Is vegan leather worse for the environment than real leather?

The adoption of Veganuary in the UK alone is expected to have saved the earth’s atmosphere from the equivalent production of CO2 as 450,000 flights from London to Berlin, as well as 2.5 millions litres of water, according to a study by a professor at the University of Oxford. This is the impact of just 31 days. A more permanent adoption of veganism would, according to another study from the university, be the “single biggest way” to reduce our environmental impact, lowering an individual’s carbon footprint by 73 per cent.

These studies have definitively claimed that a vegan diet is less harmful to our environment than one that contains meat and dairy. This attitude often leads to the assumption that we should be adopting the same approach when it comes to our wardrobes, particularly with leather.

And, with the appetite for more sustainable fashion on the increase (searches are up 75 per cent year on year, according to global fashion search engine Lyst), brands are looking to vegan alternatives in the hope of delivering on this demand. But, are vegan-leather alternatives actually better for our environment than the real thing? We spoke to designers on both sides of the argument to try and discover the most sustainable way to be wearing the material.

What exactly is vegan leather?

It is most often made from two different plastic polymers—polyurethane (PU) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC)—and they are most commonly used due to their wrinkled texture, which helps to give the effect of real leather, according to PETA.

As well as these synthetic materials, vegan leather can also be made from more natural resources, including pineapple leaves, cork, apple peels, and recycled plastic.

Can vegan leather rival the quality of the real thing?

Despite the raw materials sounding nothing like what goes into real leather products, vegan leather has come up leaps and bounds over the past few decades, meaning that well-made vegan-leather products can often be mistaken for the real thing.

Sandra Sandor, the creative director of Paris Fashion Week label Nanushka, favours vegan leather for her products, many of which are worn and loved by some of the biggest names in fashion.

“The vegan leather we use is buttery soft and it feels like leather, sometimes people mistake it for real leather, so it's definitely not compromising on quality,” she tells us. “It has a luxurious touch and we get a lot of compliments on it.”

Nanushka has become a favourite among influencers and fashion editors alike, with many of the label's vegan-leather pieces remaining its most popular styles. The brand is a great example of the potential of using vegan-leather alternatives without compromising on style.

That being said, some designers do see a drawback in the quality of vegan leather for certain products, leading them to use a mix of real and vegan, including London Fashion Week favourite, Rejina Pyo, who uses faux leather for trousers and jackets, but tends to opt for the real thing when it comes to accessories.

“When making shoes or bags, we often use leather because it looks great, feels comfortable, and most importantly is durable,” Renee Cuoco, the label's managing director, explains. “It wears well over a long period of time.”

Part of the reason for this is attached to how the consumers view vegan leather.

“I think, for customers there is also still a perception of value attached to leather, and perhaps are more likely to keep and covet leather products over synthetic alternatives. We’re careful about using the term vegan leather as it can be a bit misleading. Veganism is a commitment to not use any animal-derived material or ingredient, so it makes sense that the term vegan leather is only used by brands who have made the commitment to being 100 per cent vegan," adds Cuoco.

Other brands are also turning to animal alternatives. Although not vegan, luxury fashion designers such as John Galliano, Prada, Christian Dior, and Louis Vuitton have all sourced fish skin from Atlantic Leather for collections in a bid to lessen the pressure of real leathers. Pineapple leather is used by brands including Hugo Boss on a range of shoes, as well as in H&M’s Conscious Exclusive collection—the label also plans to use wine leather in its next Conscious drop. Apple, mushroom, corn, and mango are all other animal substitutes used that aren’t manufactured with the same toxic chemicals used in leather tanning, PETA tells us.

Is vegan leather more sustainable than real leather?

When assessing the sustainability credentials of vegan leather, we need to look at its raw properties and how its made—not all vegan leather is created equal.

As we've stated, some vegan leather is made from plant-based materials, while others are created from artificial products. Nanushka, for example, uses vegan leather that’s polyurethane-based, which is a plastic material. The inclusion of these artificial products can be where sustainability issues arise.

“It’s not without environmental concerns,” Sandor says. “However there’s reasonable ground to state that the environmental impact of producing vegan leather is lower than real leather.”

The Environmental Profit & Loss, a sustainability report developed in 2018 by Kering, agrees with Sandor's claim, stating that the impact of vegan-leather production can be up to a third lower than real leather.

“The impact of real leather is driven by land use and GHG emissions associated with animal agriculture,” Sandor explains. “The livestock sector is the world’s largest user of agricultural land through grazing and the use of feed crops.”

As a result, this plays a major role in climate change, the management of water, and biodiversity. For example, the cattle industry in Brazil has been a great driver of deforestation, causing biodiversity loss and contributing to climate change.

However, despite vegan alternatives being thought to have a lower impact on the environment than the real thing, it does have clear drawbacks, particularly when it’s made from plastic.

Clothing made from plastic can pose a threat during and after its lifespan because it could end up in water or landfill. This takes years to degrade and releases toxic chemicals into the environment, which is unsustainable. “It’s estimated that 13 million tonnes of synthetic fibres enter our oceans each year,” warns Sandor.

We’re aware of the dangers of plastic-based materials once used, but Sandor warns that whilst using the product, its microfibres shed and threaten human health, due to accumulation of micro-plastics in the food chain, as well as absorbing them.

Sustainable designer Jourdan Norcose, of Boyish Jeans, explains that designers should be wary about some forms of vegan leather that are more plastic-based.

“Leather is a love-hate story,” he tells me frankly. “Vegan leather can be made from plastics which take years to biodegrade, so it’s actually worse for the planet than regular.”

Micro-plastic pollution is a big threat, as it uses an extensive amount of water, energy, and chemicals to be processed and made into the material that sadly impacts the earth.

“People think it’s better because it says vegan on it, but that’s because people aren’t taking the time to really learn about what they’re buying.”

Greenwashing, when brands use buzzy words to appear more environmentally friendly, is a big part to play in Norcose’s point—it is important to do your research on the brands and substitute materials that you’re spending your money on, both processes and products.

On one hand, real leather can be a harmful material to work with because of the tanning process. To make the animal skin wearable, this means using lots of energy and chemicals to transform the skin into the leather material we’re used to.

“It’s the strong chemicals that are used to break down protein in the skin. This can be done with a more natural process as well, but often harsh chemicals are used to speed up the tanning process,” explains Sandor.

“The use of heavy metals in the tanning and dyeing process has been a major concern in leather manufacturing, putting at risk the environment through chemicals leaking into water streams, the workers, and also the wearer themselves.”

If the chemicals find their way into the water, it causes an excessive richness of nutrients that sparks the growth of algae and animal death due to the lack of oxygen in the waters. In extreme cases, workers in the tanneries are exposed to serious health risks such as lung cancer and leukaemia.

As well as dangerous chemicals, producing real leather also damages environments through deforestation.

“The leather industry has been responsible for deforestation in South America,” Sandor explains, “which is also a major cause of climate change and biodiversity loss.” Deforestation is driven by land use, greenhouse gas emissions from animal agriculture (most farm-related emissions come from methane), grazing and the use of feed crops.

However, not all designers who use real leather are contributing to this issue. At Rejina Pyo, the brand only uses leather from tanneries that are rated by the Leather Working Group, which works to improve traceability across the leather industry.

“We’re aware of the negative environmental impacts of the leather industry and how opaque it is, which is why we look for tanneries rated by the Leather Working Group,” Cuoco explains.

These tanneries are rated on its energy and water use, emissions and chemical input, as well as having a clear supply chain that traces back to the slaughterhouse.

“There’s still a long way to go and it’s not a perfect solution, but the LWG offers a step in the right direction,” Cuoco says.

As well as ensuring a brand has a clear supply chain if you’re buying real leather, opting for a brand that uses vegetable tanning as opposed to chemical is less harmful to the planet.

“Leather products treated with natural vegetable tannins are biodegradable and can be easily discarded at the end of their natural life,” explains Maj-La Pizzelli, creative director at sustainable accessorise label, ATP Atelier. “Our collections are made from vegetable-tanned Tuscan vachetta leather. For us, this is a conscious choice on so many levels.”

The Italian artisan tradition of vegetable tanning has been handed down from generation to generation. “It’s beautiful and also supports a more sustainable fashion cycle,” Pizzelli notes.

Not only does vegetable-tanned leather does not contain any toxic substance (such as azo-dyes, nickel, PCP, or chrome VI) many tanneries reclaim hides from the food industry to prevent waste, which in turn encourages a recycled closed-loop system.

With all of this in mind, whilst buying vegan leather means you’re avoiding using animal products, its replacement can sometimes be plastic-based, which is harmful to the environment and takes years to degrade. By opting for real leather, it’s not the actual animal skin that’s bad for the environment as this is a natural product. However, the chemicals used in the tanning process remains harmful and the fact that the leather industry is contributing to deforestation, so it is better to choose leathers that have been vegetable tanned.

What if the real leather is a by-product?

The obvious disadvantage to buying real leather is you’re contributing to animals dying for fashion. Although this can be counteracted by the fact that leather is a by-product of the meat industry, it still remains the same that you’re wearing an animal and some people, depending on their personal ethics, would argue that that sends a message.

Faux-fur designer Emma Brewin says it’s still unethical to justify using real leather. “I think some people kind of justify buying it because it’s a by-product, but that’s not how I see it at all,” she tells us.

That being said, with more of us wanting to become more sustainable in fashion and beyond, striving to be zero waste is key. So you could, in theory, argue that using animal skin to make leather goods contributes to no waste. Some other materials like furs can be seen as wasteful, as the whole animal might not be used in some cases. In other words, it’s simply using up resources.

Some fashion labels adopt this into their designs. Danish brand Saks Potts justifies its use of real leathers in fashion. “Leather is often a by-product from the meat production, which is why many people legalise it more,” Catherine Saks explains. “Danish mink are completely zero waste, the fat is used for fuel on Danish buses, the bones are used as feed to other animals, and a large amount are used as fertiliser for organic Danish vegetable production.”

What leather should I be investing in?

The answer is not black and white—there are strong arguments on both sides. The best option is to do your research as thoroughly as possible on a case by case basis.

If you are thinking of buying vegan leather, look into what alternatives the brand is using and be aware of the detrimental effects of plastic-based products. If you are opting for real leather, read up on the brand’s tanning processes to find how they create their pieces and be aware of their ethical processes.

It’s not as simple as real leather versus vegan leather, whichever you decide, just make sure to do your research to help you make informed choices. Find out who you’re giving your money to and whether it’s something you want to support, regardless of the latest trends or aesthetics.

This piece was originally published in Harper's Bazaar UK.