Caring about the wellbeing and health of the animals around us, people around us, the planet that we call home, and our future generations – that’s something we all have in common. It’s sort of a default setting. What we sometimes lack is the insight to really tell apart the good from the bad.

Somewhere down the road, rather unknowingly or unintentionally, we trade ethics for comfort and more style. But fashion doesn’t have to be cruel. Fashion needs to be a force of betterment, positivity, and the collective growth of all people. That’s where vegan fashion and sustainable fashion come into the picture.

What is vegan fashion?

Vegan fashion is nothing new. A cotton t-shirt is vegan. A pair of denim is vegan. And so on. Is that it? Not by a long shot. It’s much more than that. Let’s find out what is vegan fashion.

Anything built in a cruelty-free way and without using any animal-based substances can be called vegan. Fashion accessories, clothing, footwear, etc. made using materials that have nothing to do with animals are widely proclaimed as vegan fashion.

Quick tips to test whether a particular piece of fashion is vegan or not:

1. Does it use any substance or material, even partly, made from or by raising animals?
2. Does it involve any harm, breeding, farming, or keeping of animals for production or delivery?

If the answer is no for both the questions, it’s a vegan product. Kudos!

What is sustainable fashion?

Sustainable fashion is sometimes dubbed eco-fashion. So, what is sustainable fashion?

More than a type of fashion, it’s a type of movement that urges people to move away from methods of material production that involve elements that harm the environment around us. Ecological integrity and social justice are key values around which sustainable fashion is built. The production system, producer, and factory-to-landfill lifespan of clothing are the core issues it tackles.

A company needs to consider every socio-economic and environmental aspect to come up with the most sustainable strategy to be called a sustainable fashion company. Clothing produced in a socially and ecologically justifiable and responsible manner is called sustainable clothing.

You don’t necessarily need to buy something new to be a part of sustainable fashion. In fact, recycling and reusing clothing and garments (not just yours) are the most effective ways of participating in the sustainable fashion movement.

Shopping for second-hand products, swapping and borrowing, etc. are other ways to participate. The whole point of sustainable fashion is to leave no negative impact on the planet by your clothing choices. If possible, you have to leave a positive impact.

Why is sustainable fashion important? Because it’s high time we started putting less strain on our planet that’s marred with man-made problems and is coping badly with ever-decreasing natural resources to sustain us.

The current trends of production and consumption clearly indicate that we’re down on a self-destructive road. The current global lifestyle cannot sustain life for long, put aside leaving a better planet for our children. It’s quite alarming, actually, the rate at which we’re consuming natural resources.

There’s simply no room for error, yet we make erroneous decisions every day, in millions. For example, land clearing and waste production for animal farming for leather production create more greenhouse gases than a developed country’s entire carbon footprint. Is that feasible?

Climate change and global warming are very real issues that affect all life on earth. Yet we consume without thinking twice. That’s why sustainable fashion is important. Sustainable fashion techniques can make the world a better place to live in. They can make unnecessary consumption and production a thing of the past. More importantly, they can help us stop global warming on its track.

But that’s only possible with mass adoption – which is a dream far from realization.

Vegan Fashion or Sustainable Fashion. Is it the same?

Well, as it turns out, there’s plenty of difference. For starters, sustainable fashion is a lifestyle principle more than a product line. A sustainable life can be achieved without purchasing anything new or going for alternative methods of fulfilling your clothing needs.

The benefits of vegan fashion over leather might be enough to make the switch. But the switch to sustainable fashion is a more difficult choice. Sourcing biodegradable fibres and recycled clothing are the cornerstones of sustainable fashion. On the other hand, vegan fashion is all about living in a cruelty-free world that doesn’t include fur, leather, feathers, wool, silk, or any other animal-based fibre.

Animal agriculture is already having negative repercussions on the environment. Choosing vegan fashion can help us mitigate these, all the while also improving the situation of animals. Shifting to vegan fashion is the single most effective way of combating animal farming-led deforestation and global warming. There are no compromises either. Vegan fashion is as high-quality, durable, and comfortable as leather or fur fashion.

It’s baffling, if you think about it, why are people still not switching. Perhaps it’s more convenient to keep wearing the way you always have? Or maybe there’s an underlying desire for a style statement? Surely, sustainable fashion won’t help you in any of those cases, but vegan fashion can. Vegan fashion can be extremely convenient to wear, order, use, and maintain. It can also be infinitely more stylish than leather fashion.

Ethik is a vegan fashion brand. It manufactures accessories made of durable, waterproof, lightweight, dust-resistant, comfortable, and breathable material. Lab-made to offer lasting comfort and longevity, Vegan Accessories are a great alternative to leather fashion. 100% cruelty-free, Ethik accessories strive to outperform leather across benchmarks – and are made without leather production’s implications that can endlessly trouble you once you realize them.

If you wish to wear a product that’s made ethically and not something that still has marks of torture and a bad life in general, then Ethik is the perfect choice for you.

Fun fact: Choosing between leather and Ethik isn’t a hard decision at all.