I will confess…I used to be a huge fan of animal products in fashion—cashmere wool, mohair, angora, and many more because they are so warm and pretty. But one day as I cuddled my dog in a warm cashmere sweater, as usual, and I felt a little strange. I thought, “Am I wearing the fur of a dead animal and hugging my dog right now?” I realized that it is such a ridiculous combination of cruelty and sweetness. As a dog owner and an animal lover, it was such disgraceful behavior. I’m sure those of you with similar pedigree have felt the same. To get rid of the animal-related guilt, I decided to only buy vegan alternatives from now on.
What is vegan fashion?
Vegan fashion refers to clothes made without animal products. You must already know, many animals are sacrificed for fashion. From leather and fur to wool, cashmere, angora, mohair, goose fur, duck fur, and cow horns, the cruelty is immeasurable. You might be thinking, what’s wrong with that? Aren’t they all discarded hairs or shells? Well, if you see what’s happening in the fashion world with animals, you’ll learn the truth and I bet you would change your pro-fur stance immediately (or at least I hope!).
The most visible cruelty of using animal products is the process of collecting wool. PETA shows how cruelly humans treat sheep to collect large quantities of wool in the shortest time. Although materials such as silk and angora are not often considered in connection with animal abuse, cruelty also exists with them. For example, silk is a material made by silkworms eating mulberry leaves and collecting them in the process of making cocoons, effectively stopping their transformation into moths. Angora processes bind the rabbit’s limbs and forcibly pulls out fur, so it cannot be obtained without the pain of the rabbit.
The principle of vegan fashion is not to exploit even small life. It can also be called “cruelty-free.”
Why should we all wear vegan?
Those who aim for vegan fashion are opposed to the abuse of pulling out animal hair and skinning it. As criticism of the abuse increased, major global brands also declared a “fur-free” movement. Vegan fashion isn’t a brand new idea, since the movement began in 2015. Stella McCartney, famous for being vegetarian, proudly announced that she used artificial fur through the “fur-free” collection for the first time. Since then, global luxury designer brands have also expressed their intention to participate in the fur-free movement.
“Vegan Fashion Week” was first held in Los Angeles in February 2019. Instead of animal materials, alternatives such as pineapple leather, apple leather, and cork leather were introduced. Models’ makeup followed the philosophy of veganism as well, using only products that did not experiment with animals.
How can we try vegan fashion?
Honestly, it was truly hard finding “cool” clothes that were made without animal products in the past. Luckily, we have a lot of choices today because many fashion brands are already innovating the vegan alternatives, and there will be even more in the future.
Stella McCartney
It is not surprising that the queen of vegan fashion Stella McCartney recently launched a new vegan silk line. The British designer fashion brand is a pioneer of the ethical fashion industry.
JW PEI
If you are looking for a new cruelty-free bag, JW PEI is the best brand to look up. It is a designer brand based in Los Angeles, all bags are crafted with sustainable vegan leather such as plastic bottles. Their style is extremely loved by your favorite celebrities.
Vegan Tiger
Vegan Tiger is South Korea’s vegan fashion brand, famous for its vegan fur coats. In the graphic sweater, we see animal ghosts dying in fur factories and they are screaming “MY FUR. NOT YOURS.”
House of Sunny
East London label House of Sunny has the best wool-free knitwear. It was spotlighted as Bella Hadid’s go-to cardigan look and gained popularity with their unique patterns.
Alo Yoga
Did you know that Alo Yoga is also a 100% eco-aware activewear brand? It is Los Angeles-based, all products are crafted ethically. They are not only sustainable but you can look style for your yoga session.
Why is vegan fashion a new luxury?
In October 2017, luxury brand Gucci officially announced that they are going fur-free starting from the SS 2018 collection. Following Gucci, prominent luxury brands such as Calvin Klein, Boss, Chanel, Burberry, Jimmy Choo, and Tom Ford rushed to declare their decision to not make fur products. Even Versace, which was famous for its fur products, has joined the vegan fashion movement.
Even before the word “vegan fashion” appeared, there was a material in the fashion world that was not from animals. However, before that, it was called faux leather or fake leather. The difference between vegan fashion and faux leather is the quality. Vegan fashion contains a high ended image, while faux leather is often considered as tacky material. With the development of technology for processing vegetable materials, it has enough durability to properly implement the feeling of leather or fur and commercialize it, breaking away from the previous “cheap” perception.
It is now too old-fashioned to stay in an era when animal fur and leather were regarded as symbols of wealth. Today, we wear and use clothing to express ourselves. If we change, the world we live in will also change. We can save lives. Not wearing a single mink coat can save more than 50 mink’s lives.
At this point, if you follow vegan fashion, it means you are ahead of the curve and care about animal rights!