In a world where our choices have a significant impact on the environment and the lives of animals, opting for cruelty-free clothing and accessories is a great step towards positive change. By supporting brands that align with your values, you not only look fabulous but can also feel fabulous knowing you've made a compassionate choice.
Let's dive into the world of cruelty-free fashion and explore how you can ethically elevate your style.
Why Choose Cruelty-Free Fashion?
Knowing where your clothes and accessories come from is key to understanding why someone would choose cruelty-free fashion. Ask yourself, are your shoes, handbags, or jackets worth a life that ended in terror? Reframing your mindset can help you become more empathetic towards animals that suffer for profit.
It's important to keep in mind that while some textiles like wool and down do not require an animal to lose their life, production practices are often intertwined with the meat industry and usually result in careless treatment and extremely distressing, cramped, or torturous conditions.
With so many advancements in alternative textiles, there is no reason to continue to support companies that harm animals in the name of fashion.
Cruelty-free and vegan fashion can also go hand in hand with sustainability. The production of sustainable clothing and accessories often involves environmentally friendly materials like organic cotton, hemp, and recycled fabrics. By choosing sustainable pieces, you are reducing your carbon footprint and supporting a greener future. Choosing ethical brands can also mean you are supporting companies that do not exploit their workers.
The fashion industry has evolved significantly. Today, you can find a plethora of stylish and trendy options that do not contribute to the exploitation of animals or compromise on style.
Materials to Avoid
Leather
Leather is used for countless items like shoes, jackets, belts, purses, and wallets. The use of leather goes back to ancient times, and leathermaking is often considered a craft. The ethical issue lies in the fact that it requires skinning animals like cows, horses, sheep, goats, pigs, alligators, kangaroos, and ostriches. Not all leather comes from the meat industry. Some of the more exotic animals are specifically hunted, trapped, or kept in inhumane conditions until their inevitable demise. The tanning process also uses harsh chemicals to prevent the skin from decomposition, which can be harmful to the environment and ecosystems.
Suede
Suede is a type of leather made from the underside of animal skins and is known for its softness. Often sourced from animals like cows, pigs, sheep, and goats, the production of suede involves killing these animals for their hides. Some might argue that utilizing the hide of an animal that is already being killed for its meat is efficient because no part of it goes to waste. However, that doesn't negate how harmful and cruel the factory farming industry is. Additionally, the chemicals used in the tanning process of suede leather can harm the environment, further impacting wildlife and ecosystems.
Fur
Animal fur is obtained through cruel practices such as trapping and farming, leading to the suffering and death of countless animals all over the world. There are plenty of alternative materials available that can mimic the look and feel of fur without harming any living beings. Synthetic materials like faux fur have become increasingly popular and are a more ethical choice for those who want to stay warm and stylish without contributing to animal cruelty.
Angora
Angora is a wool that comes from Angora rabbits. These rabbits are bred and raised primarily for their wool, the production of which is harmful to animals due to the inhumane practices involved. The rabbits are often kept in cramped cages, subjected to painful and stressful shearing processes, and sometimes even plucked or live-skinned to obtain their wool. These practices cause immense suffering and distress to the rabbits.
Wool
Sheep used for wool are sometimes subjected to practices such as mulesing, which involves cutting chunks of skin from their hindquarters to prevent fly infestations. This procedure is painful and distressing for the animals, who also may be kept in overcrowded and unsanitary conditions on wool farms. The process of shearing can also be rough and quick, causing cuts and injuries to the sheep. While this might be considered the lesser of evils comparatively, wool production can still fall under the cruel category when not done safely and ethically.
Silk
Silk production involves the killing of silkworms in order to harvest fibers from their cocoons. The process of obtaining silk involves boiling the cocoons with the silkworms inside, which, of course, results in their death. This practice inflicts harm on these insects for commercial purposes.
Down
Collected from the undercoating of ducks and geese, down can be found in outwear, pillows, or blankets. Some producers pluck feathers from live ducks and geese, which can cause significant pain, stress, and injury. Some farms that use ducks and geese for down also force-feed them to enlarge their livers for foie gras production, leading to dual exploitation. Many birds raised for down are kept in cramped and unsanitary conditions, leading to physical and psychological distress.
Alternative Materials
The good news is there are plenty of stylish, alternative materials that function much the same, providing warmth and protection from the elements without costing an animal's life. Here is a list of what to add to your closet to make it cruelty-free:
Organic Cotton: Grown without synthetic pesticides or fertilizers, organic cotton offers a sustainable and vegan-friendly option for clothing.
Bamboo: A fast-growing plant that produces soft, breathable fabric, bamboo is hypoallergenic and biodegradable. It is also versatile and can be used in place of plastics in accessories like sunglasses. Fun fact: bamboo absorbs CO2, giving it a negative carbon footprint!
Hemp: Durable, biodegradable, and grown with minimal environmental impact, hemp can be used for a variety of fabrics.
Linen: Made from flax plants, linen is known for its strength and breathability. It is also biodegradable and renewable.
Tencel (Lyocell): Produced from sustainably sourced wood pulp, tencel offers a soft, eco-friendly fabric that is fully biodegradable.
Pinatex: This leather alternative is made from pineapple leaf fibers, creating lower waste and fewer greenhouse gases while also not harming animals.
Cork: Harvested from the bark of cork oak trees, which regenerates after harvest, cork is a renewable resource that can be used for bags, shoes, and other accessories.
Soy Silk: Made from the byproducts of tofu manufacturing, soy silk offers a silky, sustainable, fully biodegradable textile, also called "vegetable cashmere."
Recycled Nylon: Made from pre-consumer waste, such as fabric scraps, and post-consumer waste, like fishing nets, recycled nylon can be a great alternative for swimwear, activewear, and accessories.
Microfiber: Made of synthetic fibers and used as an alternative to leather in shoes and accessories, microfiber is a more sustainable alternative. However, it is not biodegradable.
Recycled Polyester (rPET): Made from recycled plastic bottles, this material can reduce waste and environmental impact. However, it is not biodegradable.
Special Considerations
Sustainability
If you prefer more sustainable options, there are a few things to note. While there are many man-made materials that are considered vegan and cruelty-free, they may still be harmful to the environment. As you can see from the list above, some alternative, cruelty-free textiles reduce their carbon footprint through a more sustainable production process. Still, they may not be biodegradable, meaning they can sit in landfills for centuries before breaking down.
Polyurethane leather (PU leather) is an extremely common leather alternative found in shoes, handbags, wallets, and more. While marketed as vegan and cruelty-free, it is made from petrochemicals and is not biodegradable. PU leather is not very durable and is unlikely to be recycled. It can take centuries to decompose in a landfill, releasing toxic chemicals into the environment while doing so.
Second-Hand
If sustainability is important to you, then thrifting is a great way to reduce waste. You can often find gently used and sometimes brand-new clothing from a variety of brands and designers without contributing to harmful production processes or waste. Thrifting keeps clothes out of landfills and reduces demand from fast-fashion brands that are often under fire for unethical treatment of their workers.
Take Action
You should now be equipped with the knowledge to create a cruelty-free closet.
Research and Verify When shopping for clothing, shoes, and accessories, always read labels and double-check materials to ensure they are cruelty-free and vegan. Look for certifications or labels from reputable organizations to guarantee ethical practices.
Support Ethical Brands Choose to support brands that are transparent about their production processes and are committed to cruelty-free practices. By endorsing these companies, you are advocating for a more ethical and sustainable fashion industry.
Donate If you're overhauling your closet, consider donating your old clothes to thrift stores, charities, or shelters. This helps prevent clothes from ending up in a landfill and can provide for others in need.
