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/

If you are a vegan you have sworn off eating animal products or wearing any animal products such as leather. You may not be aware of the prevalence of animal derived materials in many other everyday products. So much of our industrial world is built off the back of profiting from the slaughter of animals, it’s difficult to keep track. While it’s impossible to completely eliminate everything sourced from animal products, it is possible to make an audit of what you use and eliminate everything possible. If you are aware of our dependence on animal products you can also advocate for a new innovative economy in which we leave behind our dependence on the products of animal suffering.

The following are 5 animal products that may be found in common materials you don’t expect:

1. Gelatine. Gelatine is known as the ingredient that is found in jelly and jelly sweets. However it’s also used as a binder in matchheads, sandpaper and pill capsules. It is made by boiling the skin and hooves of animals to create a gel substance.
2. Casein. Casein is a byproduct of the dairy industry. It is a protein found in most mammals’ milk. It’s surprising how many common uses it has, such as in paint, glue, plastics and in dentistry and tooth repair. 
3. Lanolin. Lanolin is a substance in the skin of sheep and other woolly animals that acts as waterproofing for their wool. It is used in many lotions, balms and skincreams. It can also be found in shoe polish, in rust proofing and as an industrial lubricant. 
4. Guanine. Guanine comes from fish scales and is used to give a pearlized sheen to shampoos, nail polishes and other cosmetic and personal hygiene products. 
5. Ambergris. Ambergris is made from whale intestines and it is a fixative used in perfumes and a flavoring in foods and beverages. 

Animal products are unfortunately an integral part of our production and industrial supply chain. This means that many common products are obtained in cruel and inhuman ways.  Although vegans may be disciplined about cutting out foods that come from animals, it’s easy to forget how many other products are sourced from animals. 

As well as avoiding products with animal ingredients, it’s important to advocate for alternatives and challenge the existing system. When it comes to clothing there are many alternative materials such as cactus leather and other materials that are vegan friendly. Industrial products can be more tricky but many products, like paint, have vegan alternatives. More companies are manufacturing 100 percent vegan products by using vegan solvents, binders and other materials. As a vegan it’s important to advocate for vegan industrial products and spread the word or find ways to encourage innovation in your industry. The following is a more exhaustive list of vegan products from Peta: https://www.peta.org/living/food/animal-ingredients-list/