Vegan leather also known as sustainable leather has caught onto the apparel industry real quick. It is the new big thing in the global market being appreciated like hot cakes, especially by the eco-sensitive and animal lovers’ community. Even though it seems to be a more ethical and realistic alternative to the traditional leather, its usability, finishing and durability majorly rely on the material that is used, whether it is plant-based or synthetically crafted. Vegan leather more or less resembles the look and feel of genuine leather,but has its own set of benefits and drawbacks, let’s check them out…
Here’s what perks the new-age sustainable leather offers!
Ethical
Veganism is all about concern for the animal kingdom and our mother earth. Vegan leather isn’t made from animal extract of any sort. This makes it a cruelty-free, ethical option to go for as an alternative to genuine leather.
Material Variety
Genuine leather is majorly produced from animal extract alone, whereas vegan leather has multiple sources for production ranging from plants to synthetic fibres and other sustainable options available in the fabric market. The variety of materials for sustainable leather are more.
Eco-friendly
Plant-based leather and bio-leather are the most eco-friendly sources used to make vegan leather. They leave a smaller carbon footprint and lesser environmental resource utilization as compared to other synthetic leather, whose processing is also more environmentally sensitive than genuine leather.
Affordable
Price is one of the deciding factors when you’re purchasing fashion apparels. Sustainable leather has lower processing charges than animal leather. This makes it cheaper and a better buy than the latter.
Durable
Synthetic leather lasts longer than genuine leather, it’s water resistant & tough. It’s easier to clean and take care of. Try vegan leather products, so you can use them longer and without any worries.
Versatile
We have discussed the material variety earlier, the variance makes vegan leather versatile making space for color selection, designing and finishing. The aesthetic assortments you can get are vast.
It’s not all rosy, when you’re using vegan leather, now let’s look at its pitfalls!!
Quality
However the ups of using vegan leather might be appealing, the quality isn’t match for genuine leather. Plant-based or bio leather might start cracking and peeling quite soon and synthetic fibres too, don’t offer the same patina as animal leather. It’s not advisable for long-term use.
Comfort
Synthetic fibres are less breathable than plant-based leather and even animal leather, refrain from getting synthetic leather clothing and footwear if you may, plant-based leather might not offer the comforting and fitting texture like that of genuine leather, so even that isn’t advisable.
Processing
We might think vegan leather is the ultimate environment friendly option, well it is environment-friendly just to an extent. This is one point focussing on synthetic leather, processing synthetic leather requires a significant amount of energy and chemicals. Not just that, wear and tear might cause shedding of microplastics, this is polluting and hazardous.
Perception
Vegan leather is leather-like, not leather at the end. The luxury association is still connected just to genuine leather. Materials used to craft synthetic or vegan leather are available cheaper and might even look and feel it after a certain time-frame. Vegan leather isn’t considered a symbol of sophistication.
Pricing
Some materials used to make vegan leather products might be alarmingly cheaper than genuine leather. Some newly discovered sources, plant-based and biodegradable sources might be pricey, well not as much as animal leather. It’s due to small-scale production and new technology utilization.
Winding Up
The options are limitless and both the kinds are irreplaceable, though the bridging of the gap is impressive, in some cases vegan leather’s a boon and in some cases genuine leather is a better choice. It all depends on the material selection, so choose the material for your next leather product wisely. If you wish to go for usability, martial assortment and pricing then vegan leather is a great choice, but if you want comfort, quality, durability and sophistication then genuine leather is what you should go for.
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