Insights Into Modern Vegan Leather: Pros, Cons, and Advantages

After various Fashion Week shows aired models sporting various vegan leather accessories, like a vegan backpack, jackets, and even a particularly dazzling pair of crocodile skin pants, fashionistas worldwide have embraced vegan leather harder than they did bell bottoms. At a glance, it’s easy to see why vegan leather is so popular, right? 

It’s a humanely-product material that often reduces greenhouse gas emissions given out by tanneries in many cases. It’s a win for vegans and those concerned about what leather production does to the environment. 

While vegan leather prevents the inhumane treatment of animals, most vegan leather is made from PVC or PU plastic, increasing pollution worldwide. 

That puts a slight crease on the whole good-for-the-Earth thing, doesn’t it?

Why Plastic is Used for Vegan Leather

Before we can understand why it’s not possible to just create a leather substitute from thin air, let’s talk about two of the biggest reasons for the popularity of leather in the first place. 

Reason 1: The Rich Texture of Leather

The first, of course, is its rich and intense texture. Leather made from animal hides, like cow leather or even crocodile skin leather, has a rugged yet smooth texture you won’t find on any other type of material. It’s perfect for anything you could ask it to do, whether it’s upholstery, fashion, or hell, even armor! In particular, the fashion point is what we’re concerned about. 

Reason 2: The Amazing Durability of Leather

The second reason is its durability. If kept inside and in good conditions, Genuine leather can last for up to a hundred years. Leather can crack a little if you take outside in high temperatures, but ask most people, and that sort of weathering just adds to the classiness of the leather. Leather also stands up to water without a problem, and if you manage to keep your precious leather handbag safe from both, it’ll easily last upwards of a stunning hundred years.

Asking the Material to Do Too Many Things

So what’s forcing us to use plastic as the only alternative solution to producing genuine leather? Let’s take a look:

• The Rich Texture: The texture of vegan backpack in leather, while unimaginably luxurious, is almost equally hard to reproduce. The easiest way to do it is by using various toxic chemicals on PU or PVC plastics, which leads us back to more water and landfill pollution. Plant-based materials for vegan leather are often a better alternative, though one should keep in mind that they’re expensive, hard-to-find, and usually nowhere as durable. 
• The Durability: The second thing we’ll talk about is the question of durability. We want our leather substitute to be hardy, waterproof, and not crack under the harsh sun like genuine leather, but at the same time, we want the material to be biodegradable. That’s just not possible. If the material stands up to water and sun without a problem, it very obviously won’t be biodegradable. 

As Preeti Gopinath, an associate professor at Parsons’ School of Fashion, says, “we’re asking the material to do too many things.” Most of the time, you’ll see plastic vegan leather, which is more durable but creates more pollution in the process. 

The Bottom Line: Is Using Vegan Leather Worth It?

We’d be lying if we said the answer was anything but a resounding yes! Even if it’s the plastic kind you’re buying, in comparison to the harshness and pollution created during the production of genuine leather, vegan leather remains a far better option, both for the environmentally concerned fashionistas, the animals who would have been mistreated during the process, and the environment. 

But, hey, this is the Internet, right? For all you know, we’re writing this while also playing a funny game about a space marine blowing up aliens. 

Don’t take us at face value. Instead, check out the pros and cons of vegan leather we’ve listed out below (and we promise, we didn’t tip the scales in favor of the pros):

The Pros

Vegan Lea- no, we’re just kidding. The pros are right down there. 

• Cruelty-Free: No animals are harmed during vegan leather production, whether it’s organic or inorganic. The increased demand for vegan leather has reduced the overall demand, and thus production, of genuine leather, which means the fashion field isn’t quite as endorse of animal cruelty as before. 
• Waterproof: The plastic coating you’ll find on many vegan types of leather makes the product waterproof. 
• Retains Color: Unless you’re going for a bespoke leather bag, your leather accessory’s color will fade over the years. Conversely, vegan leather holds its color for quite a while. 
• Supports Recycling: Several companies opt only to use recycled materials to manufacture their vegan leather. Organic vegan leather-like Pinatex or Fruit Leather means organic waste crushed, sorted, and refined. For PU or PVC leather, recycled bottles, bottle caps, and other materials are used. 
• Reduces Greenhouse Emissions: Vegan leather production doesn’t include the vast amounts of air pollution that tanneries give out daily. 
• Cheap: Lastly, vegan leather is more affordable than genuine leather. That includes both the primary material itself and finished products made from it. 

The Cons

• Lower Quality: The first con of using vegan leather is that it’s usually tough to find vegan leather that completely mimics the texture of genuine leather. The texture isn’t quite the same, and usually, it’s of a little lower quality. 
• Less Durable: As we said before, vegan leather isn’t as durable as genuine leather made from animal hide. If you treat it right, it’ll still last ten to twenty years but lasting upwards of a hundred? Yeah, no, we’re afraid not. 
• Inorganic Vegan Leather Doesn’t Decompose: Vegan Leather made from PU and PVC plastic decomposes quickly as genuine leather. You should note, though, that there are alternatives: quite often, the plastic is reused, and there’s always organic vegan leather instead. 

Bonus Segment: How to Keep Your Vegan Leather in Good Condition

You might have been thinking that you don’t need to maintain your vegan leather backpack just because it’s primarily made of recycled plastic or fruit peels (yeah, that’s a thing). The fact that it’s already waterproof because of the plastic coating makes cleaning them a lot easier than genuine leather products. You can use a mild detergent to clean the outside surfaces, but make sure it’s not too chemically intensive. 

There’s also the question of cracking in the sun. Regular conditioners that protect the leather from cracking in the sun won’t work on vegan leather products, but you can buy products that form a protective layer over the surface. This prevents the vegan leather from cracking in the sun and can even help soften down the material. 

Should You Pick Up a Vegan Leather Bag Today: A Conclusion

While PVC and PU-plastic-based vegan leather are technically sustainable, it’s worth keeping in mind that vegan backpack of leather isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. Plant-based options like Pintatex and cork-fabric leather are becoming more accessible by the day and help reduce the use of plastic in vegan leather. In fact, if the veganism train keeps charging on ahead at full speed, you can expect to see vegan leather becoming as common as genuine leather!