Is vegan footwear really sustainable?

In recent years, a growing focus on the well-being of animals and the planet has increased the popularity of veganism, the diet without any animal products. As these same ethical principles have been applied to the fashion industry, demand for vegan footwear – shoes and slippers without animal-origin parts, like leather, wool or silk – has gone through the roof.

However, buying vegan clothes does not automatically mean you are making a more environmentally-friendly choice. When it comes to assessing the sustainability of a product and understanding the various factors that span the entire life cycle, from the manufacturing of the raw materials to their final disposal, it’s all rather complex.  Let’s take a look at some of them.

According to the Higg Materials Sustainability Index, the tool that measures the environmental and social impact of the fashion industry, the production of animal-derived materials generates more greenhouse gas emissions than synthetic alternatives. However, the Higg Index does not account for the post-production stages and so ignores crucial aspects such as the durability of a garment and its recycling options.

If, for example, we look at the first aspect, no one can deny that a leather product generally lasts longer than a synthetic one. The same can be said for a woollen piece: according to a study conducted by Nielsen for Woolmark in 2018, people tend to get attached to their wool pieces and keep them longer than any other garment.

We must also remember that some vegan leathers used in clothing are actually made from non-recycled virgin plastic, which comes from oil. Even plant-based leathers don’t fully meet sustainability standards as they are often not biodegradable due to certain synthetic components.

Another factor to take into consideration when talking about environmental sustainability is the release of microplastics into our waterways. According to an analysis by the Norwegian Environment Agency, a piece of clothing in synthetic fabric can release up to 1,900 synthetic fibres every time it is washed. Microplastic emissions from clothes washing account for 35% of all microplastics found in our water.

These figures show that the issue of sustainability in the fashion industry is multi-faceted and that the entire life cycle of a garment has to be considered. A number of non-profit organisations and companies are focusing their efforts on creating a more transparent and health-conscious supply chain for animals and the planet.

One such example is the Textile Exchange, the organisation that certifies wool from animal and environmentally-friendly farms through the Responsible Wool Standard (RWS). The decision of many brands, including our own, to replace virgin wool with recycled materials is in the same vein.

As we told you in a previous article a while ago, the choice of using RWS-certified virgin wool and regenerated wool helps us to reduce the impact of our manufacturing chain on the environment and to protect animal well-being, while preserving the quality of our slippers.

So, going back to the question we initially posed, i.e. whether vegan footwear can be defined as sustainable, the answer is: it depends. As we’ve seen, the factors that make a product sustainable are not exclusively (or necessarily) linked to the nature of the materials it is made from. While there is still a long way to go towards building a truly circular fashion industry, greater transparency and responsibility on the part of brands and a growing focus on environmental issues by consumers may accelerate this transition to a more sustainable model.