Veganism And Clothing

At Leafy Souls, we intend to help vegan consumers by supplying them with fashionable, cruelty-free made clothing. Veganism means that you - as a consumer - stay clear away from animal products. Most of us know that veganism includes no meat and no dairy consumption. This extends to fabrics and materials made from animals. So how do vegans buy clothes in a world where animal products have yet still to dominate the market?

Not to worry, we will take you through it! It is first important to know which fabrics are vegan and which are not. Most products are not plant-based. Vegan consumers must look for synthetic materials on the label in order to be sure that the item has been made 100% animal-cruelty free. The label can be found on every piece of clothing. It has instructions on how to wash the item and it also informs you of what the item is composed of.

Leather Dilemma

Real leather is one of the hardest fabrics to replace. The quality of the fabric is high and makes any piece durable. Not to mention that most fashion houses design almost everything in their collection with the highest quality of leather. However, leather comes from a terrible process.

The first part involves meat and dairy farms. As we know, these farms do not treat the animals well. Once these farms have finished with the animals, the carcasses are sold to production factories where they make the leather.

PETA also highlights the fact that leather is one of the worst materials for the environment in terms of production. It shared the responsibility for the environmental destruction caused by the meat and dairy industries and then adds it’s own pollution with the toxins used in the tanning process.

No More Fur & Exotic Skins

Fur and exotic skins are different from leather. They are not a second step from an initial process like meat and dairy farms. Instead, manufacturers hunt, breed and kill innocent, and a lot of the time, endangered animals in order to get that quality fabric.

Snakes, crocodiles, tigers, minx, foxes - there are so many. As much as governments have tried to avoid this from happening, it is a legal operation in a lot of countries and poachers are hard to get rid of.  The less we buy, the lower the demand and less supply needed. Opt for fake and instead use the money that you saved to give to a charity that protects the animals.

Shoe Blues

Shoes are so important and it is no wonder why leather or any other animal skin is the main fabric used. Also, there are not a lot of alternatives. But things are changing. Adidas did extremely well with their recycled, plastic-made shoes. They got good reviews and they made a positive, influential impact on other brands.

A lot of companies are investing in trial and error tests to see if mushroom or pineapple leather can fit the bill. Perhaps we still have a way to go in replacing animal-skin shoes - but we are on the move! In no time, everyone will be rocking around in recycled materials or plant-based footwear. For now, we have synthetic products available in our store.

Shear Away From Wool

Wool is an amazing fabric, but the cost of it is high. Animals make enough wool to keep themselves warm. They do not have extra to give away to humans. Animals are trapped, tagged, sheared and castrated in order for factories to take the wool from them. Not only that, these poor animals that live in terrible conditions are not given any pain relief.

There are some stores that sell the wool from farms where the sheep are helped through shearing. In the warm summer, sheep appreciate getting their wool taken off, but this is done in the friendliest of ways and not for mass production,

Mainstream Is Coming

Vegan clothing is becoming more and more popular with big brands joining in. H&M, Zara and Mango are great brands that combine style, brand reputation, and sustainability. Other brands like here at Leafy Souls are committed to providing the same, quality products. In addition, when you buy at Leafy Souls, part of your payment is donated to one of the three organizations that we support.