What do you think about vegan leather?

30 comments

1. It’s plastic. It’s the shittiest possible alternative there is.

2. I prefer vintage leather over vegan leather.

3. I’ve never seen my leather jacket eat anything so I can assume it’s vegan, it’s nice

4. I’m not a big fan of the look or feel of it generally. In my experience, it also tends to be much less durable than actual leather.

5. My friend has an expensive pair of Italian vegan leather figure skates (Edea) and they stink! They smell like rotten marijuana

6. Borderline impossible to recycle a lot of the time and not a wonderful alternative to leather, but I understand its uses and purpose. I try to avoid it when I can because it’s just more plastic.

   I’m not sure if there is a good alternative, decently priced and easy accessible alternative to leather at the moment.

7. Brilliant marketing for a mediocre at best product.

8. Not a fan but then, I have no qualms about wearing real leather and have no plans to introduce veganism to my lifestyle.

   Vegan leather is sweaty if you wear it, not durable so no good as a quality material for a bag, it looks and feels cheap and plasticy

9. I think it’s counterproductive in a sense. Real leather is super durable lasts nearly forever, whereas vegan leather doesn’t last as long (you’ll buy more of it more often) AND it’s made from plastic. It’s not really helping the environment at all. Yeah sure, save a couple animals or whatever, but when it comes down to it I think creating more plastic everyday is more of a hazard than killing a couple animals every now and then.

10. It is plastic, if you are vegan for the animals, this is not the way to save them.

11. My ethics (re: animals and the environment) are such that I think wearing vintage leather is more acceptable than buying new things made of plasticky fake leather that’ll end up in a landfill sooner and take longer to break down.

12. Oxymoron

13. I’d rather have real leather than plastic. It’s far more eco friendly for me to buy a leather bag that will last for decades than a fake leather bag that will need to be replaced in a few years.

14. I have a “vegan leather” jacket. It’s just the same fake leather as any other fake leather jacket or bag. I got it at discount, but I know full price ones can be more expensive because of the labelling. It’s stupid, just people prying on vegan popularity to try and boost prices.

15. Hate it. Why to have fake leather that does not have any good qualities of leather? Vegan leather is often just plastic (not always, but usually), which is the worst thing you can do to environment. Real leather is durable, it lastes decades when cared, molds perfectly for use and is so beautiful as material. I also happen to live in Lapland, which means that leather, wool, fur and linen are must fabrics for surviving our climate.

16. Buying and using pre-loved items from animal skins is better for the environment (and by extension, animals) than creating new plastic ones.

    “Vegan leather” is a marketing phrase. 20 years ago we called it pleather. The versions most people can afford don’t hold up to daily wear like real leather does but also don’t break down when disposed of.

17. I think it’s a crock of shit. Why call it vegan when it’s really plastic? Let’s be real…

18. Not all vegan leather is plastic now. A lot of it is made from apple for example. So if you can find non plastic leather alternatives it’s generally not a bad thing but otherwise if you want to be animal friendly and environmentally conscious I would go for vintage leather.

19. A lot of vegan leather I’ve bought in the past is made from recycled bottles. If it’s made from recyclable material I have no qualms if it’s plastic based. I even bought a recycled bottle rug from World Market at one point.

    There are so many types of vegan leathers now though made from mushrooms, apples, pineapple, and cactus I’ve seen if you don’t want to buy plastic.

20. I think vegan leather can mean a lot of different things. There are lots of sustainable vegan leather options out there that are not plastic and are much better for the environment.

21. If it’s plastic, fuck off. If it’s one of the newer techniques like mushroom and cactus based leather- hell yeah get it.

22. It’s one of those things non-vegans harp on to excuse themselves for not confronting their animal product consumption in general, but most actual vegans own very little of. Plastic leather has always been something marketed predominantly toward those with lower budgets, not ethics, so it also turns real classist real quick.

    Not all vegan leather is plastic, either. There are alternatives made of cactus, mushroom, apple, and a few other plants-though the people complaining about it usually don’t care that these exist because they don’t actually care about plastic use, they just want to hate on vegans.

23. There is Nopal cactus leather. I’ve heard and read that it’s quite amazing.

24. I think we’re missing the various different leather alternatives that exist. While costly, some are derived from plant fibers like pineapple leaves or mango pits, so there are more sustainable options in the umbrella of vegan leather. My problem is that the price tag is almost never justified. I can’t drop $200 on a purse just because it’s devoid of animal fibers.

    However, I am a longtime vegan and am opposed to real leather. Secondhand I don’t have an opinion on, that’s an individual choice. I find myself liking the appearance of items that happen to be leather when I shop which is a bit of a pain, but someday we’ll get there and we’ll have more fun, and much more durable, options.

    I think worse than poly leather is fast fashion in general, which I don’t really engage with.

25. I’ll never buy the skin of an animal again, one of the cruelest industries there is and disturbing AF to be wearing the skin of someone else. So vegan leather is way better, but I don’t necessarily want to wear faux leather either.

26. So here is the problem. A lot of my work gear has or is leather. If I could get it in vegan leather that offered same comfort, temperature, durability, didn’t cause more environmental shenanigans than natural leather, and was close in price I would try it.

27. I’d like to try a plant based leather! I’ve never actually seen or touched any though so I can’t comment on what it’s like.

    I try to avoid plastic leather because it deteriorates really quickly. I won’t buy real leather.

28. I have my mom’s vintage leather jacket and she has a whole collection of them. She hasn’t bought leather since the 90s (mine is from 1995) and all of the jackets are in amazing condition. Fake leather would never last that long

29. I think it’s great, a lot of plants and plant waste are being made into a leather which is fantastic compared to killing animals for it. I’ve mostly been hearing about cactus and pineapple leather but other plants, I think coffee grounds, have even been started getting turned into it.

    I recently saw a new documentary with Jane Goodall set in New Zealand that showed a pile of skinned bobby calves rotting in the sun and it was horrible.

    >The hides of cows and bobby calves are sent to tanneries to be turned into leather, the majority of which is then exported overseas. There is a common misconception that leather is a by-product of the meat industry intended to reduce waste; it is far more accurate to say that it is a co-product, sometimes more economically valuable than meat to the point where more and more animals are being killed for their skin rather than for their flesh.

    >Cheap leather for use in shoes, handbags and other accessories is also imported to Australia, the United States and Europe from developing countries like India and Bangladesh.

    >As cows are considered sacred by the Hindu religion, their slaughter is illegal in 24 of India’s 29 states. To be legally slaughtered for leather, they must first be transported hundreds or thousands of kilometres to one of the five exempt states or across the border to Bangladesh.  

    >Depending on the route and the number of animals – sometimes in the thousands – much of this transport can occur on foot. In preparation, many have shoes nailed into their feet and ropes threaded tightly through their noses.

    >Exhausted, starving and thirsty, many collapse along the way, compelled to stand by having their nose ropes pulled or their tails broken… being beaten with sticks, or having chilli pepper rubbed into their eyes.

    >For the rest of the journey, they are crowded into and out of trucks, their horns piercing and gouging each other and their bones often breaking. 

    >Those who make it to the slaughterhouse are killed in front of each other without prior stunning, some even skinned alive.

    >The hides are soaked in toxic chemicals known to cause cancer or chronic skin diseases, often by children.

    -dominion documentary

    ETA:

    I quoted Dominion which details various different animals and their exploitation, the recent documentary I watched is different, it’s called Milked and it came out Friday I think. Sorry for any confusion.

30. I liked the idea at first (I was also full fledge vegan at the time), but realized that if it’s sustainably sourced and genuine quality it’s okay to like leather. Plus I just love suede. I cannot help myself. It’s fucking beautiful. Vegan suede is just not the same.