The alternative leathers guide

What’s wrong with leather?

It really depends on where you stand on using animal products. Genuine leather can last for years and years and can compost at end of life (mostly; it depends on the process it was made by and application to product). Generally speaking, when well cared for, leather products far outlast their equivalent vegan, faux product. Given the latter is also environmentally destructive made through fossil fuels as a plastic, and you have to buy many more to last the same 3 – 10 years (if not decades) as the genuine piece, the environmental impact of fake leather often far outweighs the genuine piece that lasts years. That said, the leather industry full of exploited labor, animal cruelty, and toxic chemicals whilst being part of the intensive agriculture industry the largest portion of the time. Exploited labor and toxic chemicals also run rampant in the fast fashion industry and its fake leather fabric though too (the business model doesn’t work without it).

So is there good leather?

There is still a raging debate about this that goes along the lines that whilst we currently have the agriculture system we do, leather can be – and often is – a byproduct of this industry. Typically a lot of leather is made from bovine (cattle) skin. If it is therefore made from what would normally be burned and thrown, with traditional techniques, ethical labor and vegetable tanning, then that’s not terrible for environmental reasons. Certainly there is plenty of merit to this as long as it’s not a primary reason for deforestation, land-use change, water usage and factory farms, and that it doesn’t use the chemical-laden processes of coal-tar derivatives, formaldehyde, chromium, oils and dyes to turn skin into leather and tan it. To be very clear, it is not ethical or sustainable to tan leather in the conventional – and most common – methods.

For ethical reasons, plenty of people don’t want animal derived leather and it’s extremely difficult to know the supply chain of your product throughout its lifecycle. Nearly all brands won’t divulge this and many don’t know every step themselves. If you’re buying genuine leather, look for all these factors, make sure the website offers full transparency and don’t be afraid to ask a lot of questions.

Second to that argument is some increasing research that leather is a stimulant for primary production rather than a byproduct of beef. A Greenpeace report found cattle ranchers were illegally clearing rainforest in the Amazon to meet the demand for leather by global fashion brands, not just as a by-product of beef. Just like the beef, it gets shipped across the world for our use. But that’s not the full story. It’s noted that leather increases the profitability of a cow but leather prices have dropped for years alongside a decline in demand as people buy cheaper synthetic versions. The leather would, in general, not be worth raising without the meat for commercial reasons. This equation tends to change when it comes to lamb and calf leather though – definitely avoid those products.

Whilst cows, pigs and sheep leather might come as a byproduct of the animal food industry, crocodile farms exist for their leather. Goats, alligators, pythons, ostriches and kangaroos are also killed specifically for their skin; it’s worth far more than the meat. On the flip side of that, Indigenous peoples in certain regions raise these animals for their skin with the income helping preserve their environment from gold mining and cattle farming. Whether you choose to use these products is an ethical decision you can make in line with your own values.

Lastly, binding agents on leather can be a big problem and will affect the biodegradability of plant-based leathers. That goes for genuine leather, faux leather and all the sustainable items found below. Plenty are toxic glues, PVC or PU. Slowly more designers are experimenting with natural materials such as beeswax and cornstarch. A lot of the cork leather on the market is bonded onto a thin layer of synthetic which is antithesis to the sustainability of the product. Increasingly this is cotton but cotton has plenty of problems depending on where it is grown (largely due to water usage and labor). These are the things you need to research, particularly if you’re using the leather for your own products.

Common leather goods include: handbags, messenger bags, wallets, shoes, belts, watches, technology accessories such as laptop covers, couches, chairs, jackets, shoes, gloves, skirts, dresses, chains, pet accessories, accessories for keys, glasses cases, journals, homeware items, and other clothing.

And vegan (faux) leather?

Faux leather – also known as pleather – is made from polyvinylchloride (PVC) or polyurethane (PU). It is one of the world’s most heavily produced synthetic plastic polymers. That’s to say, nearly all vegan leather items are made from fossil-fuel based plastic. Fossil fuel extraction also destroys our lands, kill and displace animals, and the resulting climate change wreaks havoc on our biodiversity. Vegan leather does therefore not mean it hasn’t had an impact – displacing, killing or endangering – on animals either. Additionally these items don’t last long and end up in landfill or being burned. They don’t compost and when burned they can release toxic chemicals. Plastic leather is not the answer by any measure.

So what’s a sustainable alternative?

There’s definitely a case that genuine leather can be a sustainable material if it meets all the conditions outlined above. It is certainly a sustainable practise for Indigenous peoples. Hopefully as a planet though we will start moving away from factory farming and mass beef, and this will lower the available leather of this type on the market. As that demand decreases, we need to think about alternative long lasting materials. Largely these are still in experimentation with some now scaling-up production swings. We’ve outlined the most promising plant-based leathers and a couple of other sustainable options in this quick-read guide.

It’s useful remember that reducing consumption will help most no matter the material. Some of these fibres also have the potential to become monocrops; that’s absolutely not what we would want and lower consumption, established land laws the local owners, and smaller companies is therefore important.

Note: the resources are correct as of time of writing. We have linked to places to purchase the raw material, products that use the fabric, interesting interviews and talks. When purchasing an item – whether as a shopper, designer or retailer – please make sure to check production processes, ethical labor and confirm materials as these items are still often in development.