Vegan leather is also known as faux leather, artificial leather, or plant-based leather. It is a material that mimics traditional genuine leathers but without any animal-products included. They are popular for beauty businesses that value the ecosystem and animal lives. This blog is to help you find the right alternative vegan leather for your cruelty-free products.
Synthetic Polymer Leathers(PU leather, PVC leather, PVB leather)
Synthetic Polymer Leathers include Polyurethane (PU), Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), and the newcomer Polyvinyl Butyral Leather (PVB).
With environmentally conscious growth, Recycled PU Leather and Recycled PVB Leather are also recently developed.
PU leather has almost replaced PVC leather since it is better performanced in every aspect except cost, so you can only see PVC leather on cheap products.
Pros: Flexible, Soft, Breathable, Can be made to resemble different types of genuine leather grains, textures and more.
Cons: Unrenewable, May contain toxic chemicals
| PVB | Recycled PVB | PU | Recycled PU | PVC |
| (Does not contain chlorine, phthalates, or other toxic chemicals | same as PVB | Involve small amounts of chemicals like solvents and plasticizers | same as PU | Involve toxic chemicals like chlorine, phthalates |
Plant-based Leather
These plant-based leathers offer cruelty-free and often more sustainable alternatives to traditional animal-based leather. However, it’s important to consider factors such as availability, cost, performance of the plant-based leathers.
Pineapple Leather
Also known as Piñatex, It is a natural, non-woven textile made from pineapple leaf fibers, byproducts of the pineapple harvest. The fibers are extracted, processed, and felted together to create a durable, leather-like material.
Cork Leather
Cork leather is made from the bark of cork oak trees. The cork is harvested, ground into particles, and then combined with a natural binder or resin to create sheets or rolls of material that can be embossed and finished to resemble leather.
Cactus Leather
Cactus leather, also known as cactus vegan leather, is made from the leaves of the nopal cactus plant. The cactus leaves are dried, ground into a pulp, and then combined with a binder to create a material that can be processed into a leather-like fabric.
Grape Leather
Grape leather is made from the pomace (solid residue) left over from winemaking. The grape pomace is processed and combined with other natural materials to create a sustainable, leather-like material.
Bamboo Leather
Bamboo leather is ultra-durable, sleek, and made from the most renewable raw material on earth, and supported by our government.
Mushroom Leather
Also known as mycelium leather, is made from the root structure of mushrooms. The mycelium is grown on a substrate of agricultural waste. As mushroom grows, it forms a dense, leather-like material that can be tanned and dyed.
Banana Leather
Banana fiber leather is made from the fibers extracted from banana plant stems, which are typically discarded as agricultural waste. The fibers are processed and woven or felted together, often combined with a natural binder, to create a leather-like material.
Apple Leather
Apple leather is made from the waste products of the apple juice and cider industry. The apple pomace (the solid remains after pressing apples) is processed and combined with other plant-based materials to create a leather-like material.
Coconut Leather
Coconut leather is made from the byproducts of the coconut industry, such as coconut husks or coconut water. The fibers or other materials are extracted, processed, and combined with binders to create a leather-like material.
Coated fabrics – Vegan leather that isn’t leather
Coated fabrics is a fabric base with a layer of PU, PVC, TPU, or EVA. They offer a combination of the fabric’s properties (e.g., breathability, drape) and leather-like appearance. Can be more affordable than solid PU leather. They are popular on the fashion industry over the last few years, many of the LV minibags are coated fabrics.
Afterwords
Recycled Leather is not included in this article because technically it doesn’t belong to vegan leather, as it is made with genuine leather scraps.
