladerunner or the Matrix, meets the cute skirts in your wardrobe. Electra promises to be practical, comfortable and cool.
Going back to a more classic, flat-heel boot and shape, meet Jelsea. While her shape is very standard, Jelsea is anything but basic.
Available in a slightly holographic, squared glitter option, as well as in a sturdy patent crocodile-like material in blue, Jelsea is playfulness in boot form.
Ending with the perfect blend of tradition and modernity, the Emma chelsea boot features a stacked, rigid sole, and another slightly longer shaft, extending just a little bit higher onto your calf.
Emma is still low-key, but she has a little bit of an edge. She’s an allrounder to wear dressed up or down, through the park or to a club. You do you, and Emma will be there with you.
Yet another from our in-house brand, Zette, this shoe is available in buttery black and white vegan leather, and ethically made in Brazil.
Even if the outside of a shoe – you know, the part that we actually see and think of as a shoe – is made from a vegan leather alternative, there might be animal skin leather lurking deeper in the soles.
Created by Livia Firth, a climate and sustainable fashion advocate behind Eco Age, the 30 Wears campaign exists to make people consider their purchases more carefully.
Firth states that “what’s happened to us as consumers is we now buy on impulse... We don’t really care about what we buy. We buy and discard. The biggest message is every time you buy something, always think, ‘will I wear it a minimum of 30 times?’ If the answer is yes, then buy it. But you’d be surprised how many times you say no.”
While there are more questions we hope you consider before buying shoes, like 'who made these shoes?', and 'what are they made of – is the material cruelty free and sustainable?', Firth's question is a deeply important one, as it helps slow down the pace of the fashion industry.
Slow fashion exists in opposition to our current fashion system, which overall, is fast, producing far more than the planet can afford.
Over-production and over-consumption are major environmental issues, because we live on a finite planet – we can't keep taking from it without giving back.
Even if we are buying shoes and clothes made with sustainable materials, if we are buying endless amounts of them, this isn't really sustainable. It's estimated by that each year, 150 billion garments are produced.
- There are now over 52 micro-seasons in the fashion industry, with ultra-fast fashion brands releasing new clothes weekly. We used to have four fashion seasons, just like seasons of weather.
- In the last 15 years, we've worn our clothes less than ever before, throwing them out faster. Meanwhile, the production of clothing has doubled.
- People only wear about 50% of their wardrobes, and around the world, a garbage truck full of textiles are sent to landfill, every single second. In Australia alone, 25 million pairs of shoes are sent to landfill each year.
Slow fashion also allows for more ethical and sustainable fashion. We wear less of our wardrobes than we think.
There are lots of ways to take part in slow fashion – and you don't need to buy anything to do so. Caring for the shoes and clothes you already have is the best way to slow down the pace of the fashion industry! If you're looking for tips on how to care for your vegan shoes – here's how.
We can also take part in slow fashion by buying pre-loved first, by considering if we would wear something 30 times (at the very least), and by making sure we sit on a purchase decision, making sure we really love something before we buy it. If you love something, why not wait a week before buying it, just to make sure it's not an impulse buy?
Slow fashion is important because it allows for more sustainable and ethical fashion production and consumption. Exploitation of the planet, people and animals has allowed fashion to become so fast and wasteful.
If brands paid garment workers living wages, they likely would not be able to produce as many products. Similarly, if they had to pay for sustainably made, cruelty-free materials, rather than cheap, harmful and even toxic materials, this would make their production more expensive.
All of this means that yes, slow, sustainable and ethical fashion is more expensive. That's because we are paying the true cost of our clothes, shoes and bags. When we buy fast fashion, that price is paid by exploited workers, a trashed planet, and suffering animals.
While you might be spending more money on a pair of shoes created with slow fashion values in mind, the point is that you will be buying less pairs of shoes, less often too – and these expenses begin to balance out (especially when we remember how infrequently so many of us wear a lot of our closets).
If you're looking to join in with the slow fashion movement, and the #30Wears campaign next time your shop, look for shoes that:
- Are timelessly stylish, not just trendy right now. You want to be able to love and wear these shoes for years to come!
- Are made well. This means they seem sturdy, they're not flimsy or held together sparsely. Some shoes are also made so that they can be more easily repaired. For example, many of our shoes from Brave GentleMan and other brands are not only made with high quality stitched soles for extra strength and longevity, but so that in years to come, you can replace the entire sole at a cobbler. Many shoes aren't made with the ability to replace soles properly, despite them all wearing out over time as we walk.
- Are made of high quality, durable materials. Here's what we mean: when it comes to vegan leather shoes, fast fashion brands often use cheap PVC that peels and wears out quickly. More sustainable vegan leather alternatives are also made to a higher quality, lasting longer and not peeling in the same way. Opt for these as much as possible.
- You absolutely love. Slow fashion should make you feel happier with what you wear!
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A graphic from Collective Fashion Justice and its CIRCUMFAUNA initiative
Even while synthetic leather is not the final solution to the fashion industry's woes, it is a material that is more ethical and less environmentally harmful than cow skin and other animal leathers.
The most common synthetic leather, polyurethane (PU), has a carbon cost that is about 7 times smaller than that of cow leather, and a water footprint that is about 14 times smaller, too. In fact, synthetic leather production even requires less fossil fuels!
What's more, these impacts relate to the most standard kind of PU leather, but in fact, there are many kinds of synthetic leather that have an even further reduced impact. The microfibre synthetic leather used across much of the shoes stocked at Vegan Style – like those from Zette, Ahimsa, and Brave Gentlemen – is often OEKO-TEX 100 certified, which means that the materials have been tested and certified to not include harmful substances. The same cannot be said for synthetic leather sold by many fast fashion brands, or for tanned animal skin, for that matter. What's more, other less impactful synthetic leather is now made with a water-based solvent rather than with chemicals, too.
The 'Ciara' heeled sandal from Zette, made of OEKO-TEX 100 certified vegan leather
It's a good question, and it's a good time to talk about recycled vegan leather. Just like you can make a t-shirt out of recycled cotton, you can make a pair of shoes out of recycled synthetic leather. And that's exactly what plenty of brands do.
Using recycled materials reduces the amount of natural resources that are taken from our finite planet, and helps to keep fashion circular. This means less material sent to landfill!
The recycled 'Chelz' rain boots from Matt and Nat
When fruit is grown and harvested for our delicious consumption, not all of it ends up in our juices and fruit bowls. Did you know that the leaves on pineapple plants are normally just discarded? Or that grape skins and stalks, as well as apple skins, cores and seeds are all discarded in the wine and juice industries? Fortunately, material innovation companies have a solution: vegan leather.
Today, there are companies making vegan leather from these otherwise wasted parts of fruits like grapes and apples. There are also companies using fruits considered 'too ugly', the 'wrong size', and the 'wrong shape', to make leather. You can now find vegan leather, embossed to be textured in the same way that crocodile skin is, made from otherwise wasted mangoes!
With this sort of waste, it's no wonder that 45% of all produce around the world is discarded between the field and the plate. Fortunately, this kind of material innovation is reducing the size of this disappointingly large problem, while making fashion more sustainable, too.
All of the fruity materials are only partly bio-based, with most of them being made of pulverised and dried fruit matter (or cacti), which is blended with polyurethane. Pineapple leaf leather, or Piñatex, however, is about 95% pineapple leaves, and is coated with a bio-resin made from fermented sugarcane.
The 'Daisy' boot from Good Guys Don't Wear Leather, made from apple leather
The cork that you sometimes see used as the sustainable sole of sandals can also be used to make a vegan leather alternative. Cork trees, which are most often in Portugal, can be harvested of their bark without harming the tree and its continued growth. In fact, when cork trees are harvested, this allows them to bring in and store more carbon inside of them.
Thin layers of cork are placed together on a fabric backing (such as cotton) to be turned into a biodegradable leather alternative that is water repellent and sturdy. Cork can be dyed, embossed and coated.
As well as cork, a much more new and developing tree-based leather alternative exists, too. Treekind is made from wood from trees which have already died, or from parts of trees that have broken off. Treekind is another completely biodegradable option, and can even be home composted if put in the right conditions.
Cork leather, embossed to look like crocodile skin
Of course, a list of sustainable leather alternatives can't be complete without mention of vegan leather made from mycelium. Mycelium is the name of the root structure which normally grows underground, connecting fungi, or mushrooms.
This material is grown sustainably inside, in vertical farms that basically 'feed' the mycelium until it grows to the desired size for fashion production. Mycelium leather is often considered to be the best match for animal skin when it comes to flexibility, tactility and other performance and aesthetic-based measures.
Mylo Unleather's 'mushroom leather' has been used by Stella McCartney, while MycoWork's same (but slightly different) material has been used by Hermès.
Mylo Unleather from Bolt Threads
There's no doubt that the sustainability credentials of vegan leather are only going to keep improving. Too, there will certainly be new kinds of vegan leather that we aren't aware of yet.
The ultimate sustainable, vegan leather will be one which looks and feels exactly like animal leather, but without using animals, plastic, or substances that render the material non-biodegradable.
At the moment, different vegan leathers have different benefits – cactus leather is increasingly easy to access, makes use of sustainable agriculture, and reduces the amount of synthetics in leather alternatives. Mango leather reduces fruit waste and feels beautiful. Neither, however, eliminate synthetics. Cork leather is ultra sustainable, but too rigid for some garment types. Recycled vegan leather is great for reducing waste too, but won't ever biodegrade. You get the idea – even while they are all more sustainable than animal leather, there are pros and cons to all of these materials.
So long as we are progressing as a fashion industry, and working to make sustainable, ethical choices, we're going in a great direction.
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It's important to make sure you choose the correct size of shoe, because something too small or too large can cause both friction and movement, in turn resulting in blisters.
If you're not sure of your size, or if a certain shoe will fit you, just ask! Brands and businesses should know if a certain shoe runs slightly smaller or larger, and how they've been fitting other people. Try comparing the size of your other shoes, too.
Once you've got your new shoes, there's plenty you can do to reduce the chance of sore, blistered feet.
If you have hardened callouses or corns on the heels of your feet, the side of your big toe, or anywhere else, these can actually make your feet more prone to blisters, even though the skin seems tougher.
That might sound counterintuitive, but sometimes these build ups can mean your foot rubs against the inside of a shoe more, as the skin thickens. This can lead to blisters building up underneath in some cases, according to a foot and ankle surgeon. You may not feel this pain in your regular shoes, because they have had the chance to mould to your foot over time already.
Keep the skin on your feet soft by using a pumice stone after a shower, and if you need more professional help because of ongoing sores and pressure on your feet, head to your GP.
When in doubt, double sock it. Wearing two layers of socks has been shown through studies to reduce blisters, because the friction between the inside of your shoe and your skin is lessened by that extra pair – basically, the shoe, sock and sock rub together, instead of your shoe, sock and skin.
There are also plenty of products designed specifically to prevent blisters if you need them – thick blister bandaids, 'shoe petals' (which are better as they're reusable) and so on. These can be great for when you're wearing in new shoes, as well as for extra long days.
It's worth noting that the exact same shoe will feel different to different people – one person's comfortable is another person's sore. This could be for a number of reasons, and it's often because all of our feet are shaped differently! By getting to know the shape of your foot, for example if you have a high arch, or wide front of the foot, you can keep that in mind even before you purchase your shoes, as well as when it comes to placing extra protection for your skin.
A podiatrist will tell you that blisters take place more easily when conditions are moist. That might sound a little gross, but in essence, if your foot is sweaty, that sweat clogs the pores in your skin, leading to blisters.
Leave your shoes to dry out after you wear them, and try to take them off for a break amongst your day, if that's possible.
Those with long days might want to consider shoes which have more breathable design, for example sneakers with airflow holes on the side. Foot powder and even spray-on antiperspirant are also options to consider if need be.
Rotating your shoes, rather than wearing the same pair every single day, will also help with keeping moisture levels in check.
Friction occurs when your feet and your shoes aren't totally synced up. One reason this can happen is because the shoes aren't quite tight enough on you.
If you're wearing laced shoes, tighten them! If you're not, try an insert designed to make larger shoes fit better, an additional insole, or even a gel insole, with both making the shoes more comfortable for longer wear.
Don't wear your new shoes all day the first time you wear them – take it slow, get to know them! Your shoes will mould to your feet over time, and to avoid pain, we shouldn't try to make this happen all at once.
Try wearing your shoes around the home, or on short walks and trips before pushing them further.
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'Behind the Brand' is our latest blog series, which asks designers behind the ethical brands curated by Vegan Style more about how they began, what their influences are, what's coming next, and a whole lot more...
First up, meet Gabriel Silva, one of the brains behind Vincente Verde.
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Apple leather is a leather alternative that is partially made of the parts of apples which are otherwise wasted in the fruit juice industry. This means the skins, cores and seeds, as well as the cellulose pulp which is left over after apples are juiced.
Sometimes apple leather is referred to as AppleSkin, as this is the name one manufacturer of the material has given it. This is the material manufacturer that works with Good Guys Don't Wear Leather – a gorgeous, Parisian designed and Italian made shoe brand – for some of their boot and sandal collection.
The apple cores, skins, seeds and pulp are dried out, and then crushed into a very fine powder. This powder is then mixed with polyurethane to create a material that is partly bio-based and partly synthetic. The apple leather developed by NUWAII is reportedly 50% apple!
While apple leather is partly synthetic, it has significant advantages over both cow skin leather and conventional synthetic leather. First, let's talk about the benefits of apple leather as compared to 100% synthetic leather.
Synthetic leather isn't a perfect solution to the many issues of animal derived leather production. While it is more sustainable overall, even requiring less fossil fuels to produce compared to cow skin leather, conventional synthetic leather (of which the sustainability varies by production type, and based on whether you're using PVC or PU) is still derived from fossil fuels. By making a partly bio-based material like apple leather, the amount of fossil fuels and synthetic material required is significantly reduced, meaning less bad stuff, and more reclamation of food waste!
Over time, we're sure the material will continue to evolve, and even move away from fossil fuels completely as technology advances – and this is happening at a rapid pace.
The Daisy boot in burgundy AppleSkin leather
There aren't life cycle assessments which can tell us all about the environmental impact of apple leather yet, but we know that even fully synthetic leather is far more sustainable than cow skin and other animal-derived leathers, and other partly bio-based, partly synthetic materials like Piñatex (which only has a very thin coating of PU, and is predominately made up of pineapple plant leaves), are even more sustainable, according to the Higg Material Sustainability Index.
If you're interested in comparing conventional synthetic leather to cow skin leather, the following facts may interest you:
Another partly bio-based material, Desserto's cactus leather alternative, has gone through a life cycle assessment which showed that producing the material over animal leather saves 1,864% of carbon equivalent greenhouse gas emissions, and 77% compared to polyurethane synthetic leather. It will be interesting to see if apple leather production saves greenhouse gas emissions similarly, given it is very similar to Desserto as a partly bio-based, partly synthetic material!
Conventional leather is leather made from animal skin. These skins are sold from slaughterhouses, with the profits going towards the continued exploitation and slaughter of cattle and other animals like sheep, goats, and even pigs. Because skins are sold for a profit, leather is considered a co-product, not a by-product, by the meat and dairy industries.
Not only is animal skin leather inherently cruel to animals, but it often involves human exploitation, especially when it comes to the tanning of leather, which largely takes place in China and India. Here, chemicals that are extremely dangerous to human health are often used in unsafe ways, exposing workers to severe health risks. These chemicals are often released into waterways, negatively impacting the surrounding environment and communities, too.
The Blaze boot, made of AppleSkin leather
Apple leather is becoming more and more widely available, in fact even some big name brands have used it in recent years. You can get apple leather bags, wallets, accessories, jackets and shoes.
Our favourite use of apple leather comes from our stocked brand, Good Guys Don't Wear Leather. This brand offers up boots for men and women in the material, from western style heeled boots, to lace ups. The brand also has summer slides made of the material, and colours used across the collection include white, black and a very apple-like burgundy red.
As the material grows in popularity, we are looking forward to stocking more and more shoes made with the material.
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We offer sales for two main reasons.
The first, is that moving stock helps us to keep our small business afloat. It's for this reason that older styles often go on sale, when there are only a few pairs left and we want to make space (physically and financially) to bring in something new. Other times, really new styles go on sale, as they're sold at a lower, pre-order price. This lower price exists for a limited time, and incentivises people getting in earlier, which helps us cover the cost of actually making those shoes. Sometimes, simply, we have a sale to get us through a rough patch.
On the flip side of this, we like the fact that sales not only help us when we need a little extra support, but they do the same for our customers, too. When we have sales, people who have been admiring shoes for a long time, that they can't quite financially justify buying, are able to. This makes us happy.
Sales absolutely can promote overconsumption, and we think the way that some sales are marketed is irresponsible and unsustainable. With that in mind, here are a few ways we do sales differently:
Many of our shoes are made at the Ahimsa factory.
The price of our shoes vary because the amount it costs to make them varies, too. A knee length boot costs more than a simple, flat sandal because there's more material used, and more craftsmanship required in their making, for example.
When we set a price for a pair of shoes, we consider how much the materials cost – and we don't choose the cheapest vegan leather, we choose more responsibly made vegan leather, how much it costs to actually make the shoes – ensuring fair living wages are paid to those creating them, how much it costs to make our packaging (like our recycled boxes), the cost of running our online and physical store, and the cost of paying our team (who sell and send you your shoes and who keep the business afloat) – these people also need fair living wages.
We can't tell you exactly what every single one of our shoes cost to make and send out to you, but we can promise that we don't run on an enormous margin, and set our prices to ensure our business can continue to run in a way that is fair and sustainable.
Shoes from our in-house Zette collection
No. Whether we are running a pre-order sale or a sale of existing styles, the amount that we pay for our shoes to be made never changes. As a business we decide to run a sale to keep cash flowing, even if it means less money than could otherwise be made.
We hope that clarifies some things for you! If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us. And, as always, please remember to shop mindfully, and ask yourself if you really love and will care for something before you buy it.
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So, let's explore the many problems associated with different animal-derived leathers, so that we can help put to rest the myth that the fashion industry can continue making clothing, shoes and bags out of any kind of animal skin, while being ethical and sustainable.
It's becoming increasingly common for brands to refer to leather made from kangaroo skin as a more sustainable and ethical alternative to cow skin leather, but this couldn't be farther from the truth.
Despite being native to the country, in Australia, kangaroos are shot at night. In the last decade, 31.5 million kangaroos have been killed, in what is considered to be the largest commercial slaughter of any land-dwelling wildlife in the world.
The trade of kangaroo skins, often turned into football boots, gloves and other light-weight, wearable items, is the backbone of the kangaroo shooting industry, which is poorly regulated, and extremely cruel. Every year, about 440,000 joeys are clubbed or left to starve after their mothers are killed in this industry.
Not only is this extremely violent, but unsustainable. As a species indigenous to the land, kangaroos support biodiversity in Australia, improving the health and plant diversity of different areas. Even synthetic, polyurethane-based vegan leather has a far smaller environmental impact than kangaroo skin (and every other animal-derived leather).
Sheep skin boots, jackets and slippers are very common. But are they ethical? Here's what you should know: the meat and wool industry are one and the same, with all sheep who are bred for wool also being slaughtered and sold as meat at some point, with their skins being sold, too. In this industry, sheep have their tails cut off, and sometimes the skin around their backside too, and this is still legal without pain relief across the majority of the sheep industry today. This is of course, all before the horrors that take place in slaughterhouses, where sheep are killed and then skinned.
This system is completely unsustainable. Sheep are ruminant animals (just like goats and cows), which means that they have four stomachs and process their food very differently from us. As a result, while sheep pass gas, belch and even breathe, they release significant amounts of methane. Methane is a greenhouse gas which is 84 times more potent than carbon in the short term, making a reduction in methane emissions a fast and effective way to curb the climate crisis today.
You might not have realised that pigs are exploited not only in the food industry, but for fashion, too. Yet, according to Leather Mag, 200 million pig skins are used to make leather goods like shoes and bags, every single year. Across the world, the vast majority of pigs are confined to factory-farms – it's estimated that 90% of all farmed animals globally live in factory-farms until their slaughter.
Mother pigs in factory-farms are confined in cages called farrowing crates, where they can't turn around, and barely have room to lie down. They give birth in these cages, on concrete floor. Their piglets have their teeth cut out and the ends of their tails cut off, before they are taken away to be fattened, slaughtered and skinned.
Factory-farming is inherently unsustainable, resulting in significant amounts of pollution. However, the alternative isn't to raise animals for their slaughter in different conditions, as this not only does not change the ethical implications of needlessly killing animals, but also means more land which must be cleared for this. The more land that we clear for inefficient animal agriculture, the less biodiverse, natural environments we have.
Considered a type of 'exotic skin', the crocodile skin industry exists for the sake of the very wealthy who can afford the most supposedly 'luxurious' fashion. Luxury fashion house Hermès owns factory-farms where crocodiles are confined in concrete pits and cages, until they are killed and turned into bags that are sold for tens, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The saltwater crocodiles factory-farmed by this brand – and sold to others, including Louis Vuitton – are native to Australia, and have lived on this land for at least 100 million years. But today, more of these ancient reptiles live in captivity than their natural habitat. This is seriously concerning for both individual crocodiles, and the species overall.
Last of all, let's talk about cow skin, the most common skin turned into leather. Cows whose skins are turned into leather are sometimes bred specifically for this purpose, but most often, are also exploited in the meat and dairy industries. This means that the cows that people wear on their feet or hung over their shoulders as bags are one of the following:
There is no right way to kill individuals who do not want to die, and who have a right to freedom, safety and life.
What's more, cow skin leather is extremely harmful to the environment in production, more so than all other materials except for alpaca wool and silk. According to the Material Sustainability Index from Higg, the majority of leather's environmental impact comes from rearing cattle, not from tanning skins into leather. This means that vegetable tanned leather isn't a sustainable solution.
With so many injustices facing animals as individuals and species, and with so much environmental destruction involved in producing animal-derived leathers, it's best to avoid them. Luckily, there are a range of animal-free leather alternatives available that are not only more ethical, but better for the environment, too.
If you want to learn more about the materials that are used in the shoes at Vegan Style, head to our materials page.
First up, meet Gabriel Silva, the brain behind Ahimsa.
Total ethics fashion. Credit: Collective Fashion Justice
All animal-derived materials come from slaughter industries which exploit, often mutilate, and kill individuals who are considered to be commodities, objects. Once we understand this, it logically follows that if we care about animals, we should not wear the materials that are produced in these deeply harmful systems, from their bodies.
Despite a common misconception, though, by choosing animal-free fashion we aren't actually choosing cruelty-free, or totally harm free fashion.
There are three main reasons that this is the case, and why we need to look beyond animal-free fashion, and to a fashion system that values all life, before profit.
It's true, animal-derived materials are the most unsustainable to produce of all. Yep, even compared to synthetics. However, this doesn't mean that all animal-free materials are sustainable.
This might seem somewhat counterintuitive, but it's important to remember that 'more sustainable' doesn't actually mean 'sustainable'. For example, acrylic has a far reduced carbon footprint as compared to wool, and it also has a smaller impact when considering eutrophication, water scarcity, and deforestation risks. However, acrylic knitwear isn't biodegradable, comes from a supply chain tied up with the fossil fuel industry, and sheds micro-plastics into the ocean. Acrylic knitwear is more sustainable than wool knitwear when it comes to production, but it's not sustainable. If we had to choose between the two, we know what we'd pick, but ideally, we'd pick something else!
This is something we need to keep in mind as much as possible when shopping. We absolutely should be avoiding animal-derived materials, but we need to think just as critically about other materials, too. Why choose PVC as a leather alternative, if we could choose vegan leather partially derived from apples, OEKO-TEX certified materials, or a material like Piñatex?
Choosing the most environmentally sustainable materials that we are able to is important for every living being on the planet. Today, we are living through the sixth recorded mass extinction period, in which species are becoming extinct at a rate significantly faster than any other that's been recorded over the past millions of years up until now. If we don't learn to live in greater alignment with this planet, we will make it uninhabitable for many more species, including ourselves.
Protecting the planet protects animals, including us.
If we want to protect animals through our fashion purchases, that should mean protecting people, too. We often like to forget it, but we are all members of the species homo sapien, no more or less animal than any other species group, whether it be ovis aries (sheep), bos taurus (cows), or loxodonta (elephants).
When we remember that we are animals, not only can it make it easier for us to empathise with and respect our fellow animals, it can help those of us passionate about animal rights to consider human rights more seriously.
When we talk about 'human rights', we might not always realise that our purchases can impede on these. Yet, many of the people who sew our clothes, accessories and shoes – largely women of colour from the global south – are consistently denied human rights. In this way, much of the fashion industry is built upon the denial of human rights, as well as racism, sexism and classism.
For example, did you know that only 2% of garment workers around the world are paid a living wage that covers their basic, fundamental needs and rights like food, clean water, shelter and medical care? What's more, did you know that many of these garment working women are subject to exploitation, unsafe working conditions, sexual harassment and even violence?
If we are to protect all animals, we need to seek out clothing, accessories and shoes that are made ethically, by people who are paid a fair, living wage to work in safe conditions.
For everyone's sake – non-human and human animals, as well as the planet – our fashion system desperately needs to slow down. And we need to care for the fashion items that already fill our wardrobes and closets.
Today, we consume 400% more clothing than we did just two decades ago. The equivalent of a garbage truck full of clothing and textiles is sent to landfill every second around the world. Planned obsolescence in fashion is common, and this deeply wasteful, unsustainable system is built upon exploitation and harm.
Even if a garment, accessory or shoe is made free from animals, and even if it is made more ethically when considering labour rights, it's still not best for the planet or anyone living on it, if it is mass produced.
Today, there are about 52 micro-seasons in the fashion calendar, meaning a constant churning out of new things to wear – or to head straight to landfill – and very little care.
If we can't transform the fast fashion industry to one which is slow and considered, we will continue to cause immense harm and destruction.
It's best to choose vegan, ethically made brands that use more sustainable materials, and that only produce mindful, small collections.
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'Behind the Brand' is our latest blog series, which asks designers behind the ethical brands curated by Vegan Style more about how they began, what their influences are, what's coming next, and a whole lot more...
First up, meet Joshua Katcher, the designer behind Brave GentleMan.
Joshua Katcher, captured by Eric Mirbach
I started Brave GentleMan both to make the things I personally wanted and also to prove that vegan fashion can be superior to mainstream fashion in performance, aesthetics and quality. I believe that for design to be considered "good" the supply chain and the manufacturing processes must also be good.
You're right! So much has changed. I went vegan in the 1990s when many people didn't even know what the word "vegan" meant. I feel like I've seen such a massive transformation and so many advancements in every category from fashion to food to finance. For a long time, "vegan fashion" was less of a brand or product category and more of something that you would adhere to for your own wardrobe. It certainly wasn't perceived as desirable or cool. Today, the most exciting innovations in material technology are happening in the circumfaunal space with the explicit goal of bypassing animal inputs.
I sometimes worry when people in both of these communities treat what is considered "good design" like religious dogma. We must cultivate evolution and adaptation. That includes our activism as well as fashion.
Something I've noticed in the vegan community is a desire to reject all of fashion as a symbol of shallow vanity. This is changing as more and more vegan brands use their platforms to address important issues, but I think there is still work to be done.
Another thing I'd like to see change is for the more mainstream sustainable fashion community to have a real reckoning with the greenwashing and humane-washing of farmed animal materials. I just can't take any conversation around circularity or biodiversity seriously if it doesn't acknowledge the need to rewild grazeland and pasture.
Brave GentleMan's past store in NYC, via Bright Zine
The line of REVENANT sneakers are really great because for years I was interested in doing something more casual, more affordable and made with mostly waste-diverted materials. I also love the name "Revenant" because it comes from zombie folklore about the dead returning to warn us of impending doom. In a way, the materials used for these shoes can be seen that way as it relates to fashion's impact on the climate, biodiversity and resource usage.
If these are questions you're asking, we've got you covered! Read on for our list of some of the best vegan fashion brands in each category you ought to look out for – all of which are local to us here in Melbourne, Australia, while offering global shipping.
Sans Beast uses eco-PU, recycled PU and Desserto's cactus 'leather' to craft luxe bags and accessories that are 'designed with credibility + manufactured with quality. Collectable, functional, affordable and designed with love'.
Whether you're looking for a tote that can fit all of your things, a sleek and professional backpack, a playful and bold satchel, a coin wallet or something else, Sans Beast has got you sorted.
This brand is very transparent about the goings-on behind the scenes of the brand, and that includes the making of their bags in Guangdong. The brand lists all of the materials they use, their suppliers, and their reasoning for working with them. Additional happy-making fact about the brand – Sans Beast regularly donates to and supports the gorgeous and important work of Edgar's Mission farmed animal sanctuary.
Unreal Fur is a pioneering brand in the quality faux fur market. Offering full length coats, cropped vests and everything in between, the brand boasts a wide range of faux fur styles that range from the more out there, colourful and full 'furs', to short, 'shaved' and minimal choices.
As well as faux furs, the brand offers a selection of stylish, down-free puffer jackets that are the perfect mix of function and form. These aren't ordinary puffers, they're made with patterned fabric shells, not just basic synthetics.
The latest collection from this brand, made in independently audited facilities, is made of 100% recycled materials, making animal-free fashion far more sustainable.
A new brand on the block, Nōskin is a gender-neutral label creating classic staple pieces ethically, from sustainable and animal-free materials.
From hemp worker jackets to recycled Japanese denim jeans, this brand can dress you from head to toe. The styles that this brand releases are timeless, and will serve you well for many years to come thanks to both quality design and craftwork.
Nōskin is driven by animal liberationist philosophy which extends to the protection of planet and people (because we're animals too!), so you know that you're money is going to a good place when supporting Nōskin.
This is the perfect label for anyone seeking out fair-trade, plant-based undergarments, basics and sleepwear.
Bhumi's collection of sateen, flannel and linen garments are perfect for people of all genders who want not only soft fabrics against their skin, but the comfort of knowing that no one was harmed in the making of what they're wearing.
For outside of the wardrobe, this brand also produces lovely towels and bedding, made to the same high standards.
This is the label from non-profit Collective Fashion Justice, with 100% of profits supporting their work in creating a fashion system that respects all animals – human and non-human, as well as the planet.
This knitwear is made from sustainably grown Australian cotton, in a completely transparent and ethical supply chain that is shown in the short film, Willow and Claude, named after two rescued lambs.
Ending somewhere close to our hearts, our favourite vegan shoes (outside of the many other brands stocked in our store) come from our in-house label, Zette.
With a rescued cat as the namesake of the brand, each style is named after someone – mostly kittens who too, have been rescued and fostered by the Zette team, along with other rescued animals like lambs.
With both traditionally masculine and feminine styles available, Zette's shoes are made ethically in a transparent supply chain, from high quality vegan leather and animal-free materials.
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First up, meet Marion, the designer behind Good Guys Don't Wear Leather.
Founder Marion, captured by Yana Yatsuk
Good Guys was founded in 2011. I remember at the time working for several fashion companies in France as a freelancer. I traveled to China a lot for one company in particular, and this job was an eye-opener for me.
Each trip, I was questioning the need to go that far to pay such low wages to make the most profit possible and how "creation" and "fashion" could be something more honourable and "human" than what the industry looked like at the time. In short, I felt I could do it on my own terms, differently, ethically, cruelty-free, and make it work.
It has changed drastically, I would say. The fashion industry and especially "footwear" has grown so much since I started. There are now many new companies on the market talking about "sustainability" and "circularity" in fashion. Is it greenwashing? for some part, yes, but there are also honest people in the industry who wants to make a difference.
So far, I feel like we have opened the path to the fashion industry's "new era" of a more "conscious fashion and consumerism." Good Guys, Brave Gentleman, and Vegetarian Shoes are the pioneers of the vegan fashion industry. This is a good thing, but it's also pretty hard to keep your head above the crowd sometimes. But we like the challenge, and we are definitely here to stay and enjoy the ride.
I love that question. I just wrote a blog post called "The Good Guys Notes #6 - Art, Shoes & Veganism," and you can read all bout the artists we collaborated with over the years. I love artists, and I paint, draw, and do ceramics myself.
As soon as I see an excellent opportunity to collaborate with an artist, I try to make it happen. I want Good Guys to be a place of creation, experimentation, and opportunities for explorations. Even though we have our own style and it can be very minimalist and "pure," I love to bring a bit of playfulness and fun with exclusive designs, and for that, I collaborate with artists most of the time.
Appleskin, of all the other "sustainable" and eco-friendly alternatives to leather, is my favourite. I know about leather as I worked with leather for many fashion companies, and my goal is to find an option that is as close to leather as possible, beautiful, and durable. Appleskin, for me, has all the qualities. It's a fantastic product with a beautiful concept, and the finish is incredible.
Right now, it's the OLIVER, a brand new unisex dealer boots made in Italy that we will release this Fall-Winter22. It's hand-stitched, the technique is called Climb-Stitched, and we will talk about it very soon on our website and social media. :)
I also love the JERRY rainbow slides because they are a fun statement that you love colors and like to be playful with your "looks." whenever I wear them, I feel like my feet are smiling, and I can totally dress them up or down, I think they look great on any occasion.
Okay, I recently fell in love with a song by Dan Reeder that celebrates nature and life with so much humour. These, below, are the only lyrics on repeat, it goes like this:
"Born a worm
Spins a cocoon
Goes to sleep
Wakes up a butterfly
What the f*** is that about?"
-Dan Reeder
Let's start off with the most obvious reason to avoid leather: to protect the lives of animals.
Leather is not a by-product, but a valuable co-product of the meat and dairy industries. When people buy leather, this financially contributes to the system which rears and slaughters animals. In fact, sometimes cows are even raised specifically for their skin, killed young when their skins are still most soft.
No matter what system animals are raised and slaughtered in, all purchases of animal skins fund killing. The animals who are skinned in the leather industry are capable of feeling pain, joy, fear and excitement. We do not want to contribute to such violence against these individuals.
According to the Sustainable Apparel Coalition, cow skin leather is the third most environmentally impactful material to produce, only after silk and alpaca wool. Even polyurethane synthetic leather (PU) has a far reduced eco-impact.
This is because animal leather, like cow skin leather, has an enormous carbon footprint, requires large amounts of water to produce, as well as chemistry. Shockingly, even when it comes to fossil fuel use, cow skin leather is more harmful than PU!
Even outside of the impacts factored into the Sustainable Apparel Coalition material ratings, leather continues to hurt the planet, and those living on it.
Animal-derived leather is extremely resource intensive, and is very land use inefficient. Basically, this means you need a lot of cleared land to produce a little leather. Across the globe, cleared native, biodiverse land used for agriculture is a leading cause of habitat destruction. It's also another way in which carbon is released and kept in the atmosphere due to leather producing systems – when trees are cut down, and when trees are not there anymore to suck in and store more carbon.
In the image above from Ana Terra Athayde at Vox, you can see cleared Amazonian land. The leather industry is responsible for the vast majority of Amazon Rainforest clearing.
Leather is most often tanned with chromium, as well as formaldehyde, arsenic and other often carcinogenic chemicals. the leather tanning process not only harms workers, but their communities too, as pollution spills into their waterways, endangering the health of everyone who relies on them.
Even before you get to tanneries, there are problems facing people who work in leather supply chains. In Brazil, where a significant amount of the global leather supply is sourced, forced labour has been documented in the cattle ranching industry. This is also the case in Paraguay and Vietnam.
In other parts of the leather supply chain, like in slaughterhouses, people are not necessarily forced into labour directly, but are made to work in a brutal, physically and mentally harmful position because of a lack of options.
Many slaughterhouse workers are settled refugees, immigrants, people of colour, and people who have had less access to education. These often more vulnerable people face serious health risks in this work, which most of us would absolutely hate to do, and be traumatised by.
Not only do animals have their lives taken from them in leather supply chains, they face extreme cruelty first. For example, it is common and legal for cows to have their sensitive, nerve-filled horns cut off to the base, without any pain relief. Some cows have their tails broken, and even chilli forced into their eyes so that they continue walking towards their own slaughter.
Some of the most supposedly 'luxurious' skins used for leather come from calves ripped from their mothers in the dairy industry. These calves are extremely valuable to the leather industry, and both they and their mothers experience great distress when they are torn apart.
If there was an alternative to all of this injustice, why wouldn't we choose it?
There is simply no reason to support violence against animals, environmental destruction, community harm and unjust labour conditions which are all so prevalent in the leather industry.
Today, there are a wide range of materials that are more sustainable and ethical than leather, while looking just as good, if not better!
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Gabriel with shoes made by Ahimsa. Image: Fabiano Accorsi via Globo
It's excellent to be concerned with the rights of animals, and to ensure that fashion does not harm them. In fact, fashion can never be truly ethical if animals are harmed for it.
Humans are animals, too. Fast fashion brands are notorious for exploiting the people who make their garments and shoes -- from refusing to pay a living wage that supports their needs, to harassing and harming them in unsafe work environments.
This isn't good enough, and really shows the importance of choosing ethical, vegan brands. Such brands pay living wages, and ensure comfortable, inviting spaces to create beautiful fashion in.
A lot of fast fashion brands still use PVC, and other low quality synthetic materials which are known to make feet feel stuffy and sweaty. These materials also crack more easily, and are less durable than the more innovative and high quality vegan leathers that are available today.
Ethical, vegan fashion brands invest in good quality leather alternative materials, while fast fashion brands use what is cheapest, so they can make more money with the least hassle -- no matter the consequences.
The consequences of using cheap vegan leather are significant. Just like we need to ask 'who made our clothes?', and 'who made our shoes?', we need to ask 'who made that material?'
We know that in leather supply chains, there are reports of forced labour, and ethical issues tied up not only in the treatment of cattle, but of people working in tanneries, and even slaughterhouses.
Non-animal materials can come from suspect origins, too. If a brand doesn't, won't or can't tell you where their materials are from, it's worth asking why that is. Is their PVC being made with unjust labour practices? Are the workers who produce the material safe?
Brands working to be ethical should not only avoid unjust animal-derived materials, but synthetic and other materials that are made without the best interest of the people behind them in mind.
Good, ethical vegan fashion brands use all sorts of alternative leathers. One such material is polyurethane -- a kind of synthetic leather that can be OEKO-TEX 100 certified or recycled. There are more innovative materials too, like cactus, pineapple leaf, grape, apple and other plant-based leathers. Other material options include cork, recycled synthetic leather, and so on.
These materials have a lower environmental impact than both cow skin leather and toxic PVC. This is important!
Though it may seem so, not all shoes made of synthetic upper material are vegan. Those faux leather shoes from a fast fashion brand may not be leather, but there may be other, more hidden aspects to them that are animal-derived.
Some shoes have an insole that is made up of a mix of synthetic and animal-derived material, while others are glued together with a substance made of slaughtered animals. Some materials may even be dyed with animal-based substances!
While it's great for a shoe to not be made of leather, that alone doesn't mean it's a completely vegan shoe.
You know when brands make their logos rainbow-coloured during Pride Month, but have no genuine commitment to inclusivity and work towards a world free of homophobia and transphobia? That's a real shame.
A similar situation plays out when brands slap a vegan logo onto some of their products, but also sell a whole lot of shoes and clothes made from slaughtered animals. These brands don't have a genuine care about animals, their protection or rights.
When you choose to support an ethical, vegan brand, you choose to support not only a product, but a business full of people who are ethically aligned with your values. In doing this, you know that the financial support you're giving this business isn't going to go towards other animal exploitation and injustice.
Even when fast fashion brands do use sustainable alternatives to leather -- think H&M using cactus leather -- they aren't sustainable. This is because these brands mass produce. They make enormous amounts of shoes, and they make them constantly, with no regard for the finite planet we all share, which they pollute.
Such a large portion of fashion today ends up in landfill, largely due to fast fashion's obsession with constant production at low quality.
This simply can't be sustained, and it's far better to support brands with produce small, limited runs of shoes that are designed and made with care.
]]>Without further ado, meet some of the collection...
Isabel and Will look perfect in the Sinead and Sterling boots, both fairly handmade in Brazil in an all-vegan operated and run factory.
The Crusoe boot is lined with faux shearling, and made of hardy, water-resistant microfibre.
This boot is perfect for those transitional days where it isn't too cold, but it's not quite warm yet, either. Wear them without socks, with tights, or something stand out.
These boots are sleek, simple and sophisticated. What more could you want in a shoe?
This boot has a high grip sole, supple vegan leather, and the capacity to move seamlessly from casual to more smart.
Whether you prefer an ankle or knee length boot, this collection has got you covered. Meet Blake and Lucinda, two sides of the same luxurious coin.
Two smart styles that can be dressed up, or in this case down, this is Pierre 2 and Amelie.
The Leela boot is set to be a favourite for the season, combining a classic style with a stacked sole for extra height and edge, made ethically.
The Mickey sneaker morphs retro charm with more innovative materials and making.
The Charlotte heeled mary-jane is a cute and versatile shoe, patent for an extra slick and shiny look.
Ending on a high with the Benjie chukka, perfect to take a spin in from day to night, work to play.
]]>It is still a criminal offence to be queer in some parts of the world, not all queer people are yet able to marry the people they love, and issues of violence, harassment and related mental health concerns are higher amongst the queer community.
While this month is a wonderful time to celebrate, it's important we reflect on these issues too, and take time to help our wider communities become more accepting and inclusive. Everyone has some unlearning to do around homosexual, bisexual, transgender and other sexualities and gender identities.
Vegan Style is a proudly queer-owned business, and we felt there's no better time than this month to share a list of some of our favourite LGBTQ+, vegan brands and sanctuaries worth supporting in their mission for a kinder world!
So, without further ado...
We can't help ourselves, we're going to celebrate ourselves first! Zette is the in-house label of Vegan Style, dedicated to creating versatile, luxurious and ethical shoes for everyone.
Our shoes are made ethically across Portugal, Brazil and Spain from completely vegan and more sustainable materials. Every shoe in our collection is named after a different cat who our team has fostered and helped to rehome, with the Zette brand itself named after a cat who still lives with the Zette founders, Justin and Gav.
Our latest collection has just gone live, full of beautiful winter boots for all different moods and styles.
The first luxury menswear brand to be completely free of animals, ethically made and sustainable, Brave Gentlemen is founded by Joshua Katcher.
Joshua is a true pioneer of the ethical fashion industry, having been vegan since 1998 and changing the industry from the day he got involved. A sustainability lecturer, panel speaker, and author of Fashion Animals, Joshua's expertise are visually represented in the stunning and innovative designs of Brave Gentlemen.
All Brave Gentlemen shoes are made ethically with the use of sustainable materials like those which are recycled, EU Ecolabel certified, and technologically advanced.
This lifestyle brand was founded by graphic designer Jacky Wasserman. Made ethically and transparently in Los Angeles, the brand creates t-shirts, key-chains, prints, sweats, stickers and pins -- many of which carry messages supporting the vegan movement, and the Black Lives Matter Movement.
BEET x BEET says that 'what we eat, what we wear, how we treat animals, ourselves and others makes an impact. Using the medium as the message we hope to inspire you to plant seeds, provoke thoughts, conversations and ideas that get spread globally just by wearing our apparel.'
This brand has generously contributed to charities and organisations like Mercy for Animals, the Los Angeles LGBT Center, and Planned Parenthood.
Created and led by the wonderful and proudly queer Gloria Noto, this is a beautiful, gender-neutral, clean skincare and beauty brand.
With minimalist products packaged in more sustainable, recyclable and quality materials like glass, the brand creates multi-use products. Our favourites are the tints that look perfect on lips, cheeks and eyelids.
NOTO is dedicated to representation, inclusivity and giving back. Their journal features the stories, playlists, images and thoughts of a diverse group of people, while the brand has donated $26,000USD so far to organisations like Planned Parenthood, The Trevor Project, The Love Land Foundation, Black Mama's Matter, The Okra Project, and more.
This queer, vegan run sanctuary stands on Bunurong Country, what is now often referred to as South Gippsland, Victoria, Australia.
Big Sky is an 'intentional multi-species community', with the humans living within this community operating within an eco-feminist, consistent anti-oppression framework which has created a space that is radically welcoming, caring and ethical.
Home to other species including chickens, pigs, sheep, and cows, many of the individuals here have been rescued from misery in factory-farms, from abandonment, or from places where they were wrongly considered 'no longer useful', their individuality not valued as it should be.
Black Sheep Animal Sanctuary is a safe and sustainable space where abused, injured and neglected non-human animals are rehabilitated and re-homed.
Based at Ōtaki Forks, an hour out from Wellington, Aotearoa New Zealand, the sanctuary feels that not only are the individual lives rehabilitated and cared for here special, they and their happy lives are symbols of liberation and hope.
Rats, goats, sheep, cows, rabbits, dogs, ducks, cats, roosters, miniature horses, geese and pigs are all free to live out their lives here, alongside the humans who love to spend time with them.
A place where every animal is free, Happy Hens resides on 40 acres of land situated between Los Angeles and San Francisco.
With a full time veterinarian and a skilled care team, Happy Hens takes in those animals who need urgent care, long term rehabilitation and home. Over the last six years, founder and youth activist Zoe Rosenberg and her team have cared for and rescued nearly 1,000 individuals across different species like chickens, turkeys, ducks, geese, quails, cows, pigs, goats and sheep.
Most of the residents at Happy Hens have been rescued from extreme suffering and hardship -- often they have never seen the sun and sky, or touched their feet to soft, natural ground. It's for this reason that the humans at this sanctuary devote all their energy to ensuring these non-human animals never suffer again, and can live out their lives happy, healthy and free.
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In case you missed it, cow skin leather is not only cruel, but terrible for the planet. Really terrible. Just one of the ways this manifests, is through the enormous climate impact of cow hides transformed chemically into leather.
For example, did you know that to produce a pair of winter boots made from cow skin leather rather than conventional synthetic leather, 56.5kg more carbon equivalent greenhouse gas emissions are released into our atmosphere? That’s pretty wild.
Other alternatives to leather, like Pinatex and AppleSkin leather, are responsible for even less greenhouse gas emission releases than conventional synthetic leather!
With something for everyone, we’ve compiled a list of our favourite winter boots for the season — all made from less climate impact, ethically, and without animals (of course).
These mindfully minimalist rain boots are the perfect go-to shoe for those wet days where you still want to look chic. In a bold white, these waterproof boots let anything that come at them slide right off, so you stay dry in style.
Perhaps most interesting about this style, is that these boots are made from recycled materials! Made in Romania, the quality of these boots is high, so you can enjoy rain walking, splashing, dancing (or whatever else!) for years to come.
A timeless classic of a shoe, the Sterling chelsea boot is hardy, made from the highest quality, Spanish made and OKEO-TEX 100 certified vegan leather. We're showing off the gorgeous cognac colour way here, but these handsome boots also come in olive and burgundy.
This style of boot can fit seamlessly into the wardrobe of all sorts of people, whether they dress sharply in suits, in traditional, hardy flannels, or in a classic, vintage cord shirt.
This brand is known for making cult-classic boots, and the Daisy is no exception to that rule. Designed in Paris and fairly made in Portugal, the Daisy in honey is the perfect boot to be paired with your favourite vintage jeans, sheer tights and a wintery dress, poking out under long flared pants, or any other look.
Made from high quality, OEKO-TEX 100 certified vegan leather, and with a strong, wooden heel, this style also comes in classic black, and in a lower style called Duke, available in sand-tone.
From Zette's 2020 winter collection, the Claudia boot is not bound to a single year, but perfect for anyone looking to build a capsule wardrobe to last them for years. Available in chestnut as above, as well as in camel, black and taupe, the Claudia is handmade in Spain from buttery soft, vegan nappa leather.
Wear them under flared or wide-leg jeans, or on top of skinny jeans, tights or warmer stockings. These boots are perfect for keeping your legs warm in sophisticated, yet versatile style.
If we're talking versatile, sustainable boots, we have to talk about Cooper. These essential style boots are made from AppleSkin, a kind of vegan leather that is up to 30% apple peels, seeds and cores that are recycled from the apple juice industry, which would otherwise discard them.
These ethically made shoes are not only a sustainable pick, but a perfect choice for anyone looking for understated, dress-them-up-or-down style shoes.
* Updated as of 24 March 2020 *
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While our stores remain open for business, we recognise you may prefer to shop online at veganstyle.com.au. Our friendly customer service team is available Monday to Friday from 11am – 6:00pm AEDT. Our customer care team is here if you have any questions or need assistance - please don’t hesitate to email us on info@veganstyle.com.au or phone us on (03) 8669 1471. We are going to continue to stay open for as long as we are able to do what we do best - to provide you with the best vegan shoes and accessories!!
Be kind and take care of everyone :)
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