Vegan Fabrics And Why They're Not Always Sustainable

Veganism has become the centre of attention within the food industry, but what about when it comes to fashion? With the rise in talk on both veganism and sustainability, it has become apparent that brands are promoting their clothing with having "vegan fabrics". However, an item of clothing being vegan friendly doesn't necessarily mean that it is the most sustainable option and this post will explore some avenues why.

WHAT IS VEGAN FASHION?

Simultaneously to veganism in the food industry, vegan fashion consists of clothes, shoes, bags and other accessories that cause no harm to animals throughout the entire production process, including the use of any animal based products.

HOW TO TELL IF AN ITEM LABELLED VEGAN IS SUSTAINABLE

What is is made from?

When it comes to vegan fabrics, we think of natural factors such as plants. Let's talk about cotton, which is technically vegan as it is made with no animal products. However, as you may know conventional cotton isn't the most sustainable fibre in the fashion industry. It has a high water consumption and causes soil degradation caused by the use of hazardous chemicals and pesticides during growth.

The alternative to conventional cotton is organic cotton, which is more environmentally friendly. Organic cotton uses less energy and the use of harmful pesticides and chemicals are non-existent, resulting in fewer greenhouse gases and damaging effects to farmers which are commonly apparent during the production of conventional cotton.

Moving onto synthetic fabrics which many are labelled as vegan. Synthetic fabrics are man-made rather than produced using natural elements. Examples include polyester, rayon and acrylic. Although synthetic fabrics may not contain any animal products, they are extremely harmful to the environment and rely on petroleum as the raw material and so aren't a sustainable solution in relation to helping the environment.

Vegan leather

Vegan leather is currently used by many fashion brands in replacement to real leather. However, as plastic is the main material used, this is one of the most unsustainable choices to use in relation to helping the environment. In comparison, there have been developments in using other materials to create vegan leather such as mushroom and pineapple. These alternatives are still undergoing experiment and it's a long way before these can be used for mass production, but it's a good step in achieving sustainable solutions for leather.

Look at the brand who are selling the item

Researching the brand is a great way to investigate whether they are providing sustainable practices throughout their supply chains. Needless to say, if a fast fashion brand releases a collection which they label as vegan, it may in fact be a range that hasn't used animal products. However, knowing it is a fast fashion brand, it is already obvious that it isn't considering sustainable methods throughout its entire brand practices. Being sustainable requires practices of ethical workers rights, attempts of generating less pollution and being cautious of consumption levels to avoid risk of garment over-consumption, which may inevitably end in landfill.

To conclude, the main attribute to consider when finding an item of clothing classed as vegan is to conduct some research into the materials used, and the brand practices of the business supplying the collection range.

Sabrina Cowper | Reform Your Fashion