Vegan Fashion week is now in its fifth year since 2019. This year’s event took place from October 8th through October 10th in LA. Vegan Fashion Week not only aims to highlight the creations of fashion designers who are showing that it is possible to design cruelty-free Vegan fashion, it’s also aimed at providing support for the transition towards more environmentally sustainable practices. For example, the Vegan Fashion Week nonprofit worked closely with designer Willa Phoenix to produce the first Pineapple leather shoes to walk the red carpet at the Oscars. 

Vegan fashion is important because it challenges what’s possible for product development and materials used in manufacturing and production. Existing supply chains support cruelty-based materials like leather, which grow out of the animal exploitation industry and harm the environment. For example leather is produced through animal slaughter and it also creates extremely toxic byproducts through the process of tanning leather, which can affect water supply and human health. 

The Vegan Fashion Week runway show featured clothes made from apple fiber, bamboo and linen. Celebrities like Tara Reid and Maggie Baird, Billie Eilish’s mother, attended the show. Vegan clothing is a fast growing industry, and the more you know, the more you can support brands that use cruelty-free materials. Showcasing innovation through events like vegan fashion week can help to normalize vegan fashion and spread awareness to the public. 

For more information on Vegan brands and materials, please visit the links below:

https://www.projectcece.com/blog/594/best-vegan-clothing-brands/https://www.peta.org/living/personal-care-fashion/vegan-eco-clothing-belongs-in-your-closet/https://theecohub.com/vegan-fabrics/