Is Vegan Fashion Sustainable and Ethical?

Image Credit : @anisabejleri  Instagram

For many fashionistas the label vegan allows them to assume a lot of things about the production, sourcing and distribution a vegan products. But like most components of the fashion industry things aren’t always as they appear. According to treehugger.com “Vegan fashion is not always eco-friendly. There's a tendency for shoppers to assume 'vegan' covers all their ethical bases, but it's more complicated than that.” That’s why brands like ourselves are trying to make a difference in the fashion world by producing products that follow our core beliefs of veganism, sustainability, ethical production. LaBante London says what it does on the tin.

Is Vegan Fashion Sustainable?

Not everything called vegan is made from sustainably sourced materials. There are many brands out there calling themselves sustainable when their core offering is made of materials that aren’t. How is that possible? Whose fault is it? Until challenged by the consumer, brands can and will do just about anything they want in order to turn a profit. At LaBante London we guarantee that all of the materials used in the production of our products are sourced from recycled plastic bottles. In fact, 25 plastic bottles go into each vegan handbag that we make.

Is Vegan Fashion Ethical?

Many brands are producing authentic vegan products but where in the world are they being produced? How are the people being treated that make these products? Unfortunately, the sweat-shop environment is also a part of the vegan fashion industry. Just like in mainstream fashion workers are not paid a decent wage, work in appalling working conditions and usually live in an environment that is similar to their places of work. We at LaBante London take great pride in knowing that all of our products are produced in factories that pay some of the highest wages in their regions and the workers are allowed to work in conditions that aren’t dangerous, confined or environmentally abusive. Our CEO, Vanita Badlani Bagri, drops in unannounced during her many global business trips.

On one hand every item of fashion that doesn’t hurt an animal is a ‘win’ for cruelty free production, but what about mother nature? Can we not work in tandem to save animals used in the production of fashion whilst at the same time protecting the environment? Perhaps it’s time for us all to take stock of our vegan fashion and ask ourselves an even bigger question. We’re saving animals, but are we helping the people that produce these items and saving our planet at the same time? We roll these beliefs into our hashtag of #FashionWithRespect. Respect for animals, respect for the environment and respect for the people working in our factories.

What are your thoughts on sustainability and ethically produced vegan fashion? We’d love to hear from you.

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