Vegan fashion: eco-friendly or just trendy?

It looks like caring for nature, but in reality it's plastic again. Today, the words "vegan" and "plant-based" have become a trend not only in food, but also in fashion. The Conversation looks at what's behind them.

When we buy a "vegan jacket" or "eco-bag", we hope for ethical and environmentally friendly production. However, the reality is more complicated. Often so-called 'vegan leather' is precisely synthetics, primarily polyurethane, which does not degrade and releases microplastics.

Vegan is not always green

Even if recycled plastic is used, it doesn't mean the thing is safe for the planet. The production of such fabrics requires energy, and the materials themselves continue to pollute the environment when washed and disposed of. Sometimes vegan leather is more damaging than natural leather - for example, vegetable-tanned leather, which is more easily degraded and is a by-product of the meat industry.

There are alternatives: leather from cacti, mushroom mycelium, algae. But even here not everything is unambiguous. Such products often contain synthetic additives and require special conditions for decomposition - high temperature, humidity and specific microorganisms. In other words, a "bio-bag" on the dacha compost is unlikely to disappear on its own.

Where fashion ends and marketing begins

Songyi Yang, a researcher of sustainable fashion, and her colleagues studied the websites of 21 brands working with innovative materials. The conclusion: there is almost no transparency. Manufacturers rarely specify exactly what the product is made of, how long it will last and whether it can be recycled.

Terms like 'biodegradable', 'vegan' or 'eco-friendly' are still barely regulated by law in the EU and UK. So they may sound nice, but they mean little without supporting certificates.

What's a consumer to do?

Here are some simple rules of thumb to help distinguish between an eco-friendly choice and a 'green hoax':

🔎 Read the composition. Don't just believe "plant-based" labels - look to see if there are plastics in the composition (polyurethane, polyester).
📜 Look at the certifications: GOTS, GRS, Cradle-to-Cradle - these are real certifications, not just words.
🧵 Think years ahead: a durable item is more environmentally friendly than a disposable one.
🗣️ Look for honest brands. For example, Veja is honest about the fact that vegetable tanned leather is not yet ideal for mass production, but they are working on improvements.

The main takeaway is that not everything vegan is green, and not everything green is honest. Sustainability is not a slogan, but a real concern for how, what things are made from and why.